A VISITOR FROM THE EAST COAST

Two weeks ago Sue Min was in town for her dental school interviews. It was fun seeing a friend from Boston- the very first one to visit us from the East Coast. And of course, this gave us the perfect opportunity to go check out a new restaurant. Since Sue Min had missed her flight the previous evening- she arrived right before our lunch reservations at Chez Panisse, so that was the first stop we made after she had landed.

As many of you may already know, Chez Panisse is the highly influential restaurant in North Berkeley founded by Alice Waters. It is the cornerstone of an area that's now known as the Gourmet Ghetto and Alice Waters effectively established California cuisine- the use of fresh, local, organic, seasonal ingredients. We had lunch in the upstairs part of the restaurant, which is also known as the cafe. (The bottom part is only open for dinner). After being seated in the wooden and brass accented dining room, I realized that I'd been here before. 10 years ago when I was still deciding on what college to attend, I had visited Berkeley and my cousin had brought me here for dinner. I still remember that fava bean salad we had from that night.

After taking a look at the menu, Sue Min and I ended up ordering the same thing while Tom got the prix fixe menu, which was actually a pretty good deal. The menu really did feature a lot of local growers and ingredients. Sue Min and I started with what ended up being our favorite dish of the day, a little gems salad with anchovies, egg and I forget what else.

The salad dressing on this was perfect. I wish I could figure out how to make it myself. Actually, I'm sure it's in Alice Waters' new cook book. At any rate, I quickly gobbled it up and could have eaten more.

Next came our main course. I actually forget what kind of fish it is now, but both Sue Min and I found it a bit overcooked. It was simply poached and dressed with a good olive oil and fresh herbs. However, Sue Min really like the turnips that were served on the side, while I enjoyed the fresh, flavorful potatoes.

Here's Tom's calamari spaghetti. He also enjoyed this, and I liked the smokiness of that the grilled calamari brought to the spaghetti.

Of course, we had to have dessert. This is Tom's dessert. It a huckleberry and pear sorbet sitting in a pool of muscat. I actually ended up trading desserts with him. He didn't like the muscat, but I think it paired perfectly with the sorbets.

Meanwhile, I ordered this chocolate cake, which ended up tasting a bit like an overcooked chocolate brownie. It wasn't chocolatey enough for me and I think I could've done a better job at home.

Overall our lunch was good, but really pricey. I can see how this restaurant was revolutionary when it started, especially after the excess of the 80s, but the principles of Alice Waters are now very well established. When I know that I can go down the street to the farmer's market and buy the exact same produce, that I get veggies just as fresh in my CSA box every week, that I can drive over to Acme bakery and buy the same bread, it just doesn't seem like a meal here is worth the high price tag. But I'm glad that we were able to try it and figure that out.