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The Menu that Started a Revolution
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As we celebrate with Chez Panisse this week, we look back at the influence Alice Waters has had on food, in the restaurant, store and home. So where do we see her influence?
The ascension of the Alice Waters's inspired movement toward "all things fresh, local and seasonal" has reached its apex in recent years. Key fresh departments in grocery perimeters have all but decimated the once revered center store. Likewise many better grocers proudly display the pedigrees of produce, dairy, meats and seafood for all to ponder.
While our parents had the sad misfortune of eating plain, old beef, we can choose between the grass-fed character of Misty Isles Farms beef or the supreme marbled texture of Snake River Farm's "Kobe style" beef, the latter attributed to their fondness for the Wagyu cattle.
The same goes for restaurant menus, where something as simple as a roasted chicken with mushroom entree is often accompanied by elaborate descriptions of the bird's pedigree, birthplace and lifestyle habits ("Johnson Farms, free-range, spring harvested chicken"), not to mention your mushroom's harvesting techniques ("locally foraged").
Today, many grocers, restaurant chains and food manufacturers are beginning to appreciate that the Alice Waters movement is for real and has captured the imagination of the American consumer. Where wiil restaurant trends take us next?
Check out where Alice Waters is plotted on our Greater Food Culture infographic!
