berkeley: an ode to alice waters

on a recent trip to the bay area, i had the occasion to finally (!) go to chez panisse. the fact that the obamas are now planning to have an organic garden in the white house after waters' lobbying efforts is testament to her influence in the culinary world. that being said, i went to cp with less than a week's notice and was only fortunate to get a table at the cafe upstairs. it didn't matter, i was going to go anyway.

the other problem about going to cp with a week's notice was that the table was only available at 5:30 pm or 9:15 pm. i went for the 9:15 reservations. but, because i tend to go hungry early, i had to eat well before then. the fix? pre-dinner dinner. where? cesar, which was next door to cp.

we started with a cheese plate: mahon, roncal and garrotxa. the cheeses were rich and flavorful and as i am currently in love with sheep's milk, the roncal was the clear favorite.


cesar also had these amazing fries. well, i like mine thin and crunchy and these were definitely thin and crunchy. it was perfectly seasoned and came with aioli.



after polishing off our plates, we were off next door.



this bottle from la rioja was very oaky but went well with my meal.



i had the pork shoulder with spinach and mashed potatoes. the swine practically tore itself away from itself. it was that tender.



my dessert of almond brittle ice cream with dark chocolate was divine. there were chunks of almonds in the ice cream. i was in love. if i could marry it, i would.



grace had the fixed menu that came with a salad, the pasta below with fava beans and an ice cream dessert full of fruit like tangerine and kumquats. at $26, it was definitely affordable. the ingredients were fresh and the dessert was refreshing.





now that i have finally been to cp, i understand why people rave about her food. i didn't think all the dishes were great (they were all good though) but i thought that when the ingredients and execution worked (think swine), they were right on.