Chez Panisse

Reviews 4

A

A Private User

cant believe why people fall for this place, I left here feeling completely conned. I have two theories: One is the old "King New Clothes" theory that no one wants to be called out as an ignoramus and everyone is pretending that the real basic food they charge a fortune for here, is actually gourmet. The other (and please dont be offended, American friends) is that 90% of of the people that eat here have never been to France or eaten in a real French restaurant, so think this is worth all this the money to eat in a "French Restaurant". Believe me everyone, and I speak as a European guy who has family in Paris who is often in France, this has as much in common with even an average Paris restaurant as the imitation Paris in Las Vegas has with the real Paris. Whoever runs this place seems to think that if you give a restaurant a French name, have some waiters with European accents, make your guests wait forever between courses (in genuine French restaurants you never have to wait this long) that equals a French restaurant, and this allows them to mark up their really poor food by huge amounts. Well, you can fool some of the people some of the time, but you are not fooling me. The service was slow as a glacier, we arrived bang on time for our 6pm table, but it was not ready, so were told we had to wait in the bar. The staff then forgot about us, so at around 6.15 we had to ask them what was going on and were told our table was ready. After about a ten minute wait, they brought olives, after about another ten minutes they brought bread. It took around another 30 minutes for a really basic starter to arrive. Then unbelievably around an hour for the main course. Now here was where the biggest disappointment was. Before the main course arrived I was still slightly buying the line that if you wait a long time you get something special. Boy was I wrong! Im a vegetarian, and was promised a "vegetarian dish". What I got was exactly the same as what my wife got, but minus the chicken and plus more chickpeas. It was actually some vegetables, chickpeas in warm water! I could have done better myself! It was at that point that I wished we had just gone to the really excellent Claremont Diner and paid $20 for their great food. Towards the end of the evening I was beginning to laugh out loud at the nerve of the people that run this place to perpetrate such a huge con. Our final bill was over $180! For this we got the pleasure of spending around 2 hours waiting around for food and when it came it was chickpeas in warm water! Now I know there are those of you out there thinking now that I am just a poor ignoramus who does not appreciate good food and the French ambiance. Let me say again I know France, have been there many times, had many great meals there. I left the restaurant singing The "Who"s "Wont get fooled again" under my breath. Need I say more?

DA

David Liang

Food: 4 Decor: 4 Service: 3 Michelin: * I came here with my girlfriend for our 1-year anniversary. I decided to pick a Tuesday (8/25) since most of the reviews said that Mondays arent that great. Our reservation was pretty late, around 8:30pm, since my girlfriend had to commute from SF. 1st course: Heirloom tomato salad with anchovies, capers, and a light dressing. Wow, this salad was ridiculously good, and I usually dont like salads. The ingredients were just so fresh and delicious, especially the heirloom tomatoes. They were so ripe and juicy that it was almost as if they had picked them minutes beforehand. 2nd course: Meyer lemon sole with capers and cucumbers. This dish was just so-so. I felt the sole was kind of bland, and the cucumber salad that came on the side was just okay. 3rd course: Duck with roasted figs. Another great dish. The duck was cooked perfectly, and I loved the roasted figs on the side. 4th course: Napoleon ice cream. It was pretty good, but not good enough to stand out. In addition, I think we got a half bottle of wine, which was probably around $40ish. Their service could have been a little bit better. The wait between courses was pretty long, and we were there for almost 3 hours total. After we were done eating, we decided to take a quick look at their kitchen, which their waiter said we were free to tour. It would have been nice for a chef to talk to us, but I guess they were all pretty busy. Overall, the food was excellent, and I do think they deserve their Michelin star. Two superb dishes and two mediocre ones overall. The ingredients were all very fresh, and having local, organic, sustainable food is always good. However, although it was slightly pricey ($235 after tax and tip) and a bit overhyped, I would definitely come back again for a nice occasion. Now to try out their cafe...

A

A Private User

im definitely a foodie and have been to many outstanding restaurants around the world but none compare to chez panisse, my fabsolute favorite restaurant! no molecular gastronomy here (although i like that as well) - just brilliant but simply prepared foods! i love their soups, salads, main courses, desserts (their fruit tarts are delicious) and even their bread. because chez panisse has been around so long and people have such short attention spans, sometimes we forget how influential chez panisse and alice waters have been in shaping the culinary culture of america. in spite of all the new and flavor of the month restaurants that come and go, for 30+ years chez panisse and alice waters have been consistently and often without fanfare turning out great meal after great meal! although i am not a professional chef, my dream is to one day intern at chez panisse and learn from the best. if i have one gripe, which is minor, i wish they wouldnt charge $4 for a side of olive oil (i know it is much more expensive than butter; however, olive oil is much healthier to eat with bread than butter. and since alice is promoting healthy eating as one of her principles, i dont think you should discourage people from making healthy food choices by charging more to eat healthy) other than that, chez panisse is the standard by which i judge all other restaurants

A

A Private User

I read through some of the other entries here, particularly the bad ones, who mostly complain that the food is overpriced, particularly for being simple. Another guy ranted about them pretending to be a French restaurant. I dont believe Chez Panisse would ever call itself a French restaurant (I think the name is borrowed from a book character), so dont go in there looking for that. The beauty of Chez Panisse is how carefully prepared the food is: every beet, every olive, every bite of pork is cooked to perfection and thats what sets it apart from the majority of other restaurants. That they can create a unique menu every night from almost entirely locally sourced ingredients is also exceptional (for example, I know the French Laundry ships ingredients in from all over, and hence part of the priciness). Lastly, I dont think you will eat anywhere with better atmosphere. I ate at a similarly priced restaurant in Napa yesterday and it was so loud and crowded! At Chez, you will be able to hear everyone at your table, the service is extremely attentive, and the kitchen is right next to you but remarkably serene. It is so calm in there its like getting a deep tissue massage. They draw it out for a few hours so you can completely relax. Wonderful place.