October 11, 2011
From Busboy to Cook to Chef

Jerome Waag – who lived at Tassajara for two years around the turn of the millennium and was a summer guest cook there – will be the successor to David Tanis as co-chef at Chez Panisse, Alice Waters’ Berkeley restaurant.

Photo from SF.EATER.com

Jerome began at Chez Panisse as a busboy in the 1980’s and became a cook there in 1991. He is also an artist and one of the founders of OPENrestaurant.

Jerome’s new position as co-chef is one connection of Chez Panisse with SF Zen Center, but there is another connection as well: Alice Waters was honored by SF Zen Center with a “Most Important Thing Award” at the Annual Benefit Event in 2008. And her cookbooks have inspired many aspiring cooks and been lovingly referenced and battered in the Zen Center kitchens.

Congratulations, Jerome!