The Lower Hills
Posted on | June 22, 2011 | No Comments
Well before today’s Green movement, Berkeley’s first developers were pioneers in shaping an urban landscape where architecture exists in harmony with nature. It was at the beginning of the last century that the residential streets in the Berkeley hills were plotted out, not on a grid pattern, but following the contours of the land and taking advantage of the area’s glorious scenic views. Lush landscaping and mature trees follow the winding curves of the roads. Beautiful vistas emerge at every turn.
Homes in the lower hills are always in demand because they provide the best of both worlds—the quiet and privacy of the hills yet convenient to all the amenities North Berkeley offers.
This is a walker’s paradise, and the dramatic outcropping of Indian Rock Park is a perfect destination to catch an inspiring sunset. At the top of the hill, Tilden Regional Park consists of 2,065 acres of open meadows and forest with spectacular views of the Bay Area. Within its boundaries are miles of splendid hiking and biking trails, a botanic garden, picnic areas, 18-hole gold course, and a lake for swimming.
Solano Avenue and Shattuck Avenue’s Gourmet Ghetto with panoply of wonderful shops, Wednesday food carts, Thursday farmer’s market, and dozens of restaurants are just down the hill. Locals do much of their food shopping on Hopkins Street at the popular Monterey Market, Magnani Poultry and all the other European style shops. The prestigious University of California is but a few blocks south, as is the heart of Downtown.
Tired of driving? There are bus routes on Spruce Street as well as Euclid which provide easy access to the University and the Downtown BART station. Convenient freeway access to San Francisco, Oakland and the Silicon Valley is just down the hill, or head up-and-over the hills to Orinda, Walnut Creek and beyond.
Tags: Berkeley Farmer's Market > Berkeley Hills > Gourmet Ghetto > Indian Rock Park > Marin Circle
Where Elmwood Meets Rockridge
Posted on | June 9, 2011 | No Comments
Eton Avenue is one of those great Berkeley streets—beautifully tree-lined, with a variety of home styles and a diversity of residents—uniquely located at the intersection of three popular neighborhoods—Elmwood, Claremont and The Rockridge.
These neighborhoods developed just before the turn-of-the-19th-century as fashionable suburbs for San Franciscans. A few Victorians were erected before 1900, but the real boom came a few years later when a mixture of bungalows, shingled boxes, and period revival homes filled the neighborhood’s quiet tree-lined streets. Some of the most sought-after homes today are the stately shingled homes inspired by west coast arts & crafts architects Greene and Greene and Bernard Maybeck. The relaxed suburban environment has an urban sophistication that one usually finds only in a big city.
The Elmwood has its own branch of the Berkeley Public Library (currently closed for renovation) and the beautiful Julia Morgan Center for The Arts – designed by none other than Julia Morgan, and its own Post Office. College Avenue near Ashby, Elmwood’s main shopping street, is home to a unique group of shops and restaurants. Some favorites include the recently refurbished Elmwood Movie Theatre, Nabalom Bakery, La Mediterranee, Trattoria Siciliana, Summer Kitchen Bake Shop, Ici Ice Cream, Espresso Roma Café, Mrs. Dalloway’s Books, Jeremy’s, and Tail of the Yak.
Head up Claremont Avenue and you’ll find, among others, Star Grocery, Semi Freddi’s Coffee and Bakery and The Craftsman Home. Venture a bit further towards the local landmark Claremont Resort and Spa to the shops along Domingo Avenue and you’ll find Rick and Ann’s Restaurant, Bread Garden Bakery, a branch of the local Peet’s Coffee and Ellington and French, to name but a few.
The heart of Rockridge, College Avenue near Claremont, is mile-long main street jam-packed with independently-owned bookstores, acclaimed restaurants, cafes, boutiques, flower shops and art galleries—many of which are nationally-recognized. Among them Wood Tavern and its spinoff, Southie, La Farine French Bakery, The Meadows Flowers, Zachary’s Chicago Pizza, Dryer’s Ice Cream, and A Coté. Safeway and Trader Joe’s are nearby but if you’d rather pick something up on your way home from BART, the fabulous Market Hall provides ample selection.
Eton Avenue, near to the University of California, Highways 13 and 24, SF and local buses, a casual carpool pick up location, and Rockridge BART.
Where amenities abound and you can leave your car behind. It just doesn’t get much better than this!
View Elmwood Neighborhood Video
Tags: Claremont > Elmwood > Rockridge
Living in the Gourmet Ghetto
Posted on | May 27, 2011 | No Comments
Even if you are not familiar with this neighborhood, you will quickly understand how it got its name: it has one of the highest concentrations of good eats anywhere this side of Paris, France. Anchored by Chez Panisse Restaurant and Café, the restaurants and food shops are ever growing. Next to Chez Panisse is Cesar, where the sidewalk tables are always in demand. Across the street is The Cheese Board and Cheese Board Pizza for fresh breads, wonderful cheeses, and truly gourmet pizza. Nearby are Epicurious Garden, LoCoco’s (Sicilian), Bistro Liaison (French), Saul’s (New York deli), Cha Am (Thai), Poulet, Gregoire, and many others.
