Week in Reviews

Fire and chef shuffles be damned: Bauer still found much to love at Chez Panisse, where he sampled menus from both rotating chefs, Jerome Waag and Cal Peternell. "There's a purity that runs through each course," he notes. "The food at Chez Panisse always reveals how something should taste," like a bouillabaisse with "ingredients so pristine that you could taste the subtle differences between each component" and the best squab Bauer's ever eaten. "I firmly believe that even after all these years, Chez Panisse deserves its four-star rating. It's not a legacy rating...The restaurant continues to prove itself night after night with a completely new menu." [Chron]