NPR

A Watergate Villain Walks Into A Berkeley Restaurant. What Could Go Wrong?

A new film profiles influential chef Jeremiah Tower. When one of the most hated men in U.S. politics walked in for dinner at Berkeley's famed Chez Panisse, where Tower worked, a colorful scene ensued.

Editor's note: This post is about chefs and they can be quite coarse when they talk. Don't be surprised by a little foul language.

In these acrimonious times, many restaurants are treading the fine line between hospitality and politics. Anxiety-inducing though it might be, restaurants have found themselves in this awkward position before.

Just ask Jeremiah Tower, one of America's most influential chefs, who faced a similarly sticky situation four decades ago.

In 1974, when Tower was head chef at Alice Waters' Berkeley restaurant, Chez Panisse, in walked H.R. Haldeman, Richard Nixon's former chief of staff and a key player in the Watergate cover-up. Today, Haldeman's name might not ring too many bells, but at the time, the man known as "Nixon's son of a bitch"

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