Radical restaurants, pioneering food vendors and hip sidewalk cafes: Berkeley, California, is North America’s new foodie destination
Berkeley, on the east coast of San Francisco Bay, is home to just over 100,000 people, yet it holds a leonine position in the history of American food. The pinnacle of the Berkeley food firmament is the renowned Chez Panisse, which opened in 1971. The restaurant’s owner, food world sovereign Alice Waters, was christened “the mother of American cooking” by The New York Times and has been a fervent proselytiser of the organic, sustainable, anti-industrial food movement for more than four decades.
Being aware of what’s on your plate and how it got there has been an enduring Berkeley obsession. Before Chez Panisse and its offspring – a clutch of iconoclastic businesses that emerged during the thriving Bay Area counterculture of the 1960s and early ’70s – American
“cuisine” tended to be heavy, processed and overly influenced by European tastes. In those days, a “salad” translated as a wedge of iceberg lettuce smothered in blue-cheese dressing, and no-one would have envisioned that an organic vegetable garden would be installed on the lawn of the White House.
With its commitment to social justice and strong libertarian streak, not to mention predilection for Birkenstocks, Berkeley is often parodied as an enclave of granola-munching hippies. There is some truth to that reputation. Psychedelic bookstores promise Buddhist enlightenment, a council ordinance has outlawed chain stores and the experimental Berkeley Repertory Theatre grows stronger and more influential each season. A 2005 study confirmed Berkeley as the third-most liberal city in the US. If it had measured quality of and passion for food, Berkeley would certainly have come up trumps.
Eat
Chez Panisse
1517 Shattuck Avenue.
+1 510 548 5049.
Chez Panisse, a simple shingled bungalow, occupies a corner of Berkeley known as the Gourmet Ghetto, a two-block radius of restaurants, food collectives and stores.
Café Fanny
1603 San Pablo Avenue.
+1 510 524 5447.
Together with neighbours Acme Bread and Kermit Lynch Wine, this Berkeley classic, named after Alice Waters’ daughter, makes up what’s become known as Gourmet Ghetto West...
Gather
2200 Oxford Street.
+1 510 809 0400.
“Come as you are” is the culinary battle cry of this newcomer, which caters to omnivores, vegetarians, pescatarians, vegans and the gluten-averse...
Saul’s
1475 Shattuck Avenue.
+1 510 848 3354.
Chez Panisse alum Peter Levitt has retooled a traditional New York deli for a Berkeley audience, striving for “seasonal connectedness” while retaining the nostalgic thrill of the deli experience...
Acme Bread Company
1601 San Pablo Avenue.
+1 510 524 1327.
Steve Sullivan began baking bread in his Berkeley dorm room before taking a job as resident bread man at Chez Panisse...
Peet’s Coffee & Tea
2124 Vine Street.
+1 510 841 0564.
When Alfred Peet opened this modest corner coffee shop in 1966 he helped change the way Americans consumed coffee, introducing European-style dark roast to the Bay Area and beyond...
Cheeseboard Collective & Cheeseboard Pizza Collective
1504 Shattuck Avenue.
+1 510 549 3183.
Genuflect at the altar of fine fromage at this 37-year-old cheese lover’s haven...
Do
Culinary Walk
Lisa Rogovin, formerly in publishing, changed careers to become the epicurean empress behind this popular walking tour. Arrive hungry: for $US75 ($86) you’ll experience Berkeley’s myriad culinary delights, including the mouth-watering black bean polenta topped with salsa and cheddar at the Juice Bar Collective, cupcakes from Love at First Bite, the sensational crispy potato puffs at Gregoire’s and a coffee-tasting flight at Peet’s. Thursdays 11am-2pm.
Stay
Berkeley City Club
2315 Durant Avenue.
Designed by American architect Julia Morgan (Hearst Castle), this classic former women’s club, which opened in 1930, blends Venetian, Moorish and Mediterranean architectural styles. The result is an enduring marvel that has been listed as a California State Historical Landmark. Even though a number of the 35 guestrooms are on the small side – after all, they were never designed to be co-ed – the real joys are found in the public spaces: a grand entrance hall with soaring vaulted ceilings, lush interior courtyards decorated with classical statuary and a spectacular mosaic-tiled, Roman-style indoor swimming pool.
Hotel Shattuck Plaza
2086 Allston Way.
Reopened last year after much-needed renovation, this classical 199-room hotel is situated in the heart of downtown Berkeley. The rooms are stylish and soothing and many have views of the Bay, the Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco. The hotel also has social ambitions: a marble bar lit by Murano chandeliers is a popular after-work hangout and the hotel’s signature restaurant Five, where Scott Howard’s quirky spins on homespun classics, such as macaroni and cheese made with orzo, is attracting critical praise.
Source Qantas The Australian Way September 2010