Berkeley: food and/or wine shop recs?

WINE TALK
1

Hey all, I’m traveling to Berkeley for work. I’ll be pretty busy but hope to sneak out for a bit. Any recs for restaurants or wine shops (other than premier cru)? Thanks in advance!

2

Kermit Lynch Wine Merchants. The 1 or 2 times a year I am there, I always pick up some interesting bottles.

3

JJ Buckley is not too far away either. Same with Spanish Table.

4

Premier Cru on University Blvd.

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5

Last time there we went to Chez Panisse which seemed almost a cliche idea in advance but what a very good meal in reality.

6

Most of the KermitLynch are distributed nation-wide, so I only stop there infrequently.

My two favorites are, easily, Wines on Piedmont/Brian Geohery, there on PiedmontAve
down in Oakland. The other is Vin Ordinaire…very/very interesting selection of wines w/ focus on
natural wines. They are also a wine bar & very interesting stuff by the glass. Way out on GrandAve,
again in North Oakland.
PaulMarcusWines in Rockridge is also pretty good. And there are three VintageBerkeley (http://vintageberkeley.com/Home.html)
that are good, w/ emphasis on value wines.

Restaurants: BayWolf closes at end of Aug & I have had some memorable meals there. Again on PiedmontAve.
Just up the street is Dopo (southern Italian) and a bit further, Addesso (some of the best salamis in the USofA).
A16 in RockRidge, as well as Oliveto are very good. I like also, Boot & Shoe Service (Italian/pizza) just down a few
doors from VinOrdinaire on Grand.
Both RougeCafe and Rivoli or excellent. And then there is the classic iconic ChezPanisse.

Berkeley: great place to visit. Haven’t been there in 2 weeks now.
Tom

7

I was there recently and thought Bay Grape in Oakland was pretty awesome and not far from Berkeley if you have a car. It’s a small highly curated shop run by a super nice pair of NYC somm transplants. Impressive selection of super geeky stuff from all over, lots of bottles open to taste, and a very relaxed vibe.

8

I would second Bay Grape, Josiah is terrific. Ordinaire is a cool wine bar close-by as well, just the other side of 580.

9

Thanks for the suggestions so far everyone. Please keep them coming.

10

North Berkeley Wine for Champagne and Burgundy.

11

Agree on these two, both in my neighborhood in Oakland, very close to the 580 freeway. Similar wine selections at each though you’ll find some differences too - both are definitely worth visiting. They feature many of the more hip and hard-to-find California producers as well as some cool stuff from Europe (Jura, Etna, etc.). Kermit Lynch, Paul Marcus, Wines on Piedmont are all good choices too. Solano Cellars in Berkeley can have some good finds as well.

12

That’s not really true on the East Coast. There are lots and lots of things in the store that we never see back here.

13

The Berkeley Cheese Board Collective for pizza by the slice and jazz.

Closed for this week, but open again after that.

Here’s where you can find who is scheduled to play.

http://cheeseboardcollective.coop/pizza/musicians/2015-07-26

And the cheeses and bread are awesome if you want to take a picnic to the Rose Gardens.

14

There’s a really good Japanese Izakaya place in Berkeley called Ippuku. They have chicken tartare if you’re adventurous.

15

If you’re pressed for time, Cheese Board is a great idea. However, if they’re closed when you’re there, another quick option is take-out from Gregoire.

http://gregoirerestaurant.com/About

16

Thank you, I will be there this week (Wed-Sat).

17

In Indiana, my options are extremely limited. Browsing store shelves with interesting stuff is always worth it for me.

18

+1

19

Just past the Berkeley/Oakland border on College Avenue in the Rockridge district is Wood Tavern. Great resto for either lunch or dinner. Have had several memorable offlines there. If you go for lunch, definitely order the pastrami sandwich.

20

Just wanted to pop in here and say thank you for this thread – and thanks to those that recommended Bay Grape! I was in Emeryville for a day and didn’t want to go very far to find something wine related for lunch – many of the places on my list were closed because it was a Monday (kermit, broc cellars, ordinaire – and even the cheeseboard closed at 1!).

But I searched WB, found this thread, and discovered Bay Grape – which was open! And they were AWESOME!

A perfect selection (at least for my tastes!) Heck, almost all of the winemakers I had just visited several days before were sold there (enfield, corison, dirty & rowdy). Josiah (as mentioned) was super nice and helpful in selecting a new-to-me wine. I opened the bottle at the tasting bar and bought some cheese and wild boar salami. They even toasted a baguette for me. A perfect inside picnic right at the tasting bar! So much fun!

Didn’t realize Berkeley was such a hub for the wine scene (now, I know better!) and will be sure to make sure the next time I’m there it’s not a Monday! Although, I’d totally go back to Bay Grape in a heartbeat!

Thanks again! [cheers.gif]