As is my habit (when Bert is driving), I like taking photos of signs and restaurants while we're out. This one caught my eye with the big "Authentic Soul Food" sign.
It looked like more of a bar than a restaurant but what did I know? There's tons of places we probably drive past everyday and sometimes wonder what it's like inside or if the food is any good. This was one of those places except that we don't live here and drive by it everyday.
I took a look at their online menu today and practically salivated (in a good way) at the thought of fried catfish and fried liver with onions. Believe it or not, my dad used to make his version of soul food, having learned it from his African American mates during his steward days in the Navy. Back then, Filipinos and African Americans were relegated to the lowly position of stewards in the early 60's. As kids, we grew up eating mainly Filipino food, supplemented by American dishes made by my dad as well as occasional forays into soul food territory (ham hocks, collard greens, black eyed peas). Looking back on it, I guess we were pretty lucky to have some sort of variety. Our family didn't eat out a lot or at all. Everything was made by scratch by my parents. So,back to Dorsey's, I supposed if we were in the area again (visiting Thane or doing another road trip), I wouldn't mind coming here and checking it out!
Now this was a sign I couldn't ignore, Paco Collars - "Yes, a Store Just for Dog Collars"!
When I take this photos, I pretty much don't know anything about these establishments until I end up looking them up later on for my posts. Turns out this place is raved about by dog owners for their "high quality" and customized leather collars. Some, replete with studs and designs worthy of a Rob Halford stage outfit. I think it's pretty cool that a store like this has a faithful following and can stay afloat during these economic times.
Before heading to our hotel, we made a quick stop at Andronico's, which is kind of like a more upscale Trader Joe's and kind of like a younger poorer cousin of Whole Foods. There are three locations of Andronicos, this was the one on Shattuck in the Gourmet Ghetto section of Berkeley (yes, that is the term they use). There were tons of people milling about the sidewalks near a place called The Cheeseboard Collective, some even lunching in the grassy traffic medians. Needed to stock up on water, fresh fruit, and some cheese and deli meats for our breakfasts.
Check out the flavors on these sodas. Rhubarb or cucumber anyone? Anyone? Bueller?
Along University Avenue, there were tons of ethnic restaurants. Name the cuisine and it was represented. I saw lots of Indian/Pakistani places as well as this Afghan restaurant, De Afghanan Kabob House. It's something to try, along with a tour of the Takara Sake Factory that we always glimpsed in passing over the bridge...
It was too early to check in, so we kicked back at the nearby Cesar Chavez Park. Bert and I hadn't been here since I was pregnant in early 2000. The park is near the Berkeley Marina and has plenty of large grassy areas for people to walk their dogs, trails for walking, and even designated patches for kite flying.
We brought some sports equipment in case we needed it so in this case, TC and Bert (and even me) had fun kicking around her soccer ball. The grass wasn't the most even surface because it was lumpy but she still had a great time kicking the ball while I broke some blood vessels on my foot (heh). Yeah, I'm a wimp.
Since it was a very windy day, there were many kite flyers out in full force. See the view below? You can even see the Campanile (aka the "Sather Tower" at Cal).
The hotel gave us complimentary chocolate chip cookies...
Last year during our road trip, I was on the lookout for these, the Berkeley "Big People" protestor scultpures on the pedestrian/cyclist foot bridge near the University exit from the 1-80. I didn't know there were statues on both ends of the bridge. We would end up seeing every day during our vacation. Here's the other end of the bridge as seen in the post from our Fall 2010 trip...
Later than afternoon, we encountered what to us was horrific traffic but to Bay Area folks is "normal". This was a road parallel to the I-80 as our car made it's slothlike pace towards the Oakland Bay Bridge. Unbeknownst to us, there was a suicidal jumper (who was later talked out of jumping) which made rush hour traffic even worse. What was supposed to be a 30 minute drive to Thane's place in the city became an hour and fifteen minutes.
Due to the winds, lots of folks were out flying kites and also doing something I'd never seen before, "Kitesurfing" (aka "kiteboarding")...
I thought it looked amazing seeing all of those kites whipping around...
Heading west on the Oakland Bay Bridge...
We were off to the Embaracadero area to visit Thane and his wife who just became parents of a nearly two week old baby boy.
Although not pictured here, Thane's son, baby M was so cute! He was asleep the whole time and looked like a mini Chinese/mestizo version of Thane! I felt so nervous holding a newborn again. It's been more than 10 years and I was "rusty" at this baby holding thing! It was great seeing Thane and his wife, as well as Thane's mom who was visiting from out of town. We could only stay a tiny bit since we were planning to meet my cousin for dinner...
On another happy note, TORC and her husband are now the proud parents of a beautiful baby girl, born in the early morning hours today. Can't wait to meet her as well!
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