It’s back! Inside the newly re-opened Chez Panisse
Four months after a fire forced the closure of Chez Panisse, it’s back in business. Step inside the iconic restaurant for a peak at its newly redone interiors.
Chefs at work in the Chez Panisse kitchen. Photo: Amanda Marsalis
On Monday this week, Chez Panisse re-opened to the public after an early-morning fire in March shut the landmark restaurant down for nearly four months. On that day, we published an interview with owner Alice Waters who spoke about the process of rebuilding, and how her team turned a crisis into an opportunity to do a little re-inventing. Waters also said she had thought of moving the restaurant to a totally different location on more than one occasion.
Much to the relief of many Berkeleyans, Chez Panisse has stayed put. Today we bring you photographs of the results of all the careful restoration and rebuilding work that has gone into bringing the restaurant back to life.
Chez Panisse owner Alice Waters in the dining room on the eve of the reopening on Monday. Photo: Amanda MarsalisThe new dining alcove on the front of Chez Panisse which had to be completely rebuilt after the March 8 fire. Photo: Amanda MarsalisThe Chez Panisse team meet before two fundraising dinners held at the restaurant on Friday June 21. Photo: Amanda MarsalisDisplays of fresh fruit and flowers are always a constant at Chez Panisse. Photo: Amanda MarsalisChez Panisse co-chef Cal Peternell with cranberry beans. Photo: Amanda MarsalisTable setting for a fundraising dinner for the Edible Schoolyard Project. Photo: Amanda MarsalisChez Panisse Café co-chefs Beth Wells and Nathan Alderson. Photo: Amanda MarsalisChez Panisse and its famous araucaria tree: back in business. Photo: Amanda Marsalis
