The Grand Opening ceremonies took place earlier where Governor Jerry Brown said a few words, on August 26th 2011, at the Berkeley Art Museum, and a dinner party was given afterwards for a small group of friends at Chez Panisse. Amazingly,  Jeremiah Tower was one of the guests at the table, which means they must have put past quarrels, about who was responsible for creating California Cuisine aside.

The San Francisco Chronicle has run a protracted article about 40 years of Chez Panisse, offering lots of information here.

Sadly, a cougar was shot and killed by police while roaming in the residential area adjacent to Alice Water’s restaurant Chez Panisse. Was it entirely necessary to kill this animal?  It seems that apparently the Fish & Game Department were too slow to react, due to the large region they cover with a limited staff, and in any case, they most likely do not carry the necessary tranquilizer guns and large nets required to deal with this type of situation. In addition, tranquilizer darts are often slow to react. Berkeley Police thought that it was prudent to kill the animal as it was leaping over back garden fences and presumably posed a threat to residents, homeless people and others.