I love Alice Waters as much as the next worshipper of good food and local ingredients, but she's best as an inspiration. An icon of a movement. Whenever she gets her hands dirty trying to foment grassroots change in the way America eats, Waters comes off a bit lofty.
She's in DC this week with a cornucopia of big name chefs to try to get the word out about keeping it local. How? $500 dinners cooked by the chefs in the homes of Washington's power elite:
This article appears in Jan 14-20, 2009.