Yesterday I had my fourth interview with Jean-Pierre, the head chef at Chez Panisse, the restaurant that starred in my first blog. To me that makes one full circle. Jean-Pierre is obviously extremely busy, so rather than having a few long interviews, we have many shorter ones. I have zero objections about “having to” keep coming back to Chez Panisse and sitting in the dining room, watching the kitchen at a roiling boil, smelling the tantalizing aromas and listening to Jean-Pierre tell me about his life. Every time I come I don’t know what I’m going to find. I’ve seen tourists who get lost on their way upstairs, famous guest chefs, and yesterday a group of people who work in the kitchen of the Berkeley Homeless Shelter. Right now the restaurant is having each cook from the shelter’s kitchen spend one day cooking with the staff at Chez Panisse. I think it’s pretty incredible what a single restaurant can become.
After my interview I walked to the North Berkeley Bart Station to pick up my new friend Anais, who is visiting for one week from Grenoble, trying to decide if she wants to come and live here for a while. Her boyfriend works as an engineer for Yahoo and they have offered him a position in California. Because I love it here and think everyone should, I am happy to play salesgirl for the Bay Area, plus I really wanted Anais to enjoy her short stay. As we walked through the flowering streets of Berkeley we picked sprigs of Jasmine, lavender and rosemary as the blossoming Magnolias in every shade from cream to the deepest burgundy competed for our attention with the delicate pink plum blossoms. I wanted to walk to the Rose Garden because although there are no roses right now, I love the walk for the houses, the crooked trees, the naked, full-hipped statue of a woman on horseback saluting the view, the giant cage full of perpetually chirping parakeets and the glimpses Golden Gate bridge you can spy as you ascend the winding street.
As we were making our way through the Gourmet Ghetto, with a detour at the Chez Panisse menu of course, we ran into my dad, who was on his way to our favorite wine shop. He had a dinner party to go to, but insisted on showing us “something bizarre”. We could not refuse. So he ended up actually driving us to the Rose Garden, but it was not the lack of roses that he wanted us to see. We crossed the street and went into the park across the way. We walked up a set of stairs and up a narrow paved path. Ignoring the ‘Private No Trespassing sign’, as my dad and I both love to do to my husband’s chagrin, and walking through a tiny gate we were suddenly on a completely unpaved trail. Anais and I were both wearing heels, and knowing my dad’s lack of concern for such small details I was a little bit afraid. But after a short hike through the mud (it has been raining), over twisted roots and mossy stones we ended up at a WATERFALL! It looked like we were in total wilderness, because there was nothing but twisted trees and moss all around, yet we were in the middle of a Berkeley residential area. In the end two muddied pairs of boots and the fear of breaking our necks for a few moments was well worth the detour.
My dad went on to his dining destination while Anais and I made our leisurely descent past the parakeets, the horsewoman statue and the views. “I love all the smells. I wish I could take them back to France with me,” said Anais taking deep breaths. Having worked up our appetites, we stopped at the Thursday Farmer’s Market for a local mini feast. We tasted some amazing Spring Hill white goat cheddar and vanilla quark, and then sampled every single Frog Hollow Jam, which all taste like sealed summer in a jar. Anais bought three to take home and I couldn’t resist the tug of the Nectarine-Plum Preserves, (which I’m eating with yogurt and oatmeal as I write this.)
Laden with our purchases, we made our way over to Cesar, where Anais drank her first California wine. We then toasted France and friendship with a flight of Calvados at which time the boys walked through the door. We topped off the evening with an amazing dinner at Burma Superstar, where we ate curried catfish, braised pork belly, coconut rice, rainbow salad, lamb and garlic noodles. If I were Anais, I’d live here.
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