Notes on a Berkeley

It started with La Note. One of the most comforting brunch places I've ever seen. Decorated in a true French provencal style, La Note has stolen my heart. There's something about seeing brunch items such as "Fresh Bread Basket served with lavender honey and raspberry jam" that puts me in my happy place. The simplicity of a warm croissant smothered in jam and a steaming cup of coffee... it's perfection. Did I order that? Well, no. How could I pass up luscious, fluffy, sweet Oatmeal and Raspberry Pancakes?? After all, I was only there for a day! I planned on eating my pancakes and getting an almond croissant to go to munch on throughout the day. Didn't happen. I was too full. Anyway these pancakes were amazing. Dark and slightly doughy, covered in a swirl of raspberry coulis and powdered sugar. Caty got the Cote Nord- scrambled eggs over chewy toasted whole wheat bread smeared with goat cheese. That came with potatoes (big chunks of roasted red potatoes!) and roasted tomato halves. Très bien! We were full, but this was only the start to our day of gluttony.

Oatmeal Raspberry Pancakes

Cote Nord

We walked around Telegraph for a bit, stopped into Buffalo Exchange where I found a cute silky best-friend-approved top (slated to make its debut in New York in 3 weeks) and a black Proenza Schouler Jacket for only $16! Crazy! We also went to Fourth Street and walked around for a little bit. The shops were adorable. That's where Bette's Oceanview Diner is, a place that apparently makes delectable souffle pancakes that I'd seen on Diners Driveins and Dives before. I stopped into Chocolatier Blue, a fancy lil sweets place, and got two chocolates. One was hazelnut and the other had an angel food cake filling (almondesque)- both very good.

Hazelnut and Angel Food Cake Chocolates

We raced back to Shattuck Ave. to get to the Cheese Board Collective in time to meet our friends and house mates (Tristin and Ashelen) who were in Berkeley for their A Cappella Competition which was the whole reason we were in Berkeley. Cheese Board is a worker-owned and run pizza place that serves one vegetarian specialty pizza per day. The ingredients are locally sourced and organic. Yesterday's pizza was with roma tomatoes, mozzarella, feta, caramelized onions, lemon juice and zest, and cilantro. They are open for lunch, close for an hour and a half, and open again for dinner. The lines are loooooong, but it goes by quick since there's not much on the menu. We were greeted by our friends sitting outside and a "Guys, cheese board is closed" from Marjorie who happily finished her last bites of pizza and salad. We thought that they closed from 3:30-5, but it turned out they closed from 3-4:30. Whoops. We decided we'd come back for dinner. I went into Cheese Board's bakery and cheese store next door to grab a loaf of bread and I made the day's happiest discovery. Cheese Board sells Labneh. Cue the ear to ear smile on my face. Labneh is "kefir cheese" which is basically really thick unsweetened yogurt. At Sara's house, I gladly help myself to a bowlful of labneh drizzeled with olive oil, salt, and zaatar eaten with toasted pita and/or lavash. Good luck getting me to share. I crave it all the time, but they don't sell it anywhere in Santa Cruz so I had to buy one. I also got a blueberry ginger scone because, well... why the hell not? The scone was perfect with its crunchy outside, soft inside and chunks of crystallized ginger. Skipping ahead a little, we went back to Cheese Board for dinner and it hit the spot. One of the best Pizza's I've ever had. A thin crispy crust, but still a little chewy. No sauce, all toppings. Bright flavors. Oh yeah, baby.

Our glorious pizza.

Crystallized Ginger chunks in my scone.
Don't mind my gross nails.

Gimme gimme.

Cheese Board's kitchen and patrons.

Going back to 3pm and our disappointment at missing lunch, Tristin, Caty and I went to College Ave to grab some lunch for Tris before she had to go to campus for sound check. We got La Mediterranee (or Cafe La Med), but just a lentil salad because we wanted to save our appetites for dinner later. The lentil salad was so good! I have no idea what kind of lentils these were but they were really big, and light in color. The salad had roasted red and yellow peppers, tomato, and carrot in it. The dressing was lemon and olive oil I believe. The inside of Cafe La Med was super cute, tons of tile, an open kitchen, and high ceilings. I totally forgot to get pictures, sorry! The menu reminded me of the restaurant I worked at over the summer, Sunnin Lebanese Cafe.

So now it's 4:15, we drop Tris off on campus, run around town a little bit and meet Caty's friend Katrina for our splendid and overdue pizza date at Cheese Board. When we left the restaurant, the line was winding down the street, almost around the corner. The people of Berkeley need their pizza! We had some time to kill so we drove up to the Lawrence Lab to gawk at the most spectacular view of Berkeley. It was clear last night and we could see everything. We could see the ocean, the Bay Bridge, and Golden Gate Bridge, and the lights across the bay in San Francisco. It was finally time to go see the girls sing and they did such a great job!! After the competition Caty and I stopped for one last Berkeley treat- King Pin Donuts in the Asian Ghetto. The only donut I really like is a cake donut with vanilla frosting and rainbow sprinkles (which is weird because I don't really like sprinkles). King Pin had exactly what I wanted, but it was half rainbow sprinkles, half coconut!! I was so happy. We ate our donuts in the car and drove back home to  relax after one of the longest, but best days we'd had in a while. The day ended with a smile, just as it started with one.

Congrats on your first ICCAs girls!

A pancake induced smile.