When the rest of the dining world was fawning over flavors and ingredients from far-flung locations, Alice Waters kept her focus on the bounty of local cuisine. That was well before “farm-to-table” and “whole animal” became common parlance.
Chef Michael Kornick of mk (868 N. Franklin St.) staged in Waters’ Chez Pannisse kitchen in 1985. The Berkley, Calif., restaurant is a sort of ground zero for the locavore movement. Nearly 30 years later, Kornick, along with executive c Erick Williams, pay homage to Waters with a tasting menu, available for the rest of 2014. (The regular a la carte menu will also be available.)
The seven-course menu starts with buckwheat blinis with white sturgeon caviar and creme fraiche; includes a cauliflower soup, hand-cut pasta, grilled quail, braised lamb and Delice du Jura, a soft cow’s milk cheese, served with Burgundy poached pears; and finishes with “Alice’s preserved fruit cake” with Marcona almonds, honey gastrique and coffee ice cream.
The Alice Waters menu is $105 or $165 with wine pairings and 10 percent of the proceeds go to Waters’ Edible Schoolyard Project, which creates education curriculum around sustainable growing, cooking and eating food.
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