David Bunnell

Berkeley Gourmet: This Week's Culinary Highlights

Friday Night at the Cheeseboard

I didn't actually eat at the Cheeseboard this past week, but I did walk by Friday evening and was inspired to take the above video. The Cheeseboard is one reason I love living in Berkeley and especially in the "gourmet ghetto."

What makes the Cheeseboard so special? In the first place it's a co-op, owned by the workers....in other words, communist! Yes, Lenin lives in Berkeley!

Secondly, they have live music by amazingly good muscians, mostly blues and rock but I've heard reggae and salsa there as well.  

Third reason: the Cheeseboard only serves one type of vegetarian pizza every day. Friday is was "Fresh corn, Chile pasilla, Onions, French feta, Mozzarella, Mexican key limes, Cilantro, and Garlic olive oil."

The pizza is always so good I seldom bother reading their chalkboard menu but if you need to know ahead of time you can following them on twitter @cheeseboard. They send out just one tweet every morning, which is, you probably guessed it, the topping for that day's pie.

Here's today's tweet:

The finaly reason the Cheeseboard is so special is it is not just pizza. The Cheeseboard is two side-by-side store fronts--the second one sells the best selection of cheeses you can get in Berkeley (plus, the worker-communist staffers really know their cheeses) and they also bake fresh baked rolls and pastries which people line up for in the morning. 

I eat a slice of Cheeseboard pizza, plus one of their small tossed salads, about once a month but I walk by almost every day and it always makes me smile.

The single best meal I had this week was just a simple sandwich, the "Spicy Hog" sandwich at Southie, which if you don't know, is the sandwich shop next door to, and owned by Wood Tavern on College Avenue in Rockridge. The pork was perfectly cooked, tender and juicy and the coleslaw spicy and just slightly sweet. 

I sat at the counter and watched chef Morgwn Jones prepare other amazing sandwiches including a roast beef sandwich that was almost as tall as the ones they make at New York's Carnegie Deli and a wonderful marinated artichoke and arugula sandwich on a torpedo roll (which you would never find in New York). 

At night, Southie serves a completely different dinner menu and since you can almost never get into Wood Tavern, it gets plenty of business from the overflow. Highly recommended.

The most fun evening I had this past week was at the Memphis Barbecue Wednesday night at T-REX. The new chef, Ryan Lafferty, is determined to make T-REX the "best place for barbecue in the world." He's got his work cut out for him, but the guy really knows barbecue and T-REX has never been this good before.

Next Wednesday there will be a "Texas Barbecue" special at T-REX and like this past Wednesday it will be all you can eat for $19. And it will be great! 

 Thursday night was also special. Jackie and I went to Lalime's where we had a fabulous seafood dinner, highlighted by Sand Dabs and the best Alaskan salmon I've had this season. Everytime I eat one of Brian White's prix fixe dinners I think it is his best ever and then then somehow he always tops himself. 

Lalime's has a prix fixe dinner every Thursday and Friday, usually focused on seafood. If you like to get on their mailing list (and that of T-REX and other K2 restaurants) you can do so by clicking here. 

The other great meal I had this past week was a late night snack at Adesso, a fun bar scene where they make their own charcuterie. At some point in the near future I going to write a more extensive article about Adesso, because I love it!

But, that's it for now.  I'm meeting some friends at Paisan, where they just started a breakfast centered around housemade pastries and Blue Bottle Coffee and I'm never late, that's just not my style.  

--DB 

 

 

 

Kingston 11 at Guerilla Cafe this Friday Night

Founders Nigel Jones and Adrian Henderson (pictured above) want you to know their Jerk Meats are smoke roasted Jamaican style. The spices and herbs are from the Caribbean, and in order to achieve a high-quality fresh taste, they purchase seasonal vegetables and fruits daily from local farmers.

Jamaican Dinner EVENT at Guerilla Cafe

Friday, December 10

6 p.m. - 10 p.m.

RESERVATIONS

510-214-2311

MENU

Salt Fish Fritters $7.00

Plantain with black bean sauce and sour cream $7.00

  

JERK CHICKEN

served with green salad, rice & peas $12.50

SALMON STEAK WITH GINGER BUTTER

served with sweet potato fries & swiss chard with dried cherries & pine nuts

$13.00

ROASTED LAMB WITH ROSEMARY & THYME

served with sautéed string beans, rice and peas - $15.00

 

SIDES

Sweet potato fries, swiss chard & sautéed string beans

$4.00 each

 

Deserts from Pietisserie

(Random Acts of Sweetness)

GINGER-LEMON PIE $6.50

BANANA CHAI/NILLA crust PIE $6.50

 

Sangria and a SELECTION OF BEERS AND WINES

SELECTION OF COFFEE AND TEA DRINKS

We are using fresh and seasonal ingredients, some items may be limited.

