Openhouse - Jérôme Waag

Jérôme Waag is the Chef of award winning Berkeley based restaurant Chez Panisse, He was born in France and raised in the south of the country enjoying his mother Natalie's classic Provençal cooking. After working in the restaurant as busboy in the 80's, Jérôme moved permanently to California and stepped up to the Kitchen in 1991, becoming the chef at charge in 2012. He counts former Chez Panisse chefs Paul Bertolli and Jean-Pierre Moullé as his mentors and teachers.

When Jérôme is not cooking he practices his art which explores the junction of art and everyday life, particularly as it pertains to food and community, he´s also one of the founders of OPENrestaurant, a project started by a collective of restaurant professionals who moved their environment to an art space as a way to experiment with the language of their daily activities.

Photographed for Openhouse at Jérôme´s loft in San Francisco, CA