In honor of the release of the documentary Jeremiah Tower: The Last Magnificent (see SFist's review here), Chef Tower was in town doing a few interviews and sat down with Eater's Ellen Fort for a characteristically candid conversation in which he continued claiming credit for the original success of Chez Panisse, and un-buried the hatchet, as it were, with longtime nemesis Michael Bauer.
Some may recall that Bauer took a special trip to New York in early 2015 to review Tower's work at the revamped Tavern on the Green a splashy comeback gig for the semi-retired Tower that came out of the blue, garnered many headlines, and faded quickly after just a few months and several lackluster reviews. But it was Bauer's blog review that seemed to get under Tower's skin the most, with the chef lashing back about six weeks later on social media calling Bauer a "troll," and adding, "No one in NYC had the faintest clue who he is."
He also took to Facebook that same week to say, "Over the years I have heard rumors that when people at the S F Chronicle were talking of doing obituaries of famous culinary people, Michael Bauer's hand shot up to volunteer doing mine. Nothing personal... Is that what you were trying to unveil with your review of Tavern on the Green, Michael?"
Now in the Eater interview, Tower says of Bauer's 30-year tenure as the Chronicle restaurant critic, "It was too long after one day," and he says "He is a bit of a twit."
He's also asked about the Tavern on the Green review, and says this: "He flew from SF to NYC, stayed there two hours, had some food, wrote a hatchet job review, and then flew back to San Francisco. I just thought Michael, what the hell are you doing. He dug up the hatchet, and tried to wound me again." This apparently after they had had what Tower believed to be a hatchet-burying lunch in SF a year or two before.
Jeremiah Tower: The Last Magnificent is currently playing at the Landmark Embarcadero Center Cinema, and you can check the showtimes here.
Previously: 'Jeremiah Tower: The Last Magnificent' Allows The Legend To Retain Some Mystery