BeautiFul Berkeley

Two of my siblings had an interest in attending UC Berkeley. I had heard campus was beautiful and that it was a sleepy foodie town. After watching Roadrunner, the Bourdain documentary, I fell down a Netflix Vortex of food content. I devoured Ugly Delicious and The Chef Show while I worked on blogs and photo editing, and after watching the Jeremiah Tower, The Last Magnificent documentary I moved Berkeley to the top of my wishlist.

Knowing that Alaska was going to suck the guts out of my budget for the next couple of months, I wasn’t sure if I could swing a true visit to Chez Panisse, but I wanted to at least go in and try something from the birthplace of California Cuisine.

I got up early, drove to campus and walked myself around. The welcome gate is gorgeous, the tower (currently closed to the public) was beautiful, and the campus, stadium, and surrounding areas were full of beautiful buildings.

It’s just a short drive to the Frank Lloyd Wright Buehler House, and you can’t miss a visit to Tilden Park and the magical merry go round.

Unfortunately Chez Panisse was on a weeklong hiatus and I wasn’t able to stop in, but the space was incredible. I think I’ll need to head back for a meal and a visit to the Sake museum. I might even need to visit the Berkeley City Club, because my jaw dropped and my heart skipped a beat when I drove by. I wouldn’t say no to a nightcap at Tupper & Reed either. All in all, I have to agree, Berkeley is beautiful and absolutely worthy of a detour.