The cooking at Chez Panisse Cafe was as good as ever when The Astronomer, June, and I stopped in for a quick lunch on our way to Sonoma for Cousin Andrew’s wedding. Opened in 1980 above Chez Panisse, the famed birthplace of California Cuisine, the Cafe serves a seemingly simple menu that satisfies with the precision and care of its execution. We feasted on baked goat cheese with garden lettuces, rigatoni with basil pesto, and braised lamb with chilies and cumin, but the highlight was the “Pizzetta” with tomato sauce, anchovy, capers, and marjoram ($22).

The cheese-less pie was a wonder. Every slice contained a plump and briny anchovy filet, balanced just so with the spice-flecked tomato sauce. The foundational crust brought it all together— light yet sturdy and ever-so-slightly charred. Swoon, Gourmet Ghetto-style.

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Chez Panisse Cafe
1517 Shattuck Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94709
Phone: 510-548-5525

One year ago: The Arthur J – Manhattan Beach
Two years ago: Slacker.
Three years ago: N/Naka – Los Angeles
Four year ago: {swoon} Grilled Cheese with Pastrami at The Hat
Five years ago: “Old Chengdu Traditional Dishes” at Dan Dan Tian Shui Mian – Chengdu
Six years ago: Umami Burger – Pasadena
Seven years ago: Son of a Gun – Los Angeles
Eight years ago: Crest Cafe – San Diego (Hillcrest)
Nine years ago: Maple Bacon Biscuits
Ten years ago: Phở Hòa- San Diego
Eleven years ago: Cơm Tấm – Broken Rice
Twelve years ago: Jim ‘N Nick’s – Birmingham