East Bay Eats by Day, Cocktails & Characters by Night

19 December 2011

East Bay Eats by Day, Cocktails & Characters by Night

It was another flawless day in San Francisco.  After a quick 3 mile run through part of Golden Gate Park and the Panhandle neighborhood, Jessica and I packed up the kids and headed over to the East Bay.  

We were heading to Berkeley to visit Sara.  Sara is Jessica's step-father's niece.  I had gotten to know Sara over the years particularly when she spent a month in New Jersey visiting one summer.  We bunked together at the beach that summer as kids and had a great time.  Sara had recently moved to Berkeley because her husband, James, had started a PhD program there in fine arts.  Sara is originally from Vancouver so the Bay Area is just a sunnier version of home. 

It had been about two and a half years since I'd seen Sara last, when we all gathered at our cousin, Nicolas' wedding in Oregon.  Sara climbed in the backseat with Julian and Vivienne, just barely able to squeeze in between the two carseats.  

Sara took us to one of the main streets, Shattuck, to find a brunch spot.  We landed at Guerrilla cafe.  We had to stalk a table as the small cafe was full, but finally we watched as two cute bearded guys vacated their table in the sun.  I enjoyed a polenta porridge topped with fruit, nuts and dates as well as a poached egg.  Vivienne had her first hot chocolate and really felt like a fancy lady.  Julian and I played with a fluffy white dog who was tied up to a sign in the front.  

After we finished brunch, we stopped by Phillz coffeehouse next door.  I went to order my usual latte at and the barista said, "So this is your first time at Phillz?"  He then went on to explain that they don't do espresso drinks here.  Instead, Phillz brews every cup of coffee freshly and separately.  There is a long list of different blends organized by light, medium and dark roast.  After they brew the coffee, they mix it with hot frothy milk.  It was one of the best coffees I have had in a long time.  The cafe had a huge upstairs section filled with an eclectic mix of couches and comfortable chairs.  On that Monday at noon, it was virtually filled with studious looking patrons browsing on their MacBooks or reading books.  

Berkeley is full of these cozy little spots.  As Sara and I walked our way through Berkley, Elmridge and part of Oakland, we passed dozens of quaint cafes full of intellectual types.  There were many shops with Buddhist prayer flags in the windows where fair trade ethnic items were being sold.  If only my stomach were able to fit in every last enticing food item I saw!  We saw so many gourmet ice-cream stores, asian noodle shops, bakeries, wood-fired pizzerias, and whole-in-the-wall taquerias.  Sara and I did indulge in some delicious pastries when we shared a pain au chocolate and a lemon shortbread bar.  We both tried different ice-cream shops.  She went for tiramisu gelato and I had organic berbere ice-cream topped with pink Himalayan salt crystals.  Berbere is a spice used in Ethiopian and Eritrean cooking.  It's a flavor that is difficult to describe, but if you have ever eaten Ethiopian cuisine, berbere is that unique flavor that you can't quite place but still thoroughly enjoy.  It was probably one of the best ice creams I had ever had.  They had quite a few interesting flavors there like sage, lavender, balsamic strawberry, and molasses to name a few. We did our fair share of walking that day, perhaps enough to burn off those pastries and ice creams.

Sara also took me to the UC-Berkeley campus.  It was quiet that day as the college students had just finished their final exams and most were heading home for the holidays.  I could smell the faint aroma of eucalyptus as we passed by a small eucalyptus forest on campus.  The trees were taller than most of the buildings on campus and the sunlight poured through the leaves in golden rays.  

For two dollars, we took a ride to the top of the tower, the Companile, on campus.  It is one of the tallest clock towers in the world and on a clear day like that one, we were able to see miles of beautiful vistas.  Depending on which side of the tower I peered out from, there were all different views:  the green campus below, a steep mountain behind, and the entire San Francisco bay beyond.  

After a full day of exploring the East Bay and catching up with Sara, I hopped the BART back to San Francisco where my day of nostalgia continued.  Adam, Megan and Chris,  high school classmates of mine were living out in the bay area now.  I met up with them at the Wreck Room, a sports bar in Nob Hill.  I could hear the bar before I even saw it; the place was jammed with fans watching a 49ers game.  I can't say I care much for watching sports, but the rowdy crowd was entertaining and it was great to catch up with all of them.  

They all had to get up early for work the next day, but I was on vacation so there was no need to head to bed yet!  I had been hearing so much about the excellent cocktail scene in San Francisco and wanted to try some drinks.  I was debating on trying a few different spots including Bourbon & Branch, Smuggler's Cove, and Rickhouse, but wound up visiting Cantina.  

Cantina is a small, narrow, dark space.  The decor and the atmosphere is nothing spectacular, but the drinks were pretty awesome.  I grabbed a spot at the bar directly in front of the area where the lone bartender, Sahar, was shaking drinks.  Cantina uses only fresh fruits and juices in their cocktails.  Sahar must have squeezed juice out of at least 50 citrus fruits while I sat there watching.  He made more of the drink called the MIsdemeanor, than anything else.  This cocktail was similar to a mojito but made with muddle pineapple, basil and jalapeño. 

It is best to go to these kinds of bars on a quiet weekday night when one can actually have a discussion with the knowledgeable bartenders about their trade.  Sahar told me that he got into bartending because he had always been a night owl and ended up getting an "in" to this spot.  I told Sahar what I was in the mood for and he created a cocktail with crushed basil, agave, rye, lemon juice and sherry.  My following drink was as a Blood & Sand.  Finally I asked him to make me a drink with a stout in it.  The bar had a few local beers on tap so to the stout he added a whole egg, sherry, mint, spiced agave and mole bitters.  This drink was like dessert; it was delicious.  By this time I had befriended a few other people at the bar and we were trying each other's drinks.  One girl said that my beer drink tasted like cereal.

One of my favorite things about traveling alone is how conducive it is to meeting interesting characters.  While I sat at the bar sipping on my cocktails and talking to Sahar, I noticed that one guy was slowly making his approach.  He took is time gradually inching is way closer to me until finally he was standing right there next to me, also "watching" Sahar make drinks.  It turns out his name was David.  David was the kind of guy who used the term "bro" when addressing his friend.  He worked in finance and implied that he did pretty well.  He was a self-proclaimed foodie.  He was playing third wheel to a very drunk couple who were on their way to Tahoe for vacation.  David informed me that his friend's girlfriend was demanding they take her to get a bacon-wrapped hot dog.  I told him she'd be better off going home and playing with his friend's hot dog and going to bed.  While David recommended a few restaurants in town that I should try, in walked a burly man in  his red 49ers gear.  He was reveling in the "big win" of the night, talking about how his team hadn't won like this in years.  I had heard enough about football for the night.  "You know what else is a big win?" I said, "Your moustache."  This guy had quite a large and impressive stache.  He was very flattered with my compliment and went on to tell me all of the details about the stache down to how he had sketched out a plan before coiffing it.  

When I finally decided to call it a night, tipsy off of good cocktails, Sahar left the bar unattended to walk me outside and hail me a cab.  Now that is some damn good service!