Alice Waters

Alice Waters never set out to be a top chef, restauranteur, cookbook writer, or ecological activist. But in the course of following her passions and principles, that is exactly what she has become. Waters has no formal culinary training, but a love of food and an interest in French culture and cuisine led to the opening of her seminal restaurant, Chez Panisse.

Waters majored in French Cultural Studies at the University of California at Berkeley. Following graduation in 1967, she spent a year traveling through France, where she was introduced to the concept of daily menus built around whatever fresh ingredients were available at the time. Soon after returning to California, Waters opened Chez Panisse, a small neighborhood café that serves a single, fixed-price menu each day. Her goal - which she achieved after trial and error - was to create a cozy nook for customers and employees alike. In order to ensure the freshest, highest-quality ingredients, Waters developed her own network of local farmers and ranchers that follow sustainable agriculture practices.

The success of Chez Panisse has led to the opening of additional small cafes, the publication of several successful cookbooks, and numerous awards for the restaurant and its executive chef, including Gourmet magazine's Best Restaurant in America in 2001, Bon Appetit magazine's Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000, and the James Beard Humanitarian Award in 1997.

But success and money have never been foremost in Waters' mind. She has used her notoriety to serve as a role model and leader for numerous sustainable farming projects and foundations. Among these is The Edible Schoolyard, which encourages children to engage in healthy eating and to understand the life cycle of food by growing their own vegetables, creating meals with their produce, and using leftovers as compost to enrich the soil for next year's crop. By teaching the next generation the importance of sustainable farming and fresh, pure ingredients, Waters is creating a legacy that will live beyond even her most memorable meals or cookbooks.

Chez Panisse
PBS
The Edible Schoolyard