I'm enjoying my stay in Bay Area. My friend showed me around her neighbor gourmet spots today.
We had a brunch at Cafe Fanny by Alice Waters. It's such a cute cafe with both breakfast and lunch menu.
I had cafe au lait, millet muffin, buckwheat crepe, and soup du jour (winter minestrone). Everything was really great and totally hit my spot! The muffin was so good that I wanted to know their recipe...it wasn't too sweet, and had a very nice fluffy texture.
Right next door is Acme Bread Company's original location. We picked up a couple of bread to serve with cheese for the dinner.
Then, we headed to "Gourmet Ghetto", which is a so-called name for Shattuck Ave. in North Berkeley. There are many restaurants (of course, the most famous is Chez Panisse) and gourmet stores in a few blocks stretch of the street. I loved The Cheese Board Collective, which is a huge cheese and bakery shop. Right next door is their pizza restaurant with live music. So nice! We were still too full to try the pizza, but we get to pick up some really nice cheese to try with Acme's bread in the evening.
The last stop was Rockridge Market Hall in Oakland. They have (another) nice cheese shop, butcher, fish shop, cafe, deli, etc. inside. And, most importantly, there is Paul Marcus Wines, which is my friend Paul's wine shop. They have many fantastic wines at different price ranges. We picked up a few wines for the evening, too.
I really enjoyed the gourmet field trip in the bay area!
So we had dinner at my friends' house. Her partner (who used to be a professional chef) made fantastic dishes for us.
Piping hot anchovy pizza!
Braised duck legs in port and dry apricot sauce. So delicious.
Yes, we did also enjoy the wines and cheese course we picked up earlier that day, with Acme's bread. Nigl, Brut de Brut...Nigl is one of my favorite producers in Austria, and his sparkling is quite hard to find in this market. It's a blend of Gruner Veltliner and Chardonnay. It had the clean minerality and tart spiciness with smooth mousse. 2005 Domaine Maurice Ecard, Savigny-les-Beaune 1er Cru, "Les Serpentieres"...one of the top producers of Savigny...it had the elegant balance of the acidity, earthiness, cherry, and soft texture. I thought the wine was just ready now and gorgeous. 2004 Francesco Rinaldi, Barbaresco...great structure with the very dry tannins, dry fruit, and rich texture. The wine opened up nicely after 20+ minutes in the glass.
Fantastic night.
