What to do with a lot of jitneys in your pocket...

I think it is very appropriate that my first blog entry, for this blog that aims at saving pennies and being thrifty, be about my recent trip to Chez Panisse - one of the top restaurants in the world. Ah yes, you know...the usual. I think it is not that cool that the pictures kind of suck, but I was much more interested in the eating and the chatting that were about to ensue than the picture taking. In fact, this isn't even what I ordered (wild salmon with beans, beats, and other tasty treats). This was the morel ravioli with parsley sauce.

The meal started off with with the carbonated tap water that has become the restaurant's answer to (unsustainable and kind of stupid) bottled water. They also provide a little bowl of mixed olives which was very exciting for me. Pretty awesome.

My friend Asi works there (thus our ability to get reservations) and was able to secure two bottles of wine ahead of time. She helps write the wine list so they worked perfectly with the meal. The kitchen sent us up a plate of octopus which is something I may never be able to say ever again in my life. They also sent us up two desserts (boms) as the pastry chefs are also friends with Asi. Thanks, Asi.

There isn't too much that I want to say about the food other than it is so delicious and fresh. There aren't many added sauces. It seems as though they let the ingredients flavor each other in plates that you absolutely have to scrap clean (which is easily done with the delicious bread).

After the meal (and before the dessert wine), the server brought us this glass teapot full of lemon verbena with mint leaves. Me and Asi totally chugged it! So great and fresh. A friend of mine who had recently been to Morocco said it was also very Moroccan, so cheers to that!

It is easy to understand why this place is rated so highly on their food alone. I mean, Tom Waits eats there! And Bill Clinton ate there! But the restaurant, and its founder, Alice Walker, were very huge players in the organic movement and the slow food movement and basically every other sustainable living food related movement that is spreading fairly widely right now. Read more about it here.