Latest news with #AliceWaters
San Francisco Chronicle
5 days ago
- Business
- San Francisco Chronicle
Legendary Bay Area wine importer opening new shop for the first time in 53 years
The Bay Area's most famous wine importer is opening a new shop in Marin County. Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant will debut at Marin Country Mart in Larkspur in the fall or early winter, said company president Dixon Brooke. It will be the second-ever retail outlet in Kermit Lynch's 53 years in business, and it will look similar to the original Berkeley shop. The importer is known for having introduced Americans to restrained wines from family estates in France and Italy. Along with his Berkeley contemporary Alice Waters, Lynch, beginning in the 1970s, popularized the flavors of the French countryside by making wineries like Domaine Tempier and Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe available in the U.S. for the first time. 'Over the years, we've looked at opening a second retail location, but never found the right place,' wrote Brooke in an email. 'We've always felt that our strength as a retailer was building direct relationships and guiding our clients through the rewarding journey of navigating European fine wine.' He noted Marin Country Mart's prime location near Highway 101 and a ferry terminal. The center is home to dozens of shops including Gwyneth Paltrow's Goop, the luxury sweater specialist Jenni Kayne and consignor the Real Real, plus restaurants like Loveski Deli, Hog Island Oyster Co. and Souvla.
Irish Examiner
17-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Examiner
Seafood Made Simple: These home baked beans go well with any piece of fish
Netflix series Chef's Table is back with a new season. This time around, the focus is honouring four 'Legends'. There's Alice Waters, who pioneered the farm-to-table movement in America. Her restaurant, Chez Panisse, in Berkeley, California opened in 1971 and is still going today. Then there's Thomas Keller, chef owner of the famous The French Laundry in Napa Valley, where he has held three Michelin stars for 18 years. The king of fine dining in America, he has another three Michelin-star restaurant, Per Se, in New York city. José Andrés, born in Spain, has a whopping 40 restaurants in America. In 2010, he founded the non-profit organisation Central Food Kitchen, providing meals across the world in response to humanitarian, climate and community crises. He's been included twice in Time magazine's most influential people. I was delighted to see Jamie Oliver included in this series. Oftentimes, he doesn't get the respect I feel he deserves within the industry. He's the chef on this list that's influenced me the most. So much so, that I'm not sure what I'd be doing now if his TV shows like Naked Chef hadn't sparked my interest in food all those years ago. His episode charts his rise to fame at 24, how he made cooking cool and uncomplicated, without the use of technical language, authored 35 books with dyslexia, his hugely impactful work navigating the reform of school dinners in the UK and his contribution to the sugar tax legislation. This weekend's recipe, gurnard with home baked beans, is all about that kind of simplicity. These beans would work as a side dish with any piece of fish, so use whatever is available to you. They are great with chunky fillets of hake and pollock. Gurnard is a fabulous fish. Lesser known and underutilised it's native to our waters. Gurnard with Home Baked Beans recipe by:Aishling Moore These beans would work as a side dish with any piece of fish, so use whatever is available to you. Servings 4 Preparation Time 15 mins Cooking Time 2 hours 10 mins Total Time 2 hours 25 mins Course Main Ingredients For the baked beans 250g dried cannellini beans (or 2 x 235g of cannellini beans drained) 2 tbsp olive oil 1 small bulb garlic 2 sprigs rosemary For the tomato sauce 3 tbsp golden rapeseed oil 3 cloves garlic, minced 2 tsp smoked paprika 1 pinch cayenne pepper 1 tsp dried oregano 300ml passata 1 tbsp honey 25g butter Salt Black pepper For the gurnard 4 x large fillets of gurnard (or 8 small) 2 tbsp golden rapeseed oil Fine sea salt 1 lemon Method Soak the beans overnight (or at least 10 hours before you plan on cooking) in 1 litre of boiling water in a large bowl. Strain the soaked beans and rinse well under cool running water in a colander. Grease a large pot or Dutch oven with the olive oil and place the rinsed beans, garlic bulb, herbs and bay leaf inside. Top up with 1.1 litres of boiling water and season generously with sea salt and place a tight- fitting lid on. Bake in a 175°C preheated oven for 1 hour 45 minutes. Check after one hour, as cooking time can differ depending on the beans. Remove from the oven, discard the stalks of rosemary and garlic. To make the sauce, heat a medium heavy-based pot on medium heat. Add the garlic and cook in the rapeseed oil for 2 minutes until golden. Add the smoked paprika, cayenne and oregano and cook for a further minute before adding the passata. Add the honey, season with salt and black pepper and reduce the heat to medium-low. Cook for 8-10 minutes to reduce the sauce. Add the drained beans and warm through. Finish with butter and taste to correct seasoning. Keep warm while cooking the gurnard. For the fish: Preheat oven to 175°C. Grease a large baking tray with rapeseed oil. Place the fillets of gurnard on the greased tray and brush each fillet generously with rapeseed oil. Season with fine sea salt and bake in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes until the fish is cooked through and flakes when gently pressed. Finish with lemon juice and serve. Fish tales Gurnard is one of the trickier species to fillet, so I'd recommend relying on your local fishmonger to tackle this fish. You'll find bones running down the centre of the fillet of gurnard. I recommend asking your fishmonger to remove these also. Make sure you use a baking tray large enough to have space between the fillets of fish to allow the heat to circulate evenly. If you're going to the trouble of soaking and baking the beans in the oven, you'll have some leftovers. Add to salads, soups and stews or make a cannellini bean hummus. Refrigerate leftovers for up to three days. These beans are also great for breakfast. Read More Seafood Made Simple: My Welsh Rarebit blends fish with cheese for an oceanic oomph
Forbes
27-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Netflix Drops New Chef's Table Theme—But Who's Defining Food Today?
