"alicewaters" news and stories

Shhh! Be quiet, or they'll find us.

I'm typing this from under the kitchen sink in my triple-bolted Brooklyn apartment where I'm cowering in fear of Chef Alice Waters. If the New York Post's Carla Spartos and the New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd are to be believed, the founding Slow Foodista and her hench-polemicist Michael Pollan are hell-bent upon mugging every last McNugget-lovin' American of their free will, hard-earned cash and bags of pre-shredded iceberg lettuce.

It's my fault. I didn't speak up the first time they came and forced me, at Shun-point, to trek to Dan Barber's Blue Hill Farm and choke down sun-warmed, newly picked cherry tomatoes that tasted of summer and promise and the few times my grandfather was kind to me.

I remained silent when they dragged me hemp-bound to the Union Square Greenmarket to spend several dollars less than I would at my local C-Town grocery store to meet the folks who got their hands dirty growing ridiculously delicious heirloom peppers, beans and squash with more Earth-friendly farming practices. And I cried hot, sloppy tears when they pointed and laughed at my insufficiently grained bagel. See, according to Spartos' recent N.Y. Post editorial "Gourmonsters," Officer Waters and her ilk are out to shame us all.

"They're the food police and their patron saints -- Alice Waters and Michael Pollan, chief among them -- are on a crusade to tell you not just what you should eat, but how you should eat it.

Like an exclusive clique of anorexic cheerleaders, they think they're better than you."

Silly me.

Ladies and Gentlemen, we are embarking upon a Bento Boom. The prettily packaged (often very elaborate) box lunch has been around in Japan since the 1600s, has its share of obsessives stateside, and now boasts an upscale San Francisco Bay Area entrepreneur as its, uh, bentoperson. Meet Peko-Peko (Japanese for "hungry").

How can a simple, typically cheap boxed lunch go upscale? Well, owner Sylvan Brackett's restaurant background is at Alice Waters' famed local eatery Chez Panisse. His tribute to the food of his childhood -- his mother is Japanese -- do not come cheap. When they're so gorgeously presented in beautiful "to go" boxes, or on traditional servingware when catered, we'd be inclined to shell out the $25 minimum. (Full disclosure: We sampled Brackett's incredible potstickers as college acquaintances). Seasonal, organic ingredients might include Marin Sun Pork Kakuni (soy and sake-simmered pork belly) with chrysanthemum greens or a layered box of Dungeness crab, pork cutlet, local pickled ginger and Brackett's house-brined umeboshi (pickles).

Though gourmet bento has not yet charmed all of America, Brackett studied the cuisine in Japan and declares, "Beautifully laid out food is common there." How does Mom feel about him taking the casual food she served him as a tot and bringing it to the Alice Waters crowd? "She thinks it's amusing."

Tom Colicchio is well-known in the food community as a great chef, a fair judge on Top Chef and a successful restaurateur. After last night, we can now also add hero to his list of accomplishments. He was in attendance at an Art.Food.Hope dinner in Washington, D.C. when cookbook author Joan Nathan (most famously known for Jewish Cooking in America and The New American Cooking) choked on a piece of chicken.

According to Ezra Klein of the Internet Food Association, who was also in attendance at the dinner, Alice Waters came running, shouting for someone to perform the Heimlich Maneuver after Nathan began to choke. Colicchio happened to be close by and was able to dislodge the offending morsel quickly.

Klein had an opportunity to speak with both parties after the incident. Colicchio offered an unassuming "I just happened to be nearby." Nathan commented with flattering appreciation, "He's so strong!"

[via DCist]

Source

In Sunday's Pittsburgh Tribune Review, dietitian Betsy Klein states that fad diets, such as low-carb regimens, seem to be disappearing. She explains that they are declining because people are less obsessed with weight-loss and more concerned with what they're actually consuming. This change in eating can be traced as far back as the '70s culinary revolution in Berkeley initiated by chefs like Alice Waters. It looks like the trend is spreading to the rest of the country.

This past September, the New York Times printed an article about people starting to eat to enjoy food rather than solely to lose weight. Chefs are preparing healthful well-balanced meals that do not necessarily follow any extreme forms of dieting. I wonder whether people are eating to enjoy the culinary sensations on their palate or if they're eating to experience the food's medicinal properties. For example, some people consume honey because they believe it relieves a sore throat. In other words, some people eat with the objective to have food activate or shut down corporal pains and desires.

Even if we're eating for reasons both gastronomical and pharmaceutic, which culinary purpose dominates? How will our culinary perception evolve in 2009?

Just in case you're not certain that Obama is loved by foodies and farmers, read articles from food critics and writers, such as Ruth Reichl and David Kamp. Better yet, check out the blog Obama Foodorama. An article from the New York Times explains that the Obama family is viewed by many as one that cares about eating organic. Kim Severson states: "Mr. Obama looks like the first foodie president since Thomas Jefferson."

Tell me your national food concerns and I'll tell you why you're for Obama. Despite Obama's recent choice of Secretary of Agriculture, former Iowa governor Tom Vilsak, foodies around the nation view Obama as someone who will deliver change for both small farmers and ubran gastronomes alike. Yes, Vilsak supports alternative fuels like corn-based ethanol and is a proponent of biotechnology. Nevertheless, we can forgive Obama for not choosing someone like Alice Waters or Michael Pollen. With the current state of affairs(an ongoing war and the economic crisis), he has bigger fish to fry at the moment.

After the jump, find out specific requests from food critics, reformers, and chefs.