Festivus Gastronomicus
Review: Café Fanny
I was walking to a temp job in Berkeley and needed to grab some breakfast between the BART station and the job. Thanks to the old iPhone I was able to choose between a few options and when I saw the name Alice Waters connected to Café Fanny, I knew I was in for something truly special.
Café Fanny
1603 San Pablo Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94702
(510) 524-5447
(map)
Alice Waters is the mother of modern American Cuisine. She started Chez Panisse in Berkeley in 1971 and gave birth to California Cuisine. Her emphasis- no no, insistence- on fresh, seasonal, organic, and local ingredients is so intense, it makes the hippies at the Santa Cruz farmer’s market look like ConAgra board members.
If you don’t know Alice Waters, I suggest you read up on this gastronomic giant: here, here, and here.
I was stoked at the opportunity to taste first-hand some of the food that put Mrs. Waters on the gastronomic map. When I tasted the food, I was stunned. It was the best croissant I’ve eaten outside of France. The outside broke into crispy flakes and the inside gushed with buttery goodness.
Pictured above is the croissant I ate for breakfast that wonderful morning. The picture is not out of focus. Their croissants are so filled with deliciousness that they emit a cloud of scrumptitude that distorts the imaging of even the most modern digital cameras.
So I had to go back for lunch.
I had a roast beef sandwich. A real roast beef sandwich. The roast beef was pink and basically dissolved in my mouth. It was the kind of rare that you can normally only get at home because restaurants a.) don’t take chances with meat that rare and b.) don’t want you to notice that the meat they’re giving you isn’t that great.
There’s no hiding the badness with roast beef this rare and fortunately for me there was also no hiding the goodness. Sitting between fresh baked bread and organic greens and paired with cornichons just like my grand parents used to serve, the lunch was a dream come true.
The menu at Cafe Fanny is simple and the product is incredible. Prices are a little high for an everyday breakfast/lunch place, but definitely something I’d do a couple times a month if I worked nearby. The ambiance is just what you’d expect from a cafe- a nice lunch counter, a few seats, and a nice (albeit noisy) patio area.
If you’re ever in the area, stop by just like I did the week after my first visit with Jen and my dad along with me. It could be the best meal of your life. I suggest one of everything.