Chez Panisse and its founder, Alice Waters, helped forge a new path for — and awareness of — what seasonal cooking can be, thanks to her dedication to local farmers and organic agriculture. She started the Edible Schoolyard Initiative to teach children about food and gardens, and the list of her accolades, including a James Beard Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award, is long.
But her legacy — and that of her fabled Berkeley restaurant, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this month — also includes one of the most impressive alumni rosters in culinary history: kitchen behemoths, innovators and influencers, many of whom, like Waters, have gone on to challenge and change the way we eat, cook and even conceptualize food and farming. Many are James Beard Award winners and nominees. The well of notable Chez Panisse alums — whether from the downstairs restaurant, the upstairs cafe or both — is deep.
