Gourmet Ghetto

Gourmet Ghetto Review

The success of Chez Panisse restaurant attracted other food-related enterprises to its stretch of Shattuck Avenue, and the area surrounding the intersection of Shattuck and Vine Street became known as the Gourmet Ghetto. If you love food at all, it's worth a couple of hours to poke around the food shops and grab a quick bite or a full meal at one of the neighborhood's eateries.

The line stretches down the block in front of Cheese Board Pizza (No. 1512), where live jazz bands sometimes serenade the diners that spill out onto the sidewalk and median. Next door is the Cheese Board Collective —worker owned since 1971—and its fabulous bakery and extensive cheese counter. Next door to Chez Panisse, César (No. 1515) wine bar and tapas house is a good place for an afternoon quaff or late-night drink.

The small food stands of Epicurious Garden, at 1509-1513 Shattuck, sell everything from sushi to gelato. Outside, you can find a terraced garden—the best place to sit—that winds up four levels and ends at the Imperial Tea Court. Around the corner on Vine Street is Love at First Bite, a cupcakery that sells scrumptious confections. Across the street, the Vintage Berkeley wine shop occupies the historic former pump house at No. 2113; the offerings here are shrewdly selected and reasonably priced. Coffee lovers of the Peet's persuasion may want to pay respects at No. 2124, at Walnut Street, where the famed roaster got its start; the small café includes a display chronicling Peet's history.

South of Cedar Street in the next block of Shattuck is the art-filled Guerilla Cafe (No. 1620), a breakfast and lunch spot beloved for its waffles (the Blue Bottle Coffee doesn't hurt). Also look for the Local Butcher Shop (No. 1600), with locally sourced meat and hearty made-to-order sandwiches. A former Ritz-Carlton chef brings white-linen quality to his to-go counter, Grégoire, around the corner on Cedar Street (No. 2109). In the block north of Vine Street on Shattuck is popular Saul's deli and restaurant and beautiful Masse's Pastries. On Thursdays, an organic farmers' market sets up shop here. We could go on, but you get the idea.