food: a night at chez panisse

sometimes it's hard to do justice to a meal in a handful of words, except to say, it was just right. last month, we ate at chez panisse in berkeley, and it was that kind of dinner. the food and the experience linger in your mind for weeks afterward. a dinner that was all about the details--from each carefully considered course to the individually printed menus (one standard, one vegetarian) to the simple table settings to the lowkey waitstaff to the little bit of chocolate at the end of the meal.

for fellow food lovers, here is the menu:
+ smoke black cod salad with cannard farm leaks and creme fraiche
+ bellwether farm ricotta gnocchi with fava beans and peas
+ grilled liberty duck breast with kumquat and cardamom sauce, potato cake, and roasted green asparagus
+ nougat confit glace aux fruits rouges

in short, it was delicious and everything was just right.

:: images from chez panisse menus for april 23, 2009