Yummy! | Mystery Maker: Kathleen Date: 6/11/2011 Location: Berkeley, CA |
The Gourmet Ghetto is not just any neighborhood in Berkeley, California. This is where Pete’s Coffee originated and Alice Waters of Chez Panise put her name on the culinary map. The restaurants are funky, fun, small and world renowned. For Mystery Day #36 we were set to explore this food lovers paradise with guided tour Edible Excursions. My only request of Chris was to be hungry and wear comfortable shoes.
Our first stop was Saul’s, authentic delicatessen, complete with three inch high roast beef on rye bread with stone ground mustard. We were off to a good start. Next, we hit up the original Pete’s (who also founded Starbucks before selling it early on to establish Pete’s), followed by Imperial Tea for a sip of green tea. The caffeine was flowing and we were ready to roll!
We visited the famous Cheese Board Collective, Soop and Cafe Sunshine for decadent pizza, locally grown soups with exotic ingredients, and of course vegan/vegetarian treats. We quickly ate our way through the neighborhood, joking with fellow tour-goers that we couldn’t squeeze in one more bite. And then magically found some room. We were all a bit disappointed to learn that the Gourmet Ghetto’s crown jewel Chez Panise was not on the day’s tour. (For another time.)
My step-dad Herb was a longtime Berkeley resident, and one if his all time favorite spots is the Juice Bar Collective, smack in the middle of the Gourmet Ghetto. They serve the most wonderful hand pressed juice and and amazing baked polenta squares with cheese, beans, chives -- all the fixings. It’s barely more than a hole in the wall but the food is delicious and the following loyal. So, for a fun MD twist, I invited my mom and dad to meet. Neither Chris nor I had every been and I wanted us to go with one of their biggest fans, my step dad: Herbert Schwartz Weber himself!
Chris broke out in a giant laugh when he spotted Susan and Herb. Herb took charge and ordered all his favorites and we found a nice bench outside to sit and enjoy our goodies. It’s safe to say JBC stood up to it’s (familial) reputation and we all left happy and smiling.
I'm not sure how we did it but we made one more stop. Our last and final visit was to the XX bakery. We ordered sweet rolls and cookies and a slice of cake! We enjoyed every last crumb over great conversation and laughter. This is world class cuisine, but no doubt, it tastes better with world class company.
We arrived home and took a long walk to work off the decadence…. Just kidding! We actually took a nice long NAP! (No joke!) We were full, tired and happy. A wonderful combination.
Our first stop was Saul’s, authentic delicatessen, complete with three inch high roast beef on rye bread with stone ground mustard. We were off to a good start. Next, we hit up the original Pete’s (who also founded Starbucks before selling it early on to establish Pete’s), followed by Imperial Tea for a sip of green tea. The caffeine was flowing and we were ready to roll!
We visited the famous Cheese Board Collective, Soop and Cafe Sunshine for decadent pizza, locally grown soups with exotic ingredients, and of course vegan/vegetarian treats. We quickly ate our way through the neighborhood, joking with fellow tour-goers that we couldn’t squeeze in one more bite. And then magically found some room. We were all a bit disappointed to learn that the Gourmet Ghetto’s crown jewel Chez Panise was not on the day’s tour. (For another time.)
My step-dad Herb was a longtime Berkeley resident, and one if his all time favorite spots is the Juice Bar Collective, smack in the middle of the Gourmet Ghetto. They serve the most wonderful hand pressed juice and and amazing baked polenta squares with cheese, beans, chives -- all the fixings. It’s barely more than a hole in the wall but the food is delicious and the following loyal. So, for a fun MD twist, I invited my mom and dad to meet. Neither Chris nor I had every been and I wanted us to go with one of their biggest fans, my step dad: Herbert Schwartz Weber himself!
Chris broke out in a giant laugh when he spotted Susan and Herb. Herb took charge and ordered all his favorites and we found a nice bench outside to sit and enjoy our goodies. It’s safe to say JBC stood up to it’s (familial) reputation and we all left happy and smiling.
I'm not sure how we did it but we made one more stop. Our last and final visit was to the XX bakery. We ordered sweet rolls and cookies and a slice of cake! We enjoyed every last crumb over great conversation and laughter. This is world class cuisine, but no doubt, it tastes better with world class company.
We arrived home and took a long walk to work off the decadence…. Just kidding! We actually took a nice long NAP! (No joke!) We were full, tired and happy. A wonderful combination.
