Chez Panisse 40th Anniversary Celebration & Edible Schoolyard Benefits

Chez Panisse pulled out all the stops with several days of events integrating food, education, art, drink, and good people all in the name of celebrating 40 years of Alice Waters’ restaurant in Berkeley and the Edible Schoolyard / Chez Panisse Foundation’s mission to help children eat more healthy, good food. We celebrated in Berkeley over the weekend: Susie attended the Friday party at the Berkeley Art Museum, where hundreds of friends and supporters came to the invite only party. On Saturday, OPEN restaurant hosted a fantastic (and free) farm day exhibition in the Berkeley Art Museum’s garden –there were goats, film producer (and Alice’s former boyfriend) Tom Luddy eating Werner Herzog’s shoe, a talk by Jeremy Tooker of Four Barrel coffee, delicious eats (tomales, grilled corn, sandwiches, agua frescas), Free Speeches, music and lots of sunshine. Saturday night there were dinners, and Cheese Board Pizza hosted a party which spilled into the streets, with live music by the California Honey Dew Melons band, and free pizza, cold slaw and a cookie for anyone who wanted one.

The celebration goes on through November the UC Berkeley campus –there are weekly free Edible Education 101 lectures featuring big thinkers in the food system/movement.