Cash only

20 Buck Steak Night at Jimmy Bean's

3-Course New York Steak & Wine Dinner (THIS Friday Only, December 10, 2010) menu Marinated Beet Salad baby arugula, orange segments, crispy goat cheese Grilled New York Steak twice baked Yukon Gold potato, Dino Kale * Crème Brulée $20 (Glass of Australian Malbec included)   Jimmy Beans is located at 1290 6th Street on the corner of 6th & Gilman Dinner is served 5 p.m. - 9:30 p.m. Reservations are not necessary "Hope to see you here on Friday night!"                                     --Chef Eric Everett

Festive Jamaican Dinner Tonight at Berkeley's Guerilla Cafe

Kingston 11

Jamaican Dinner EVENT at Guerilla Cafe

Friday, December 3

6 p.m. - 10 p.m.

RESERVATIONS

510-214-2311

MENU

Salt Fish Fritters $8.00

Pumpkin-Carrot-Ginger Soup $6.00

Plantain with black bean sauce and sour cream $8.00

  

JERK CHICKEN

served with sweet potato fries & green salad $12.50

Curry Shrimp

served with kale, dried cherries, pine nuts and rice - $13.00

ROASTED RIBEYE STEAK

served with sautéed string beans and rice - $15.00

 

Sweet potato fries, kale & sautéed string beans

$4.00 each

 

Deserts from Pietisserie

(Random Acts of Sweetness)

Yam/GINGER PIE $6.50

Banana Chai/nilla crust PIE $6.50

White chocolate raspberry cheesecake $6.50

 

Sangria and a SELECTION OF BEERS AND WINES

SELECTION OF COFFEE AND TEA DRINKS

We are using fresh and seasonal ingredients, some items may be limited.

Cash only

"Ah Sey One!" Kingston 11 Opening Night at Guerilla Cafe

The joint was rockin, that's for sure--when "Kingston 11," the new Nigel Jones's Jamaican Restaurant, took over the Guerilla Cafe last Thursday evening for its lively debut. People were lined up at the door at 6 p.m. and it stayed that way well past 9.

The food was great, but for me the music, beautiful people, and party atmosphere were equally great. And this is only the beginning. Nigel's goal is to turn every Friday at Guerilla Cafe into a Kingston 11 evening where "all folks can enjoy our changing food offerings and feel like they are in a Caribbean kitchen with friends enjoying the food, music and lively scene."

Growing up in Kingston, Nigel's cooking career started at age 10 when he complained to his grandmother about the food choices they had for an evening meal. She said to him, "if you don't like what we are having for dinner, then you need to learn how to cook for yourself." His grandmother then proceeeded to give him cooking lessons and from that moment on he was obsessed.

The influence of the Jamaican world on his culinary development was enormous, "food was everywhere, constantly in a pot being cooked at home, a freind's house, from street vendors to the highest level and priced food. And it all seemed good to me."

Nigel has no formal training as a chef, but this hardly seems to matter as you'd be hard-pressed to find better Jamaican food anywhere else. His jerk chicken, pictured above with sweet potato fries, is marinated overnight with just the right amount of seasoning or "jerk" to give it a kick without knocking you out. It is then perfectly grilled on a  smoke grill.

My favorite dish was the plantains with black bean sauce and sour cream. The plantains were firm on the outside, and gooey on the inside; the beans spicy and the sour cream cold and refreshing.  I imagine the plantains and jerk chicken will become mainstays of the Kingston 11 menu. In fact, Nigel confirmed this to me in an email concerning the menu for this coming week.

"This week (Friday) we will offer a pumpkin-carrot-ginger soup along with salt-fish fritters and plantain dishes for starts. Additionally we will have a curry shrimp and roasted ribeye steak along with the jerk chicken for the 3 main course dishes."

I'd strongly urge anyone who missed last week's opening to make a point of coming to Guerilla Cafe on Friday night. The fun starts at 6 pm. Or as they say in Jamaica, a Kingston 11 night is "bad like yaz."

