We were fortunate that today was a lay day in the America’s Cup sailing regatta, because we had a busy day planned – and none of it involved being near the water. Max and Sarah had checked out of the Hotel Palomar last night, and due to a clash of timetables their planned stay with Sarah’s sister-in-law Renu was postponed until tonight – this meant they had to find somewhere else to stay in the meantime. The back-up plan was to bunk in with us in our ‘double double deluxe’ room, but hotels.com came through with a reasonably priced room at a hotel just around the corner so they relocated there after dinner. Hence the day started for all of us in two separate locations – Yvonne and I had a light breakfast of fruit and yoghurt in our hotel restaurant, while Max and Sarah were awake early for Max’s 5:00am teleconference. They subsequently checked out and made their way back to our hotel room to store their bags for the day. We then waited in the hotel lobby for over half an hour for an accessible cab to take us across the Bay Bridge to Berkeley, where we had a booking for lunch. After numerous phone calls (to three cab companies) by the very helpful doorman had resulted in no cabs attending, we decided to use the hotel driver; he charged a little more than a cab but made a disconcertingly fast effort to get us to the restaurant in time and was helpful in assisting Max with his transfer between wheelchair and car. He also provided some conversational entertainment during the trip over – we learnt that he was a Muslim from Afghanistan but that he loved Jewish kosher food; he had a favourite ‘burger joint’ near where we were headed which served meat cooked in a Persian style. It was interesting that he used the term ‘Persian’, I’m not sure whether it is an historical reference to the style of cooking or an intentional decision to avoid the use of any words with ‘Iran’ as the stem.
Chez Panisse came highly recommended to me when I was back home last month. It is known for using local, organic foods and credited as the inspiration for the style of cooking known as California cuisine; Alice Waters co-founded it in 1971 and is still heavily involved but on a consultative level. The menu at the restaurant is inspired by what is freshly available and changes daily, so our menu had ‘9 September 2013 Lunch’ printed on the front. Lunches are served in the café upstairs, but because we needed wheelchair accessibility we were seated downstairs in the restaurant itself – no other diners were there, we had a table at the front window and seemingly personalised service. The restaurant had been damaged by fire in March this year and the front section where we were sitting only reopened in June. We all shared 3 appetisers, our individual mains included northern halibut (Max), mushroom parpadelle (Renu), quail (Yvonne and Sarah) and eggplant parmigiana (me). All were swapped around for tastings and all were delicious. We were unanimous in our belief that being a professional mushroom forager, as was the gentleman who apparently collected the chanterelles in Ren’s pasta dish, would be a stress-free job to have – as long as you knew your stuff and remembered to avoid the deadly ones! I have also learnt that someone who forages for mushrooms as a hobby is known as a mycophile.
The main course (or entrée, as it is confusingly referred to in the US) was followed by coffees – Renu also had a fig and raspberry galette which again we all tasted. We were delighted to find a service charge (i.e. tip) of 17% included in the bill when it came – I always find it a nightmare trying to determine how much extra to leave as a gratuity. At $60 per person all up, including a shared bottle of Italian prosecco, it was deemed to be a reasonably priced meal in a restaurant that consistently rates as one of the world’s top 100 – and what a great experience!
We left the restaurant through the downstairs kitchen – the only way to avoid the stairs – and thanked the many staff there on our way out. We all piled into Ren’s car and she drove us a short distance to her former workshop nearby – Hasselgren Engineering. Paul Hasselgren and his team provide design, manufacture and testing for high performance engines (particularly formula cars) but you wouldn’t know this from outside – Renu told us that the appearance from the street is deliberately kept very low-key to avoid too much interest from the hoi polloi. We spent some time touring the numerous workshops, Ren picked up some pistons and other small engine parts to incorporate into some crazy paving she is laying around her garden; she showed us a couple of photos of what she has done so far and it looks fantastic – the mechanical pieces add a personal touch.
We drove back to the city where Max and Sarah collected their bags while Yvonne and I said goodbye to Renu. M & S are staying at her home in Fairfax, we will meet up with them at the airport tomorrow for our flight back to Chicago. Yvonne and I then walked a few blocks to a Williams Sonoma kitchenware store we had spotted yesterday – the one we used to visit in Chicago has closed and we were keen to check this one out. On leaving Williams Sonoma we walked to the nearby Westfield Plaza and were immediately struck by the circular escalator – with steps, just like a regular escalator, but spiralling between the floors. I spent some time deliberating where the ‘loop’ was, but couldn’t quite figure it out in the short time we were there.
We returned to the Hotel Palomar for wine hour and a light meal in the lounge which was all we needed after a larger than usual lunch. Went for a walk to a nearby park while it was still light, but the ubiquitous fog was descending and it was becoming quite misty and cool, so we did not stay long. An early night seemed to be called for.