Edible Excursions
by Unknown
My boss had reservations to an EdibleExcursions food tour of the gourmet ghetto in Berkeley, but couldn't make it so he offered it to me. I normally don't like tours but this one had the promise of free food in my neighborhood. I've been to most of the places we visited, but didn't know all the history and influence that they've had on food culture in America. This was the birthplace of the fresh food movement during an era of the industrial agriculture juggernaut. Organic food used to be synonymous with poor quality food in the minds of the American masses until Alice Waters championed the idea that fresh local food is delicious. Salad often meant iceberg lettuce before these ideas sprouted, but now we can find a spring mix in every supermarket across the country. The movement of tasty fresh local food blossomed in this neighborhood of Berkeley, anchored by Chez Panisse and the Cheeseboard Collective.
Our first stop was Saul's Restaurant & Delicatessen. Its a deli that defies the unspoken rule of sticking to tradition like many NYC delis that are disappearing. They are one of the only places left that smokes their own pastrami in house. Saul's also goes through the effort to provide their own in house sodas instead of serving the deli staple, Dr. Browns. I was surprised to learn that Dr. Browns has been bought out by a big box soda manufacturer and is not the same as their products from yesteryear. We tried samples of Saul's pastrami sandwiches and homemade celery soda.
The original Peet's Coffee founded by Alfred Peet is on a quiet little corner of Berkeley. Mr. Peet came to America from Holland to work for Maxwell House and was appalled by the quality of coffee that Americans were drinking. Peet's was the first coffee house in America to do dark roasts and blends of coffees from around the world. The founder's of Starbucks worked at this location and took the idea and ran with it in Seattle. I learned that the "third wave" coffee shops characterized by baristas with beards and tattoos are more focused on single origin coffees with less attention paid to a consistent flavor profile, something that Peet's strives for with their blends.
The next stop was down the street and inside the Epicurious Garden, a collection of shops doing gourmet takeout. We stopped at Claudio Corallo to get a lesson on chocolate. The chocolate here grows wild on the island nation of Sao Tome e Principe off the west coast of Africa. This was the first time I've ever tried serious chocolate. We sampled a 100% bar with no flavorings or emulsifiers and it was eye opening. They sell bars with a lower precent chocolate with sugar mixed in that is a bit more familiar, but is still only two ingredients. These bars didn't have an emulsifier which results in a grittier texture than common bars. They gave us a competitor bar that is still high quality for a taste test and the additives in regular chocolate bars give it a sour taste and velvety texture that wasn't present in the pure bars. I won't look at chocolate the same way ever again.
We stopped at SooP on our way out of the Epicurious Garden. The proprietors are obsessed with good produce and soup. Its as simple as that. They have a constantly changing menu of hearty soups. We got to try the Thai Red Lentil soup and it was delicious.
A door opens at the backside of the Epicurious Garden into a courtyard hidden from the street. The Imperial Tea Court is located here and is the brainchild of Roy Fong, an expert in the tea's of China. He started a teahouse in the SF Chinatown in the 90's to introduce high quality teas to a western audience. The chinatown branch has since closed and Roy now operates out of Berkeley and the Ferry Building in SF for a mind boggling $7000 monthly lease. He travels constantly in search of quality teas. We got to try a top shelf jasmine tea that was fragrant and floral. He has a factory that operates three months out of the year in China to harvest and process jasmine flowers to his standards. Not the smartest business move, but he does it for the love of tea.
Across the street and around the corner is a recent store called The Local Butcher Shop. The specialize in naturally meats raised within 150 miles of Berkeley. They butcher the animal in house and use every part of the animal. Their cold storage areas even have a window to prove they have nothing to hide. I learned that grass fed beef is a seasonal product. During spring time when the cows are eating green grass, the fat content and marbling takes a dive resulting in leaner cuts. When the cows are eating dry grass, the fat content skyrockets and you get the lovely inter-tissue marbling in the meat. The owners are trained chefs and alumni of Chez Panisse. They serve amazing sandwiches using the high quality meats they sell.
The tour went on to the Cheeseboard Collective for the pizza of the day: Fresh California corn, onion, mozzarella and Valbreso feta cheese, cilantro, garlic olive oil, Avocado sauce! We also stopped at Gregoire's, a seasonal french takeout joint, famous for their potato puffs. The cooks here have to sign a nondisclosure agreement to protect the potato puff recipe. The tour ended with a wine tasting of wines from Napa Valley at Vintage Berkeley.
I really enjoyed the tour not only because of the food, but the history lesson behind each store and its impact on food culture in this country. I'm looking forward to attending a few more of these tours in the neighborhoods of San Francisco.
