Celebrity chef Jeremiah Tower to appear at Crest Theatre to promote biographical film

Celebrity chef Jeremiah Tower will visit the Crest Theatre on April 9 when Anthony Bourdain's documentary about him, "The Last Magnificent," kicks off the 2018 Sacramento Food Film Festival.

One of the founders of modern California cuisine, Tower rose to prominence as the executive chef of Alice Waters' Chez Panisse in Berkeley, where he wrote the famous Northern California Regional Menu in October 1976.

Dishes such as Tomales Bay bluepoint oysters on ice, preserved geese from Sebastopol and fruit and nuts bought at the San Francisco Farmer's Market were part of a then-novel idea: that high-quality food could, perhaps should, be produced in the restaurant's backyard.

Tower then opened Stars, a San Francisco restaurant one person in the documentary called, "at one point, arguably the best in the world," in 1984 and ran it for 14 years before disappearing for 15 years of soul-searching in the Philippines, Italy, Mexico and New York City.

He surprised restaurant critics nationwide by announcing he would head the kitchen at Tavern on the Green in New York City in 2014, a saga detailed in Bourdain's film, but stayed there just six months.

Tower will be back in Sacramento to lead the annual Tower Bridge Dinner in September, where local chefs will serve delicacies sourced from local farmers under a yellow metal canopy.

Doors will open at 6 p.m. for a 6:30 Q&A session and 7 p.m. screening. Tickets are $15 in advance at crestsacramento.com or $20 at the door.

Benjy Egel: (916) 321-1052, begel@sacbee.com

This story was originally published March 12, 2018 at 2:22 PM with the headline "Celebrity chef Jeremiah Tower to appear at Crest Theatre to promote biographical film."