Just like with favorite bands, I go through a period where I’m obsessed with learning about chefs’ history, technique, and networks.
I had a huge crush on Alice Waters back in October, when I went and saw her at Book Court in Brooklyn.
She said you can change the world one person at a time.
I went on and read everything I could by and about her, from The Art of Simple Food to the gorgeous photo collection 40 Years of Chez Panisse. In all of that reading, I found out about Jeremiah Tower, who worked as the head chef of Chez Panisse from 1973-1978. He approached cooking with a lavish and surrealistic bent; dishes such as duck stuffed with its own liver or sweetbreads in brioche pastry with Champagne sauce sound sinful. The two eventually split over philosophical reasons, and Chef Tower went on to lead Stars restaurant. I found Tower’s instructions on how to prepare lettuce, and they’re the most caring treatment of lettuces I’ve seen. Might have to print this out and hang it up.
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