Berkeley, Utah, and comfort food
Wednesday, March 24, 2010 at 9:30AM I am in the beautiful East Bay right now, taking part in advisory board meetings for my distribution company, PGW. This is always a great opportunity to listen to publishers much smarter and more experienced than I am, and also learn more about the sales side of our business from the PGW leadership. The big news was hearing more (as much as they could legally tell me) about our new ebook deal with Apple for the iPad, which was made under the auspices of PGW's parent company, Perseus. So we will have our books on the iPad, folks, and right quickly.
For me, it's also a great opportunity to make as many visits as I possibly can to Bette's Oceanview Diner, on Fourth Street in Berkeley. You know how when you travel, you sometimes find (almost by sheer luck, it sometimes seems) these great places to eat that become indelibly linked to your experience of that place? Bette's is like that for me--echt Berkeley (where "people are passionate about everything from saving the planet to savoring the perfect pancake"), delicious, cheerful, and boldly breakfast-centric. It really is the most important meal of the day. I feel the same way about George's in Erie, PA, which I will drive many miles out of my way to swing by; the Gray Bros. Cafeteria, off 65 outside Indianapolis; and even about Five Points, in lower Manhattan (lower Manhattan is kind of a place, right?).
All this comfort food put me in mind of Jell-O (a favorite in the Seibold household), which apparently I have in common with the good folks at the Atlantic. Who knew Utah was Jell-O Central. I would have placed it a bit further east, but I am glad to know the truth of it.
Reader Comments (2)
Yikes. Shouldn't have read about Berkeley and food before cooking dinner. Now I'm starving. My husband and I had reservations at Cafe Panisse this winter and stumbled on an upscale food court nearby, also on Shattuck. There was a charming Chinese tea house, a sushi stand, a gorgeous gelato stand, and all a few fun sandwich places. Of course Cafe Panisse was outstanding, but we wished we had had time and room to sample some of these stalls. In December it was warm enough to eat outside, so I can only imagine the weather now!
Ahh Jello. You either love it or you hate it. Your devotion did not come from your mother's side of the family. I ate so much as a child that I have avoided it like the plague as an adult.