Netflix's Chef's Table has shaped how we think about culinary excellence for close to a decade. But with food culture evolving, what does it mean to be a legend today? On March 25, 2025, Netflix released the trailer for Chef's Table: Legends ahead of its April 17 premiere. The new season celebrates Alice Waters, Thomas Keller, Jamie Oliver, and José Andrés—four chefs whose influence stretches far beyond the kitchen. This new season of Chef's Table: Legends will feature four episodes, each highlighting one of the featured chefs. Each of them has left an undeniable mark on food: Waters pioneered farm-to-table dining, Keller defined fine dining in America, Oliver changed how home cooks engage with food, and Andrés turned the food into a tool for activism. But as food culture has expanded, so has our definition of culinary influence. Restaurants no longer have a monopoly on shaping what and how we eat. Food movements, digital creators, and sustainability advocates are now just as influential as chefs. So, as Chef's Table looks back at the past decade, who defines food culture today? And how will the next generation of culinary legends be recognized? For decades, food media and institutions like Chef's Table have celebrated a small, exclusive set of chefs, primarily Western, male, and Eurocentric fine dining figures. They were the tastemakers, the gatekeepers, the ones shaping what was considered "good food." But today, the table is longer. Food culture is no longer dictated by a handful of elite chefs. Influence now comes from a much wider range of voices, shaping food through heritage, storytelling, and activism. Figures like Crystal Wahpepah and Claudia Serrato are redefining what American food even means by reviving Indigenous foodways, integrating Native ingredients, and reclaiming culinary traditions. Others, like Illyanna Maisonet, preserve Puerto Rican foodways through storytelling and recipes. Meanwhile, Kat Lieu has shown how social media can be a platform for sharing modern Asian baking with a global audience, while Yotam Ottolenghi has helped move international flavors from the margins to the mainstream. But it's not just about who's cooking—it's about who's shaping food knowledge. Educators and activists are teaching people how to cook within the constraints of food deserts, helping communities make the most of what's available. Others are preserving and amplifying food histories that have long been overlooked. The gatekeepers of food culture are no longer just in Michelin-starred kitchens—they're in classrooms, social media feeds, and grassroots movements. With more ways than ever to shape food culture—through media, activism, social platforms, and community leadership—culinary greatness is no longer confined to white tablecloth restaurants alone. Many of today's most influential figures don't even run traditional restaurants, yet they are redefining how people cook, eat, and connect with food. Social media has transformed how food trends emerge, with platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube driving viral moments that turn niche dishes into global sensations. According to research, 38% of Gen Z and millennials have visited a restaurant solely because they saw it on social media, while Hospitality Tech reports that 53% of users have tried a new recipe or restaurant after seeing it online. Viral trends like baked feta pasta, cloud bread, and "lazy girl meals" haven't just influenced home cooking—they've forced restaurants to rethink their menus in real time. Some chefs now design dishes specifically for social media appeal, proving that digital food culture has real-world economic power. Meanwhile, food personalities across platforms—whether it's a YouTube cooking series, an Instagram chef, or a TikTok creator—often have more influence than traditional food media, proving that the way people engage with food has fundamentally changed. Platforms that once were just for entertainment are now actively shaping what and how we eat. Even Chef's Table itself has evolved to reflect these shifts. Netflix's expanding food content shows how streaming platforms shape our engagement with dining. When Chef's Table first premiered, it was a celebration of elite fine dining, featuring chefs known for their technical precision, multi-course tasting menus, and Michelin-starred kitchens—figures like Massimo Bottura, Grant Achatz, and Christina Tosi, who brought avant-garde creativity into high-end dining. However, as the food world shifted, Chef's Table gradually expanded its focus. More recent seasons have highlighted chefs whose work is rooted in cultural heritage, sustainability, and social impact, including: The franchise has also produced spinoffs specific to areas of dining, including barbecue, pizza, and pasta. This shiftreflects a larger trend: food influence today isn't just about luxury dining—it's about culture, community, and storytelling. Home cooking trends highlight how people are rethinking their relationship with food. Even within Chef's Table, the definition of a culinary legend is evolving. If Chef's Table were to make a season 20 years from now, would it still focus on individual chefs? Or would it have to evolve to reflect the way food culture actually works today? Food culture is no longer dictated by a small, exclusive group of chefs. Instead, it's shaped by a global, interconnected community—where influence comes from chefs, home cooks, digital creators, activists, and cultural movements alike. Some figures are teaching people how to cook within the constraints of food deserts and reshaping food access and education. Organizations like The Okra Project, which brings home-cooked meals to Black trans communities, and Toni Tipton-Martin's work in food literacy prove that food influence isn't just about restaurants—it's about who has access to knowledge. Meanwhile, chefs like Sohla El-Waylly, Paola Velez, Bryant Terry, and Chintan Pandya are proving that food culture isn't just shaped by who's on TV—it's about who's telling the stories and making food knowledge accessible. Eric Adjepong brings West African flavors to the forefront of American dining, weaving history, migration, and culture into his approach to food. So instead of asking who the next Keller or Waters will be, maybe the bigger question is: What remains clear is that food culture is no longer defined by a handful of figures—it's shaped by the many voices making an impact every day. Chef's Table: Legends will premiere on Netflix on April 28, 2025, offering viewers a chance to explore the lasting impact of these culinary icons."
