All stories about "Slow Food"

For some reason, no local food personality polarizes people quite like the first lady of local organica, Ms. Alice Waters. While no one doubts her status as a influential revolutionary in the gastronomic sphere, many worship her as a bohemian goddess and others see her as a glorified elitist. The truth probably lies somewhere in between, but in the wake of the Charlie Rose interview, both sides have arrived in spades in the Rose show comment fields for our amusement and yours. Some dismiss Alice as a "dippy lady" who gives an awkward interview, others question if she even took a trip to the local market to look for elusive February pears, and simply, many applaud her for her work. Our favorite, as it stands, is the following poetic composition about the "dear soul" left by one "Eileen":

yes! yes! yes! so wonderful to see alice waters :: dear soul :: and charlie's bewilderment at the powerful integrity of her message :: education, agriculture, cultural values :: health and happiness :: the children, the future :: and your health too charlie :: a lovely evening :: may it grow :: slow and slow :: breathe :: mangia mangia ! xo

Last night, none other than Alice Waters appeared on Charlie Rose. Looking especially regal in the interview, Waters not only gives the usual rundown of her agenda—Slow Food, Edible Schoolyards, her book, how great Gavin Newsom is—but also has some candid moments (despite that odd accent of hers; has anyone else wondered about this?). In addition to providing a delightful mise-en-scene of pears and radishes, she admits that she hasn't cooked at Chez Panisse in 24 years, criticizes New York for not having adequate pears, fondles said inadequate pears throughout the interview, and at the end, is endearingly mortified when Rose reveals the gifts she brought to him. Our favorite quotes from the interview:

FILLMORE—That mysterious storefront boasting some serious signage (pictured, right) now has a name: Cafe Fillmore. We are absolutely pissed off that it's not called Coffee & Burrito, because that would have been pretty much the best name ever. Cafe Fillmore? Bo-ring. [EaterWire]

SOMA—The Infinity's restaurant has been touched on in these parts already, but here's an early heads-up on another tower-restaurant going up in the area. The Millennium Tower will be completed sometime in 2009, and like The Infinity, a ritzy restaurant will involved: "Completing the floor are an owner's lounge, a wine cellar and tasting room, a dining room serviced by the onsite five-star restaurant ..." And yes, it begs the question: other than Yelp, what guide rates five stars? Have over-eager Yelpers already given it five stars? We hear they have a habit of reviewing unopen restaurants. [Official Site, via SocketSite]

In the wake of last week's perplexing revelations that Alice Waters has aligned herself with a controversial, "elitist" Montana housing project comes a possible explanation for the Chez Panisse founder's involvement. To recap, Waters came under fire on The Ethicurean because the new gated community—in which her new culinary school will open—is promising a private gourmet meal by Waters with the purchase of a $2.3 million home. Mind you, the average price tag for a home in the small Montana community is $150,000.

And now, some detective work, from Tigers & Strawberries:

I think I may have figured out how she got involved with the Ameya Preserve project, though ... back in May on Michael Bauer' blog, Between Meals, there was a post announcing Alice Waters' involvement in Carlo Petrini's 2008 Slow Food Nation expo in San Francisco. The event promises to be fascinating, and full of food and fun and all that good stuff, but what I found most interesting was the mention, down near the end of the post, that the first major donation to Slow Food Nation was "a $500,000 gift from the Ameya Preserve in Montana, which is an 11,000-acre plot of sustainable land."

[Photo courtesy]