How Alice Waters' Chez Panisse Birthed a National Food Movement

In the spring of 2002, I spent an afternoon in the downstairs kitchen of Chez Panisse, peeling fava beans and picking herbs. I was a green line cook at the time, but the cooks humored me—even when I didn’t follow herb-washing protocol (next time, lift the parsley leaves out of the bowl of water so the grit stays at the bottom, they instructed). For them, I was yet another visitor from the never-ending stream...