Guerilla Cafe is located at 1620 Shattuck Avenue in Berkeley, near Cedar Street. For reservations or more information, please email: kingston11eats@gmail.com

Guerilla Cafe Site of Kingston 11's Jamaican Dinner Event Tonight

Menu

Codfish Cakes $8

Mixed Green Salad with Plum & Pear $7

Plantain with Black Bean Sauce & Sour Creme $8

Jerk Chicken served with Sweet Potato Fries & Green Salad $12.50

Fish Steak with Ginger Butter served with Kale, Dried Cherries, Pine Nuts & Rice $14

Roasted Lamb with Rosemary & Thyme served with sauteed String Beans & Rice $16

 

Ginger-Lemon Pie $6.50

Pumpkin/Chocolate Crust Pie $6.50

Banana Chai/Nilla Crust Pie $6.50

(Ginger Beer. Selection of Beers & Wines. Coffee & Tea Drinks)

We only use fresh, seasonal ingrediants so some items may be limited.

How to First Dismantle & Then Perfectly Cook Your Turkey

Realizing it is impossible to perfectly cook a whole turkey, Chef Grant Achatz has come up to resolve this problem by first dismantling the bird and boiling it in a freezer bags with butter and herbs.

He also shows us how to make a great stuffing.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Berkeley Gourmet: The World's 50 Best Restaurants

The S.Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2010 have now been announced. The list is the result of an extensive poll of 800 of the world’s most celebrated chefs, renowned food critics, leading restaurateurs and well-travelled gourmands – collectively they are The World’s 50 Best Restaurants Academy.  It is ridiculous, of course, considering how many really good restaurants there are in the world, most of which will never be considered.  (Pictured here is the kitchen at Chicago's Alinea, which at number 7 is the top ranked U.S. restaurant)

Still it's good fun, so, here's the list, along with up or down change from last year: 

Rank	Change	Restaurant	Region	Awards
1	Up 2	Noma	Denmark	The S.Pellegrino Best Restaurant in the World, The Acqua Panna Best Restaurant in Europe
2	Down 1	El Bulli	Spain	Restaurant Magazine Chef of the Decade
3	Down 1	The Fat Duck	UK	The Chef's Choice sponsored by Electrolux
4	Up 1	El Celler de Can Roca	Spain
5	Down 1	Mugaritz	Spain
6	Up 7	Osteria Francescana	Italy
7	Up 3	Alinea	USA	The Acqua Panna Best Restaurant In N.America
8	Up 33	Daniel	USA	The Highest Climber sponsored by Cocoa Barry
9	Down 1	Arzak	Spain
10	Down 4	Per Se	USA
11	Up 29	Le Chateaubriand	France
12	Up 26	La Colombe	South Africa	The Acqua Panna Best Restautant in South Africa
13	Down 4	Pierre Gagnaire	France
14	Up 2	L'Hotel de Ville - Philippe Rochat	Switzerland
15	—	Le Bernardin	USA
16	Down 5	L'Astrance	France
17	up 9	Hof Van Cleve	Belgium
18	Up 6	D.O.M.	Brazil	The Acqua Panna Best Restaurant in South America
19	Up 10	Oud Sluis	Holland
20	Up 29	Le Calandre	Italy
21	Up 9	Steirereck	Austria
22	Up 3	Vendome	Germany
23	Down 2	Chez Dominique	Finland
24	Down 4	Les Creations de Narisawa	Japan	The Acqua Panna Best Restaurant in Asia
25	Up 25	Mathias Dahlgren	Sweden
26	Up 5	Momofuku Ssam Bar	USA
27	Up 19	Quay	Australia	The Acqua Panna Best Restaurant in Australasia
28	Up 17	Iggy's	Singapore
29	Down 11	L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon	France
30	New Entry	Schloss Schauenstein	Switzerland	Highest New Entry
31	6	Le Quartier Francais	South Africa
32	Down 20	The French Laundry	USA
33	Down 4	Martin Berasategui	Spain
34	New Entry	Aqua	Germany
35	Up 7	Combal.Zero	Italy
36	Up 12	Dal Pescatore	Italy
37	New Entry	De Librije	Netherlands
38	21	Tetsuya's	Australia
39	New Entry	Jaan Par Andre	Singapore
40	New Entry	Il Canto	Italy
41	Re-Entry	Alain Ducasse Au Plaza Athenee	France
42	Down 10	Oaxen Krog	Sweden
43	Down 29	St John	UK
44	Re-Entry	La Maison Troisgros	France
45	New Entry	wd~50	USA
46	New Entry	Biko	Mexico
47	Down 24	Die Schwarzwaldstube	Germany
48	New Entry	Nihonryori RyuGin	Japan
49	New Entry	Hibiscus	UK
50	New Entry	Eleven Madison Park	USA