Cycle 16 – Item 226

Post 5,705

19 (Tue) August 2025

Fettucine … Anchoïade – Let’s Celebrate in Style

4.0

at Chez Panisse

-Berkeley, California, USA-

with DJ

Sending the Kid Off to College (The Cal Handover): Day 6 of 8

• • Day 1 (16.221 “Walnut Shrimp” (Candied Pecans with Jumbo Prawns))
  • Day 2 (16.222 DeliciousHot Dog)
  • Day 3 (16.223 Roasted Duck (Half))
  • Day 4 (16.224 Seared Baby Lobster (Nigirizushi))
  • Day 5 (16.225 Wintermelon & Seafood Soup – Go Bears!)
  • Day 6 (16.226 Fettucine … Anchoïade – Let’s Celebrate in Style)
  • Day 7 (16.227 Original Tofu Soup – This Is Where I Leave You)

In the San Francisco Bay Area.  MISSION: transition DJ into his new life as a freshman at the University of California – aka Cal (to those who know) aka UC Berkeley (to those who don’t): sign up for a local mobile phone number, open a checking account, buy pillows for his dorm room.  After that fateful visit to Berkeley last summer, which I’d dared to hope would inspire DJ to apply later that fall, then get accepted and enroll in the spring – meanwhile, donating to the Buddha for Academic Achievement (see 13.094 Just Regular Eomuk), asking a priest for his blessing (see 15.256 Pretty Jeon), erecting a shrine to the Golden Bear Gods (see 16.082 Kongnamul Scallop Guk), and delivering a presentation to steer him in the right direction (see 16.083 Tangsuyuk) – the dream came true.  A graduate of Cal myself – Go Bears! – I look forward to buying a “Cal Dad” t-shirt.

4 nights at Hahn’s, 2 nights at Berkeley, 1 final night back at Hahn’s.

LUNCH

Steve’s Korean BBQ is a Korean restaurant.  Specializes in grilled meats, served over rice.

When I was at Cal in the mid-1990s, Steve’s Korean BBQ was my favorite and most frequented dining destination, at least for actual meals, either lunch on the way to school or dinner on the way home.  (Top Dog (see generally 15.182 Top), located across the street, was my number one venue for snacks.) Korean cuisine hadn’t yet hit the mainstream – eating kimchi, for example, was frowned upon in the dorms lest (white) students be offended by the odor – so Steve’s was a haven, for all the Korean students.  The food wasn’t 100% authentically Korean, yet utterly close enough.   The portions were generous as is, but Steve would give extra rice upon request, sufficient to stretch a single order to cover 2 separate meals.

I also ate at Steve’s a lot when I was taking prep classes for the bar exam at Boalt School of Law, while staying at my cousin’s condo in Emeryville, summer of 2003.

Back then, situated in a much smaller booth along the side of the food court, it was a 1-man show, run by the eponymous Steve, who managed the orders, cooked the food, and came out from behind the counter on occasion to empty out the trash (all orders were served in takeout containers, so no plates to wash).

It has since become a 4-person operation: 1 owner/manager + 2 cooks + 1 busser/dishwasher (dine-in orders are served on plates).

I am delightfully astounded that it’s still in business, albeit under different ownership (Chinese?).  While many dining establishments from back in the day are still around, such as Top Dog, Cafe Intermezzo, Blondie’s Pizza, Noah’s Bagel, etc, they command a much broader level of mainstream support that would sustain their popularity over the decades.  But Steve’s Korean BBQ would seem to have no inherent/apparent qualities to ensure such longevity – in fact, none of the other restaurants in the same food court were around back then.

The food was good – the meat part – about as good as I remember.  And still with the generous portions.

Still feeling under the weather, in desperate need of something warm and comforting, I was happy to find sundubu jjigae on the menu.  But when the guy asked me if I wanted it spicy, I thought that he was asking if I wanted it extra spicy, so I said no, just normal, meaning normal level of spice, but it came out with zero spice.  To make it worse, I had opted for the seafood, which turned out to be bits of miscellaneous shellfish, obviously from a frozen bag, and chunks of artificial crab.