You have your choice for coffee: Original Peet’s Coffee & Tea is still at the corner of Walnut and Vine St. The French Hotel is down the street. Pick up a Danish on your way to work from The Virginia Bakery (since 1934) or enjoy tea or coffee service with special European pastries, cookies and desserts at Masse’s.
There are two major grocery stores: locally owned Andronico’s, with in-house bakery and deli, and Safeway. There’s also a “corner store”—The Produce Center—which sells fruits, vegetables, and a variety of staples. North Shattuck is closed on Thursday afternoons and into early evening for an all organic farmer’s market, usually with some sort of live entertainment. If it’s not edible, you can probably find it at CVS across the street.
The area isn’t short of excellent retail as well. There are wonderful little shops up and down Shattuck, on Vine, and in Walnut Square—lingerie, hats, flowers, apparel, walking shoes, antiques and gifts, fine art, jewelry, beads, stationery, etc. There’s an annual street faire, The Spice of Life Festival, which happens every year in late October.
There is even a post office. The UC Campus and the North Berkeley or Shattuck BART stations are within walking distance. Express buses to San Francisco also stop on Shattuck Avenue.
Neighbors would tell you they love the convenience and amenities as well as the eclectic combination of students, families, and Berkeley oldtimers who call this neighborhood their home.
Tags: Chez Panisse > Gourmet Ghetto > Peets > Walnut Square
Perfect Spring Dinner
Posted on | May 27, 2011 | No Comments
Tonight we enjoyed the perfect spring dinner, and you can, too.
First I stirred together olive oil, a tablespoon each of sherry vinegar, lemon juice, and pomegranate molasses, brown sugar, and shakes of ground sumac, salt and pepper, and this did double duty as marinade and salad dressing..
Then I poured a little over 3 pieces of just caught salmon from Monterey Fish, while I toasted some pita pieces in an olive oil, sumac, salt and pepper mixture.
Sliced some rhubarb and put it on the stove with some strawberry jam and sugar. It’s ready when it has just started to fall apart.
Chopped cucumber, tomatoes, green pepper, and lots of mint, parsley and basil from the garden.
Put it all together: Salmon into a hot oven for about 12 minutes. Stirred the cooled off pitas and vegetables into the dressing. Ready to serve with a glass of yummy rose from the Gourmet Ghetto outpost of Vintage Berkeley.
Dessert is rhubarb compote over ice cream.
Bon appétit!
It all started with The Monterey Market
Posted on | May 27, 2011 | No Comments
We who live near the Monterey Market consider ourselves extremely fortunate. This long respected produce market has become the centerpiece of a wonderful conglomeration of food shops. You can literally buy everything your culinary needs require right here. This enclave offers the best of a European neighborhood shopping experience mixed with the height of modern California food consciousness. This is the Gourmet Ghetto annex.
The three block stretch of North Shattuck Avenue between Rose and Virginia has been known as the Gourmet Ghetto ever since the Cheese Board Collective and Peet’s Coffee opened in the late 60′s with Alice Waters opening Chez Panisse Restaurant a few years later. Even then the Monterey Market, only a few blocks away, at Monterey and Hopkins streets, was considered the best produce market in the East Bay. Still today local restaurateurs shop at the Monterey Market.
When the Monterey Market moved across the street to a much bigger store with a parking lot, the area began to take off. A fish market and a bakery moved in. The abandoned gas station, which had sat empty for many years, became a delightful indoor-outdoor cafe. Then a poultry/butcher shop with deli arrived along with numerous other shops and restaurants.
Here you’ll find:
Monterey Market: fantastic selection of local and exotic fruits and vegetables along with a modest selection of grocery products and wine.
Espresso Roma: great coffee and simple meals; neighborhood residents bring their laptops, conduct informal business meetings, and look at all the mother’s groups gathering before naptime.
Magnani Poultry and Meats: poultry, meat, sandwiches, and delicatessen.
Country Cheese and Coffee: cheese, coffee, tea, and much else.
Lily’s Chinese Restaurant
Monterey Fish Market
Hopkins Street Bakery: breakfast pastry, wonderful breads, European cakes and tarts.
Gioia Pizzeria: you can tell when it is open, there is always a line!
Monterey Wine and Liquor
Berkeley Horticultural Nursery: One of the best nurseries in the East Bay.
Freshly Cut Flowers
Berkeley Travel Company
Besides this great shopping area, the Hopkins Street Park adjacent to Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School contains a track, playground, a public swimming pool and tennis courts. A well-stocked branch of the Berkeley Public Library housed in a lovely Julia Morgan building (currently undergoing renovation) is just up the street. BART is only a few blocks away and it’s a short distance to Solano Avenue, North Shattuck Avenue, the gourmet ghetto, and downtown Berkeley.
A popular spot indeed and one that you’ll find yourself at on a regular basis!
