I wanted to like this book. I greatly admire Alice Waters, and enjoy food memoirs, but this is, quite simply, not well written. ( )

I first heard of Alice Waters through the series Salt Fat Acid Heat where Samin Nosrat talked about Chez Panisse and then visited her to make pasta. So it is fascinating to read this book, to go from the people's (often admiring) perspectives of Waters' ambition and skills, to her own retelling of her almost lackadaisical and languorous path to the Waters and Chez Panisse so revered now.

Notable things to me:
1. Waters is hilariously boy-crazy! Falling in love left, right, and centre wherever she goes. I would almost argue that she's similarly girl-crazy the way she introduces her female friends, very focused on their physical attributes!
2. Waters surrounded herself with a good group of like-minded people who inspired her to learn. She managed to incorporate so many aspects of her friendships (or friends' skills) into her passion restaurant, by being so involved in the culture, or counterculture. That even if she hadn't opened an restaurant, her life would have just been as full and so fulfilling in its own right, without this universal public stamp of approval for Chez Panisse.
3. How absolutely lucky Waters was, but also her absolute openness to these opportunities. I can imagine simultaneously how fun yet also frustrating it would be for me to have a friend or close relative like Waters. However, as a reader, fabulous to read of such a charmed life.

As Waters' mother told her, she has lived a life so many have dreamed of. It's such a product of a specific time and place, I truly cannot foresee a similar life trajectory for anyone who can make such a cultural impact. ( )

Very good ( )

Whether you're interested in the 1960s counterculture aspect of Alice Waters' memoir, or her role as founder of Chez Panisse (the famous Berkeley, CA restaurant) and its impact on the modern food movement, this book is worth your while. Waters tells her life story, growing up in the suburbs of New Jersey, attending college in California, her transformative period in France--and connects all of her life experiences to the founding of Chez Panisse in August 1971.

We would be happier and healthier if we cooked and ate more like the French; if we knew how to use natural ingredients straight from the garden; if we took the time to appreciate good food--rather than settle for fast, easy and cheap. This book doesn't hector the reader, but by suggestion, it tells us a lot about where we've gone wrong as a culture, and the potential for a counter-culture founded on different values to provide a healthy corrective. ( )

A beautiful audiobooks that follows the life and lessons from Alice Waters. I enjoyed the journey. Learning more about the restaurant and the type of lifestyle Alice is trying to embody in her food and restaurant.
I was always surprised when she admits that she did not speak French well, and she has built her restaurant and life upon French and their habits

Quotes and snippets:
I don't know if I fully gave credit where creditwas due on those recipes (adapted in her newspaper column). It's hard with a recipes though because each one is so fluid. And if you change a couple of things in it, it almost becomes your own. But its important to recognize the people and the history and the traditions behind recipes to know what they building upon. (Ch 8)

Alain Ducasse says that 85% of cooking is shopping.....it's going the farmers market or out into your backyard. Finding what's ripe and beautiful and alive and in season. (Ch 8)

A firing is a two way street. The person being fired should be helped to understand that they don't want to be in a place where they are not valued. You need to be in a place where you are cared about and where you care about being. (Ch 10)