Alice Waters brings Chez Panisse experience to Beijing

[xchrom]

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-china-restaurant-20111123,0,4366915.story

Reporting from Beijing—
Here is a nightmare assignment for a restaurateur:

Cook for 250 people using all-organic ingredients procured locally in a country infamous for its tainted food supply. Create a romantic setting in a latter-day fortress, the fluorescent-lighted U.S. Embassy.

Alice Waters' celebrated Berkeley restaurant, Chez Panisse, was transported to Beijing last week as part of a four-day U.S.-China Forum on the Arts and Culture. Berkeley and Beijing don't have much in common except as food writer Michael Pollan, another delegate, sarcastically put it, "both are socialist paradises."

But to replicate the Berkeley experience in Beijing? It wasn't just a matter of flying the ingredients from California. Waters' philosophy centers on eating local and buying directly from the farm.

[marmar]

1. I've only eaten @ the upstairs cafe at Chez Panisse......

...... but even that was sublime.

[xchrom]

2. I've eaten @ both.

But IMO - upstairs is more fun & the best for people watching.

The food is always great.

I can't imagine the difficulty of keeping the quality so good after so many years.

[marmar]

3. So true.....

I had a pan-fried chicken breast that made me want to do backflips it was so good.

[xchrom]

4. I've never had bad there - a regular fav was their pizza. Nt