[1] Patterson describes its concept as combining haute cuisine, an emphasis on local vegetables, a modern aesthetic, and a personal approach to cooking, with "a casual, neighborhood feeling".
[3] He opened an informal rotisserie, Il Cane Rosso ("the red dog" in Italian), in the San Francisco Ferry Building with co-owner Lauren Kiino, before selling the business to her entirely.
He currently lives in Los Angeles, CA with his wife, Sarah Lewitinn, the writer, music director, producer, TV personality, DJ, and blogger professionally known as Ultragrrrl.
He also criticized San Francisco diners for avoiding food they considered too fancy, while paying similar prices for restaurants that featured home-style cooking, as a form of affected populism.
[3][10] One quote from the essay that is often repeated is: "so deeply embedded is the mythology of Chez Panisse in the DNA of local food culture that it threatens to smother stylistic diversity and extinguish the creativity that it originally sought to spark.”[11]