by gothere

November 6, 2002

From journal A week in the Bay Area

Alice Waters is largely credited with the creation and popularity of Californian cuisine, and after a meal at her restaurant, it wasn't too difficult for us to see why. We had lunch at the Chez Panisse Cafe, the slightly more casual, upstairs, lunch-only portion of Chez Panisse Restaurant. It was easily one of the best meals I have ever eaten.

I wasn't sure if Chez Panisse would live up to its hype, but any doubts I had were dispelled as soon as I took my first bite of my appetizer. The food is incredible. Everything we ate was fresh and clean, like the heirloom tomato and tuna salad I had, and my friend's wild salmon. The dishes were also remarkably executed without being too complicated. Several of the desserts we had were simply a revelation -things I had never tasted before. The fruit-based desserts in particular are highly recommended.

The atmosphere and service were excellent as well. The room itself is pretty casual, but elegant. Our waiter was very kind to us. Seeing how much difficulty we were having deciding on dessert, he chose for us and surprised us, but brought us three rather than two selections (but charged us only for two).

The cafe menu changes each week, but check it out at chezpanisse.com. You can also find the week's menu for the downstairs formal dining room on that site.

Chez Panisse is located in Berkeley, so it's great to plan a day around going there. It's not near the university, but nearby are several cute boutiques, and some excellent cheese shops.

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