I am having trouble coming up with an intro to this post, so screw the formalities. Here are some places I ate at this week past!
Gregoire
Our apartment is conveniently close to Berkeley’s “Gourmet Ghetto,” where places like Chez Panisse (the one-star-in-Michelin birthplace of “California cuisine”) and the Cheese Board Collective (delicious communist pizza) are located. One of my favorite places down in the Gourmet Ghetto is Gregoire, a self-described “artisan takeout” joint. While the term ‘artisan’ makes me barf from over-pretension, this description is pretty apt: During lunch, they principally serve tasty sandwiches with weird ingredients, salads, and quiche. The menu changes monthly, so I try to go at least once every month to try the item that sounds most delicious.
Three cheers for distorted iPhone pictures.
February’s choice was easy: Duck breast and jícama and blood orange salad on Dutch crunch (the Dutch actually call “Dutch crunch” tijgerbrood, which means “BREAD OF THE TIGER”). I was not disappointed—the delicious and unmistakable smoothness of duck meat paired well with the crisp jícama and tart blood orange. Here are some pictures:
My sandwich!
Real ginger ale! Behind the ginger ale, a gaysian couple.
Your food is made for you by attractive short-order cooks with full-sleeve tattoos, and then served through the window. Innovation in the extreme.
Bakesale Betty
I do not live so close to this next restaurant, but my non-grad student friends Caylin and Duncan do. Bakesale Betty is located in the Temescal area of Oakland, one of the more gentrified areas of San Francisco’s scrappy kid sister. Bakesale Betty mainly offers (1) baked goods, (2) fried chicken sandwiches, and (3) iced lemonade. I don’t really know what the deal is with restaurants in this area having limited menus, but the results speak for themselves. I mean, just look at this line:
Here is a shibainu that was in line, not because it was food, but because it was fucking adorable.
The line snakes right past a window with tantalizing sights of the joys to come.
Once inside, you see the sandwich assembly line. Fall to your knees before your new gods.
I got a fried chicken sandwich and two scones: pear-ginger and apricot-almond. I was already full from ricotta and orange pancakes just an hour earlier, so I wasn’t sure I’d be able to finish my sandwich, but this theory proved to be incorrect. This is what the sandwiches from Bakesale Betty look like on the inside:
And oh my god, but are they fucking amazing. Someday I will reverse engineer this sandwich, but for now I can really only conjecture as to what goes in it: Thin patties of fried chicken breast, seasoned with the usual suspects (black and red pepper, mostly, I expect). This is accompanied with a salad which I believe consists of shredded fresh cabbage, sweet pickled red onion, thinly sliced jalapeños, minced parsley, and possibly some oil and vinegar (not sure). I do not know how these sandwiches are so good, but trust me when I tell you that all other fried chicken sandwiches are pedestrian crap.
The scones are delicious too, though I didn’t eat them until later. :v
those look delicious!!! now Subway just seems unappetizing.
Subway would be much improved if their menu featured duck. :v QUACK … Rumor has it that they have fresh avocado at Subways in California, but I haven’t yet been desperate enough recently to eat there.
I just tried Boylan’s today, and let me tell you that it is not Ginger Ale. I will tell you what it is: a complete and utter disgrace. Boylan’s is admittedly a shade above the vile soft drinks that pass for ginger ale from fountains. But try Reed’s or Extreme Ginger Brew. They will put hair on your chest and a fire in your belly. They shove their hand down your throat and ask, “Do you like ginger extract, motherfucker? Choose your next words carefully.”
I guess by “real” I meant “not with HFCS.”
I usually refer to real ginger ale as ‘ginger beer’ to avoid confusion with stuff like Canada Dry and its even lesser brethren. I don’t even know if the ale and the beer are different? :0
Both of those describe themselves as “ginger brew”. I’d say Extreme is closer to ginger beer, and Reed’s is closer to ginger ale. There was an Australian ginger beer Wynn brought over once, but I didn’t like it as much as those two.
Also, anything without HFCS is bettar than with.
Though I do want to see if roast pork recipes that call for Coke are better with cane sugar equivalents, or if the extra viscosity of the HFCS helps.