Chez Panisse is reopening soon. The famous Berkeley restaurant has been closed since March due to an electrical fire. Alice Waters has not yet disclosed the menu for the opening night dinner on June 21. If you want to go, make your reservations right away. Special event dinners at Chez Panisse always sell out. The prix fixe dinner is priced at  $2,500 a plate. I don’t know if that includes the tax and the tip. I have never been able to figure out whether ‘prix fixe’ means that the meal includes the tax and the tip or whether tax and tip are extra. If anyone knows exactly what ‘prix fixe’ includes, let me know. The sales tax rate in Berkeley is 9.75%, so if the sales tax is extra, that would add almost $500 to the cost of a dinner for 2. Of course I realize that that won’t make any difference to the people coming to this dinner. People who can afford to pay $2,500 a head for dinner can also afford to pay sales tax.