The highly anticipated memoir of the cultural icon and bearer of culinary culture, Alice Waters, recounts the winding journey and tumultuous times that led to the opening of the most influential restaurant in America. In Coming to My Senses, Alice reflects on the events that brought her to 1517 Shattuck Avenue and the turbulent times that encouraged her to find her own voice as a chef, while the dominant culinary culture embraced convenience and uniformity.

Moving from an oppressive suburban upbringing in Berkeley in 1964, at the height of the Free Speech Movement and campus unrest, Alice becomes immersed in a bohemian circle of charismatic figures whose views on design, politics, cinema, and food would ultimately shape the unique culture upon which Chez Panisse was founded.

Filled with stories, recipes, photographs, and letters, Coming to My Senses is both deeply personal and humbly understated, offering a quiet yet revealing glimpse into the evolution of a woman from a rebellious yet awestruck follower to a respected activist who influences social and political change on a global scale through the common bond of food.