Chez Panisse is a Berkeley, California restaurant, known as one of the inspirations for the style of cooking known as California cuisine. Restaurateur, author, and food activist Alice Waters opened Chez Panisse in 1971 with film producer Paul Aratow, then professor of comparative literature at the University of California, Berkeley. The restaurant focuses on ingredients rather than technique, and has developed a supply network of direct relationships with local farmers, ranchers, and dairies.