Chez Panisse Café
(California, Mediterranean)
1517 Shattuck Avenue
Berkeley, California 94709
510 548 5049
BART to downtown Berkeley (but it’s still a hike from there)

On a recent Saturday afternoon, a friend and I walked 2 miles from a shop on University Avenue in Berkeley in order to dine at Chez Panisse Café for lunch. We were worn, exhausted, and hungry. Sourdough bread and butter were brought to our table promptly. The bread was tough which I’ve grown accustomed to with sourdough. The butter was tougher as it most likely traveled directly from refrigerator to our table. As you will gather from my previous and future reviews, bad bread and butter at an expensive restaurant can easily cause a restaurant’s descent.

First was the roasted peppers with sheep’s milk ricotta and olive toast. We decided on this after seeing it being served to our neighbor’s table. I am a lover of ricotta in every possible way one can dream to serve it. Sadly, this ricotta was a letdown. It wasn’t very tasty nor creamy and as a centerpiece to the dish, the dish was disjointed. The heirloom and cherry tomato salad with aioli was excellent. The cherry tomatoes were sweet, tangy, and delicious – everything I’d expect from the in-season tomato, as well as from the restaurant. The aioli was unnecessary for the olive oil and basil served with the tomatoes were more than sufficient.

The Garganelli pasta with shell beans, rapini, and hot pepper tasted as though the rapini and beans were seasoned together and then added to the pasta. Everything but the pasta was over-salty almost to the point of being inedible. There was a slight hint of hot pepper but so light that it hardly deserved mention. The pasta itself was the best part of the meal as its surface area absorbed just enough of the saltiness of the beans. The grilled chicken breast saltimbocca with sweet corn polenta and Romano beans was good. The chicken breast was more tender than I would have expected from the cut and its wrap in bacon added a hint of flavor. The polenta was outstanding and the beans that accompanied the dish were delicious.

For dessert, we shared two: the almond cake with strawberries and the kirsch custard with summer berry coulis and pain d’amandes. The cake was a great idea, but tasted like a swig of almond extract. The custard was too syrupy and fruity although the custard itself was marvelous. If I could do it again, I probably would have ordered something much more basic like the coffee-chocolate-almond ice cream.

From what I read, Alice Waters tries to achieve the essence of dining at home. That is what it was in many ways: conceptually grand but unfinished and somewhat sloppy.
Overall I was underimpressed by the meal but delighted by its highlights.