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Berkeley

Graduation Celebration: Dinner at Chez Panisse

In the four years my sister has been at Berkeley, not once have we gone to Chez Panisse.  Price might have been a contributing factor but that really isn’t a good excuse for not trying it at least once.  So as a graduation gift, I made my reservation for the café upstairs, just in case our palettes were not up for the restaurant prix fixe menu.

On a Tuesday evening we headed on over to Chez Panisse.  While going up the stairs to the cafe, I walked as slow as possible so I could get a glimpse of the restaurant downstairs.  Definitely a more formal atmosphere, a bit quieter, with dim lighting and white table cloth, compared to the upstairs, where it was loud, but not so much we couldn’t hear one another.  Lots of sunlight coming through made it inviting and cheery in the room.  Wooden decor added to the casual atmosphere.

Onto the food!  I took a quick one or two pics of everything so as not to draw too much attention to myself or annoy the other diners.  Our server found it amusing and laughed at times.

For appetizer, we shared this slow-roasted salmon with diced mango, cucumber, and marinated beets.  Shared because we intended on saving room for our own desserts.  The combination of mango, cucumber, and beet was so refreshing and went perfectly with the salmon.  I wish I had more.

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Graduation Celebration: The Foodie Way

I love an occasion to go all out with food and festivities.  A graduation certainly deserves a celebration and my mind was overflowing with ideas of how to celebrate my sister’s well-earned degree.  The school is UC Berkeley so I incorporated the school colors, mustard yellow and navy, into my sweet treats.  And for celebration dinner, the place that really puts Berkeley on the culinary map, the renowned Chez Panisse.   

 
I designed and purchased custom Krispie treats and chocolate covered Oreos decked in Berkeley colors as little goodies/favors on graduation day.   A little too fancy for me to actually make, mainly because I wouldn’t know how to create the logo print on the fondant. 

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Another stop on my bakery crawl…Masse’s Berkeley

One of my favorite hobbies…trying out bakeries at any new place I visit.  Last week,  Berkeley.  I love their downtown, especially with all the bakeries!  So I made a trip to Masse’s Pastries.

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Masse’s Pastries
1469 Shattuck Ave
Berkeley, CA 94709

croissants, french macaroons, cheesecake, mousse cakes, tiramisu, tarts
mypick1ricotta cheesecake

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