Berkeley: Sweet and Salty

Last week I had the opportunity to head up to Berkeley to meet some friends for lunch. We enjoyed some lovely pizza at the Cheeseboard Collective Pizzeria, which is in a neighborhood called the "Gourmet Ghetto." (Doesn't that just sound like somewhere you'd want to eat lunch?) They do make only one type of pizza each day, and it is always vegetarian, which makes it great for those who are indecisive and bad for meat lovers (I told Steve he might still like it because from my experience, they do wonderful things with flavors!). The seating area is small and you just walk up to the counter and tell them how much pizza you want -- they sell it by the slice or the whole pie.  The pizza when I went was with finely sliced (so I couldn't even taste them) red and yellow onions, feta cheese and squash with a pesto sauce. (Unfortunately I devoured it before I could take a photo!) The Cheeseboard is SO Berkeley -- it's a co-op, meaning that it is worker-owned and operated. Besides the pizzeria, they also have a bakery filled with delectable baked goods and tons of fancy cheeses, most of which I probably could not pronounce. I did see a couple of pastries that were too tempting to pass up, though, including a banana chocolate chip muffin, a cheese roll, and a sour cherry-candied nut scone (as pictured left to right).

YUM :)

Afterwards, we went to check out an ice cream parlor I was instructed to try called Ici. They, like many other well-known ice cream places in the Bay Area, distinguish themselves by offering some interesting flavors. And apparently amazing ice cream sandwiches. While they did have plain chocolate, they also had some other flavors that were interesting, including chocolate-orange, coconut-lime, and the one I ended up choosing, honey-banana-candied peanut (which I had smothered in hot fudge!). They have also been known, I've been told by a friend in the know, to have more exotic offerings, like lavender.

Finally, I went down to the Berkeley Marina and took in some salty sea air and pretty views!  There is a long public pier that extends almost 1/2 mile into the Bay and you can see the Bay Bridge, Treasure Island, San Francisco, the Golden Gate Bridge, and Angel Island from there.  I enjoyed a windy walk to the end of the pier and back.

 

All that and back in time for dinner!