Alice Waters earned a degree in French Cultural Studies from the University of California at Berkeley in 1967. Then, she trained at the Montessori School in London, and followed that up with a seminal year in France. In 1971, she opened Chez Panisse in Berkeley, CA with a small band of friends. Since, she has become one of the most influential chefs of our time. Her philosophy of always using the highest quality, fresh, seasonal ingredients, grown and harvested in an ecologically sound manner, has made her the mentor of a generation of adventurous cooks. Chef Waters has opened two additional establishments, which share the same culinary principles, Cafe at Chez Panisse (1980) and Cafe Fanny (1984).

In addition to her endeavors as a restaurateur and chef, Alice has also been an active member of the community, most notably as founder of the Edible Schoolyard Project at Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School in Berkeley, California. The project seeks to involve the children directly in planting, gardening, harvesting, cooking, and eating, while instilling such values as courtesy, generosity, thrift, respect, and reverence for the goodness of nature. The Edible Schoolyard was conceived as a pilot project, and serves as a model for schools across the country. Among her many other board affiliations are the Garden Project, which began as an organic garden within the San Francisco County Jail and has now extended its job- training outreach to other areas of the community; the Advisory Board of the University of California at Berkeley; and the Public Voice on Food Safety and Health.