Another Day, Another Excursion... Chez Panisse, Berkeley

If you know me, you know I love PBS.

And ever since I watched Alice Waters on American Masters and learned about the Edible Schoolyard, I knew she would be one person I'd love to meet. As an educator and lover of good food myself, Ms. Waters is someone whom I greatly admire and respect. And I was so happy that I had the opportunity to visit Chez Panisse Cafe during my Nor Cal adventures.

From the SFO BART > Richmond BART > Downtown Berkeley BART station > up 9 blocks which took a good hour and a half, I was finally there.

A little nook of a place, I almost walked by without noticing the wooden sign of my destination. But there it was, and I walked up the stairs to the cafe for lunch. It was a little before 12pm, and the restaurant was already busy with a long list of reservations. Without my name on the list, I hoped they could seat me for a small table for 1. After a short wait by the bar and a browse through their bookshelf, my friendly servers sat me down in a nice corner table.



There were so many good specials for the day, as Chez Panisse only uses the freshest of ingredients in their menus. And I knew I couldn't really decide so I asked for some recommendations.

I started with the Bellwether Farm Ricotta Cheese Toast with Figs roasted in wood oven [$9.50] which happened to be my favorite dish of the afternoon. Sweet summer figs were roasted to perfection with drizzled balsamic vinegar. The creamy cheese was smooth and light atop the crunchy toasted slice of artisan bread. And the slivers of fresh mint were a welcome and refreshing taste to each bite.

Then I had the Slow-cooked Salmon Salad with new potatoes, purslane, and cherry tomatoes [$11]. Deliciously moist and tender cooked pieces of fish blended well with the tart vinegarette and bitter salad greens.

Unfortunately, I was a bit disappointed with my dessert. The Vanilla Custard with Summer Berry Coulis [$8] was much too eggy for my taste. Too bad I didn't know that coulis is a fruit puree - I was hoping for some whole fruit. (I did eye my neighbors' cobbler dessert that looked pretty tasty.)

I have so much more to learn...

With a 17% service charge automatically charged to my bill, my lunch was quite an expensive treat out. But nonetheless, an extraordinary meal only to be had while on vacation. And although I didn't get to meet the woman who was convening with United Nations representatives that day, I did get a brief glimpse and smiled at Alice Waters' way.

Reason for me to go back again... great food, great service, and a great woman behind the scenes of this Bay gem. In the meantime, I was happy to purchase an autographed copy of her cookbook, and will definitely try my hand at some of her recipes in creating my own Edible Schoolyard.

Chez Panisse Cafe
street: 1517 Shattuck Avenue | Berkeley, CA 94709
cafe rsvp: 1.510.548.5049
web: www.chezpanisse.com