Bay Area 2007 Wrap Up

My second go around eating in the Bay Area and I am completely blown away at how good the food and in particular the produce are. Visiting Berkeley, we had a chance to visit their green market and sad to say, it completely blows away the Union Square Greenmarket in NYC. The peaches there were definitely the best that I've ever had - this would include top NYC restaurants (including dishes at Daniel and Bouley). So sweet and succulent. Tomatoes - heirlooms in particular - were amazing. Rivaling tomatoes I had in Italy, no joke.

In addition, the Bay Area has such a great diversity in cuisines just like the Big Apple. Unfortunately, on this trip, that didn't include Italian. A couple of the pastas I had were pretty subpar. Even with the pasta deficiencies, love the place and can't wait to go back.

Goals for the next Bay Area Trip (besides Swan Oyster Depot and Cioppino from Tadich Grill)

1. Revisit Gary Danko to see if it still lives up as my best restaurant experience
2. Visit Chez Panisse and see where the whole California cooking movement started from
   
3. Find great pasta. Considering they have a good Italian Area in North Beach, they definitely have to have some great pasta somewhere in the Bay Area.
4. Find out what the best sushi in the bay area is
5. Get some stinky tofu - a Taiwanese/Hong Kong specialty that is supposedly killer in SF literally and figuratively
6. Check out Napa in more detail. Mainly went to Napa for French Laundry, but some of the wines were pretty tasty and driving around Napa is a blast. My fave was V. Sattui...
   

Here's a quick rundown of other places we tried...
Masses Pastries -1469 Shattuck Ave, Berkeley, CA 94709 - Highly Recommended
Comments - Great pastries in a fun town.

Cesar - 1515 Shattuck Ave, Berkeley, CA 94709 - Average
Comments - Fun tapas restaurant, but the scene is better than the food. The tuna and egg sandwich were great though.

ABC Cafe - 650 Jackson St, San Francisco, CA 94133 Average
Comments - Serving American style dishes at a Chinese place which is quite odd. Bbq Duck and Noodle soup were good. Supposedly the pastries are good too.

Chef's Woo- 6154 Bollinger Road, San Jose, CA 95129 - Recommended
Comments - Good Taiwanese food. Skip the xiao long bow and go for the veggie dumpling.

Scala's Bistro - Not Recommended
Comments - Average pasta at expensive prices ($18 f or lunch pasta). Burger was decent.