kimber
Grape Fermenter
Posts:671
 | | 12/12/2002 1:12 AM |
| Can anyone comment on their experience at Chez Panise in Berkeley? My S.O. and I will be in San Fran in February and she's always wanted to go.
I've seen one website (concierge.com, I believe) call it the best restaurant in the country. Looks like Mobil only has it rated as a 3-star. We only have 1 night in SF so I want to make sure dinner is memorable. I've read through the SF Dining Experiences thread on the WS board so I'm aware of some other hot spots. Didn't see any notes on CP though.
As always, your feedback is much appreciated! | | | |
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skwid
Wine Connoisseur
Posts:5452
| | 12/12/2002 1:30 AM |
| I thought the food at Chez Penis was great. The salad was sublime. You don't get alot of food but what is served is just fantastic.
As for wether this will be the best place for you to go, it all depends upon what type of food you like. One great thing about the SF bay area is you can find great places to dine for almost any type of food. One restaurant however will not cover all the bases. | | | |
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JonesWineNo1
Sommelier
Posts:8568
| | 12/12/2002 1:46 AM |
| CP is an icon and is a phenomenol dining experience. However, many people go to CP and leave unimpressed. Why? Besides the fact that many can't deal with not having any menu choices (what they serve that evening is what everybody gets), the main reason is that the cuisine and the dining experience itself is not about fireworks. It is not about gorgeous patterned Bernardaud China and Christofle flatware. It is not about what many people expect when they drop about $300 for two with a decent bottle of wine.
It is about giving you the best and most fresh combustibles available at the time of your dinner. For example, one starter I had a few years ago consisted of some freshly picked and cleaned radishes served with some sea salt. That's it. No sauce, no nothing, they even left some of the tops on the radishes. Pristine ingredients prepared simply yet perfectly is what CP is all about. Some people appreciate Waters' philosophy in action and some people don't.
If this doesn't sound like what you want then go to Masa's. | | | |
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JonesWineNo1
Sommelier
Posts:8568
| | 12/12/2002 1:48 AM |
| | FYI skwid. They will give you seconds on anything you request - you just have to ask. | | | |
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skwid
Wine Connoisseur
Posts:5452
| | 12/12/2002 3:00 AM |
| | I did not relaize they would give you seconds, that is nice to know. I totally agree with what Jones said on the dinning experience though. It is unlike most other high end restaurants. Things are kept fairly simple, even the dinning room is rather plain. But if you like fresh ingredients then it is tough to beat. There is some place in northern San Diego which grows many types of fruits and vegies and flys them up to Chez Panise every day. That is the type of things they do to get the best of the best and freshest of the fresh. | | | |
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Pool Boy
Laurl, MD (DC suburb)
Master of Wine
Posts:13711
| | 12/12/2002 3:22 AM |
| | 2nds. Really? That is tres kewl | |
www.roguefood.com -- www.cellartracker.com | |
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Joseph Bembry
Wine Lover
Posts:4876
| | 12/12/2002 4:04 AM |
| BTW skwid, in your first respones you mentioned this restaurant I'm not familiar with. Is their specialty tube steaks?   
jb | | | |
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skwid
Wine Connoisseur
Posts:5452
| | 12/12/2002 4:42 AM |
| | JB, that is a name the insiders have used (found this out reading an article on www.sfgate.com on Chez Panise). | | | |
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Joseph Bembry
Wine Lover
Posts:4876
| | 12/12/2002 12:14 PM |
| Only in San Francisco... 