Extending GMTD’s Korean Restaurants Abroad series (see KOREAN OUTSIDE KOREA): while USA remains the 1st country, and Berkeley was already listed as the 7th city outside of Korea where I’ve experienced Korean food, this is the first documented case.

HAPPY HOUR

Raleigh’s Pub is an American restaurant/bar.  Offers standard pub fare and a wide selection of (60!) brews on tap.  Established 1987 – a local landmark.

Writing about Café Intermezzo back in Cycle 3 (2011), I’d discovered that it had burned down several months earlier and wondered whether it would be rebuilt (see 3.043 Sourdough Sandwich à l’Intermezzo).  It was (2017), I’m glad to see.

After lunch, I gave DJ free time to hang out with his friends.

Meanwhile, I dropped by Raleigh’s for a drink and a snack.

DINNER

Chez Panisse is an American restaurant.  Credited with pioneering/popularizing the concept of California Cuisine, though the original menus were distinctly French in style and largely continue to be.  Perennially listed among top restaurants in the world.  Established 1971 – a local landmark, arguably the local landmark.

I had no awareness of Chez Panisse during college, not at all into food at the time.  I was aware of it upon my return in 2003 but didn’t think to visit, not quite into food as yet.

As a final celebration for DJ’s matriculation into Cal, we had dinner at Chez Panisse – the final dinner before he goes off to be his own man.

California cuisine is a type of American cooking.  Actually more of a sourcing practice, emphasizing the use of local/seasonal/sustainable ingredients – i.e., farm-to-table – typically fresh produce and lean meats and seafoods.  The style of the food may draw from any tradition – e.g., French, Italian, Chinese.

The main restaurant currently offers a 4-course table d’hôte for dinner, with items changing daily, nary a repeat throughout the week.

Upstairs in the café, the menu is à la carte.

Anchoïade is a French condiment.  A paste of anchovies + capers + olives + olive oil, often served with bread.  A staple in the cuisine of Provence.

The pasta was a revelation.  Each component, starting with the handmade noodles, then the beans and mushrooms and breadcrumbs, had its own taste and texture while harmonizing as a whole, like a smooth jazz quartet.  But there was something more underneath, a richly umami flavor component that I couldn’t initially identify; looking back at the menu description, I realized that it was anchoïade.   One of the best pasta dishes that I’ve experienced in my life.

The ribeye roast was excellent.  Perfectly cooked to medium rare, perfectly seasoned, perfectly sauced with au jus.  Otherwise unremarkable.

The vegetables were fine.

But the small chunk of rib meat was the kicker.  Ragged in shape, sitting at an awkward angle off to the side, it looked like a leftover piece of meat from a different meal that had accidentally fallen onto the plate.  When I asked the server about it, “Just for fun,” she said, nonchalantly, as if it didn’t really matter.  It did matter.  Whereas the roast was silky and subtle to begin with, the rib was aggressively squishy and smoky, a shocking in-your-face contrast of taste and texture that seemed to elevate the star of the dish to a higher level of elegance – difficult to believe that the meats came from the same species of animal.  I kept going back and forth between the two to enjoy the conflict.

Server: Congratulations on your graduation!

Me: Sorry, but who is graduating, and from what?

Server: Uh, your son, college, UC Berkeley?  The briefing sheet says that you had indicated a special occasion on the reservation.  

Me: My son is entering UC Berkeley as a freshman, tomorrow.

Server: That makes more sense.  Congratulations!

Without question, this was the most famous restaurant to be featured on GMTD.

NIGHTCAP

While Smirnoff Vodka traces its historical origins to a Moscow-based distillery founded in 1864 by Russian Pyotr Arsenyevitch Smirnov, the modern company was started in 1930 by the American company Heublein.  The brand, currently owned by the British beverage conglomerate Diageo, is produced in at least 12 different countries depending on the local market, but not in Russia, not since the early 20th century – in 2022, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Smirnoff was the target of boycotts across the world due to its perception as a Russian product.

This was a milestone post in GMTD history, featuring one of the most important restaurants in my personal history (Steve’s Korean BBQ) and one of the most important restaurants in global gastronomic history (Chez Panisse), on the eve of my son’s college matriculation.

(See RESTAURANTS IN USA)

(See GLOBAL FOOD GLOSSARY)

(See BOOZE)