Californian cuisine 1

We had some great food in Berkeley.  First afternoon we were lucky enough to get a table at short notice at Chez Panisse Upstairs.  This is the mothership of Californian cuisine, and helmed by the Alice Waters.  Californian cuisine is a fushion cuisine drawing inspiration from the French, Italian and other migrant communities in California, and making use of fresh local produce.  It's simple food, perfectly made, bringing the best out of the ingredients.  That's why local fresh produce works best!

Discrete entrace under a beautiful tree

There were 4 of us, so we got to try quite a number of dishes!
A yellowtail jack carpaccio with citrus vinegrette, radishes and anise hyssop

Forgot what salad this was

Sunchoke and celery soup with mint

Pizetta with wild mushrooms, new garlic, nettle and pecorino

Unfortunately we forgot to take with us the full menu.
This was a halibut with cabbage and potatoes in a butter sauce.

This was a artichoke, parmesan, rosemary salad

Onion rings, spinach and a meat which we forgot.
Sorry neither of us has good memory :)

best grocery store in the world!

We recently went on an Easter trip and spent a few days in Berkeley.  m2 spent a few years there some time ago and took the opportunity to show s2 the best grocery store in the world---the Berkeley Bowl.  This is an independent supermarket just south of the downtown area with like the most amazing selection of produce.  Like really the most amazing selection of produce in the world.  Did I say it's got the most amazing selection of produce?  In the world? :) (at least among what we have seen)

There were like 20-30 varieties each of apples, citrus fruits, mushrooms, chillies...  There was a whole aisle of dried goods, at least ten varieties of rice, a whole bunch of pastas, nuts, dried fruits, grains, cereals... Many produce were labelled with their origins, with many grown locally in California.  They specialise in bulk food sale and also have an amazing cooked food section.  Interestingly there was no candy aisle, unlike every other supermarket on Earth.

Here's a few photos for proof.  

Citrus fruits...Oranges, Satsumas, Tangerines, Mandarins etc!

Apples as far as your eye can see !

Apples apples and more apples

Mushrooms

There were like 5 shelves of miso!

Herbs and spices

our modest selection of local produce ...
golden delicious, d'anjou pear (red), satsumas and avocados,
 flat round disc is a salt and pepper chocolate. 

Red earth flood plains

In a bid to finish remaining stock of fresh produce in fridge before a trip, we hatched a recipe for carrot , beetroot and dill soup with crème fraîche.

In an accidental botched seasoning , apple cider vinegar also featured in the soup! It was an appetizing and heartening meal !