As a food-lover and formerly devoted food-blog-reader (I mean, I was working while I was in New York, I swear…), I have wanted to go to Chez Panisse for at least 4 years now. When I moved up to Berkeley, I knew that I couldn’t leave without having eaten here at least once.
Okay, so I didn’t really make it. Chez Panisse itself is entirely out of my budget. But the cafe is not! So I invited G along and went to sample their dinner. (Note to self: catch-up dinners are not the right kind of dinners when you want to pay attention to the food — the food ended up being a bit of a blur since talking required some effort.)
It started off on a great note, with a good waiter’s recommendation of the Barbera d’Asti over the Rioja (if only I could remember more details about the label in order to get it again). I ordered the quail ($24), which was from some local farm whose name I didn’t recognize and was accompanied by polenta, figs and sage, and some sort of sauteed pepper/onion medley. The polenta had actual pieces of corn in it. Truth be told, I would have preferred it without. But the quail was absolutely delicious. Perfectly done in terms of moistness and filled through and through with flavor. None of that “in-the-middle-of-the-chicken-dry-and-flavorless-spot.” Although I suppose it’s quite a bit easier to achieve when it’s a tenth of the size of a chicken.
Dessert, unfortunately, was a flop. It sounded good on paper: rhubarb tart and strawberry ice cream. But it came out looking oddly like a slice of pizza and far too sugary sweet. The strawberry ice cream, while undoubtedly freshly homemade, just made me think of those Pocky strawberry sticks. Same color, same flavor. I had to pass on the dessert in the end.
The decor is a bit generic American. Quite nice but a little bland. And the noise level is a bit high for having a conversation, at least if you’re two relatively word-swallowing individuals. I realized, while sitting there though, that it’s been quite a while since I’ve been to a nice restaurant not with my family. Such is the life of a grad student…
Still, I’m glad I went and in some ways I’m glad that it didn’t live up to my imagined hype. Perhaps the dining room downstairs would wow. But at least now I don’t feel entirely out of the know when it comes to Alice Waters and I don’t feel a desperate compulsion to get myself to the dining room.
Cafe menu: changes daily, offers a fixed menu ($25-26), appetizers $9-15, entrees $19-25, dessert $9-10
1517 Shattuck b/t Cedar and Vine