Fanny at Chez Panisse: A Child's Restaurant Adventure with 46 Recipes

by Alice Waters

Book Overview

Chez Panisse is a restaurant in Berkeley, California, run by Alice Waters and her large group of friends. Her daughter Fanny's stories of this busy place are a friendly and funny introduction to the delights of real restaurant life, and her recipes show how easy and inexpensive it is to make good food with basic ingredients and simple techniques. Opening up the magic world of cooking to children, Alice Waters describes, in the words of seven-year-old...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 006016896X
• ISBN13: 9780060168964
• Release Date: November 1992
• Publisher: William Morrow & Company
• Length: 144 Pages
• Weight: 1.66 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 7.5" x 11.0"
• Age Range: 9 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 4 to 7

Customer Reviews

As Mrs. Obama Harvests the Garden

I listened via NPR to the delish harvesting of the White House Garden yesterday driving home. I love the idea that the First Lady was able to share, with kids assisting her, the beauty of sweet fresh peas in the pod. It was fun listening to them eating up those pods just out of the garden. Their WH effort has already brought in 90 pounds of harvest! That's incredible. And I can remember from my childhood all the math, all the lessons learned in this kind of activity. Mom canning, Dad with bushels of produce. Long ago and far away it was but it certainly makes me happy at a Farmer's Market or strolling in a French one selecting dinner goods. And here it is just June as they bring this stuff in. Tomatoes to come! Well that made me think of this book. (One of our family favorites that I ought to buy for each of my kids. All three are cooks and good ones.) It's one book my children and I enjoyed because it lead us into the kitchen, and prompted us to get many others of Alice Waters and as we visited Stanford long ago for my daughter's pre-surgery visits ( major reconstruction of chest at 6) we always had time to enjoy food Water's style. Yes, there is "a lot" of story and good thing too. That's another "value" we are passing along to children. That food tells about who we are. It's one of the best living histories I know.A window into everything in a culture without the angers that so many other areas contain. A way to share ourselves. Just growing and preparing with what you have harvested, be it spices in a window or lovely baby bib, carrots, tomatoes in a pot on the porch or digging and growing you are learning about the art of food and self care.This book is so insightful. Nutrition and values that keep our connection to nature. This is an EXCELLENT present for kids. I still use recipes that sprang for our cooking together from this book. My garden is mostly spices. But my kids still line up for the dishes and breads that carry those flavors. I'm thinking of making a nice flatbread with rosemary or perhaps the oregano tonight. Try this. You'll enjoy it, her daughter is such a charmer.

Great starter book for children

Start children out with the best info and philosophy for a life of healthy eating

Probably better for older children, and adults!

I read this many years ago, in college, and coming back to it now, to share with my daughter, I find that this book inadvertently taught me a lot about cooking. My daughter - age 6 - is mildly interested in the story, but it is very long and wordy. It tells all about the kitchen of a gourmet restaurant, from an insider's (and child's) perspective. However, it is probably a bit much for a young child with no gourmet experience. Older children and adults may enjoy it more. As for the recipes, they are great. The step by step explanations of what to do (the egg whites should be whipped until they are white, and you can get a soft crest when you lift the mixer) are invaluable if you are a novice. Still, it's all a bit complicated for young children. I'd say the recipes are probably good for a 10-year-olds with some help. My favorite at the moment is the recipe (and step-by-step instructions) for a 1234 cake - which I am making for a birthday party. I'd never have attempted it without this book and its detailed instructions. I am hoping the cake is as good as the batter - YUM!

A book for all ages...a jewel in my collection.

This book is written as Fanny telling about her life with her mom, the fantastic chef Alice Waters(she wrote the book). MyDaughters & I share in our love of this book, to read it...enjoying the pictures which are wonderful to the eye. then the bits on cooking and the pleasure of food & preparing it along with flavor is shared in such a great way. Allow yourself to sit down and get lost in the spirit of this book.

Read this early on the weekend so you can cook later!!

Alice writes in the voice of her daughter about her daughter's favorite recipes and adventures at the restaurant. Wonderful reading and DELICIOUS recipes. At first looks a little like a children's book, but great for adults!