jb | | | |
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GATC
Barrel Sampler
Posts:2420
| | 12/14/2002 3:28 AM |
| | Jones, well stated. BTW, the rift between Alice Waters and Jeremiah Tower is well publicized. They both claim that the other can't cook. Since either or both of them is credited with inventing California Cuisine, I'm curious to find out what is behind all of this. | | | |
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GATC
Barrel Sampler
Posts:2420
| | 12/14/2002 3:33 AM |
| | That reminds me, does anyone know where to get the white Bernardaud dishes that are square with 4 sloped sides that are offset? I tried many stores and even the website in France, but could only find the ornate patterns. They use these at Domaine Chandon and Arleen I fell in love with them. Jones, at least you are one dining critic that can spell that correctly. Michael Bauer, the San Francisco Chronicle Food Editor and restaurant reviewer incorrectly spells it Bernardeau. I find your restaurant reviews to be much better than his anyway. | | | |
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ChangeMe
Barrel Filler
Posts:1074
| | 12/14/2002 10:50 PM |
| | Chez Panisse has some of the freshest food around. It was one of Pres. Clinton's stops when he was in the Bay Area a few years ago. When he asked for dessert, he specified that he wanted something simple and somewhat low in calories. As the story goes, after searching through the kitchen, they finally served him a Gravenstein apple and he ate the whole thing core and all! | | | |
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JimmyV
Central Connecticut
Wine Connoisseur
Posts:5112
| | 12/15/2002 2:22 AM |
| | GATC: To the extent that anyone can be credited with "inventing" California cuisine (I find that notion offensive...all great cuisines such as Italian, French, and Chinese have been dependent on serving local, fresh ingredients in a simple, unobliterated manner...it just took Americans several centuries to catch on), it would have to be Alice Waters. At best, Jeremiah Tower can be credited with proliferating it, and in some circles, blamed for ruining it. | |
Beta testing a new signature. | |
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JonesWineNo1
Sommelier
Posts:8568
| | 12/15/2002 2:30 AM |
| | GATC I have seen them for sale at the retail Bernardaud store in the 8th arrondisment in France. At least they were there in September. | | | |
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JonesWineNo1
Sommelier
Posts:8568
| | 12/15/2002 2:33 AM |
| Tower worked for Alice Waters prior to striking out on his own.
JimmyV - I don't think that all aspects of French cuisine is based on the concept of freshness overall -they did not come up with their elegant and superb sauces always to highlight the main ingredient. Sometimes they were used to obscure the main ingredient. | | | |
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GATC
Barrel Sampler
Posts:2420
| | 12/15/2002 5:51 AM |
| Jones, good excuse to go back to Paris. I should contact them for a catalog though, their website selections are pretty limited.
I remember when Jeremiah first went to Chez Panisse after graduating from Harvard in Architecture and was looking for something to do. It seems like we just graduated from Berkeley at that time.
JimmyV, I think I get your point about great cuisines relying on fresh ingredients, but somehow I find California cuisine to be spa food - healthier & lighter. I love French, Italian and Chinese food a lot and try to eat the best that they offer, but I gain weight when I do that. I realize that good Chinese food relies on fresh ingredients, but they cook it with so much oil, spices and sauces, that it tends to mask the flavors of the main ingredients. I think that is why some of the fusion cuisines are so popular because the chefs take the style and flavors of the oriental dishes, but keep it lighter and more refreshing.
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ChangeMe
Barrel Sampler
Posts:2098
| | 12/16/2002 2:34 AM |
| GATC,
Then you need to eat Thai. I don't think there is another Asian cuisine that is better if your waistband is a concern. The dishes are typically light, simple, fresh, with light sauces, if any.
And the rice! Oh baby the rice!
Thai is something I can see you really liking. | | | |
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GATC
Barrel Sampler
Posts:2420
| | 12/19/2002 6:22 AM |
| | To some degree, but pad thai noodles are cooked with a lot of fat and tom yom soup normally has a lot of fat swimming at the top, at least the way the natives eat it. The coconut milk used in a lot of dishes is also very fattening It does seem like the Americanized versions are healthier. | | | |
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ChangeMe
Barrel Sampler
Posts:2098
| | 12/20/2002 5:45 AM |
| You're right. Pad Thai is serious when it comes to the oil, etc.
I love this chicken dish - don't know what the Thai name is for it. The way I get it is just slightly spicy (I'll add pepper if needed), just barely cooked scallions in a sauce is a light combination of lime, ginger, chicken broth with a little sesame oil.
Truly a wonderfully "pure" combination of flavors - everything really comes out and holds its own in a lovely kind of harmony.
And have I mentioned the rice? 
[edit] By the way - have I mentioned that I'm sorry for getting so far off topic?  | | | |
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Pool Boy
Laurl, MD (DC suburb)
Master of Wine
Posts:13711
| | 12/20/2002 3:28 PM |
| | Always in moderation, but, I beg of you, what's wrong with fat? | |
www.roguefood.com -- www.cellartracker.com | |
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