Chez Panisse downstairs

$175 pp ? I liked Chez Panisse but that is a pretty steep price increase from $125 about two years ago

The old prices ($75 Monday, $110 weeknights, $120 weekend) seemed like a relative bargain to me compared with other high-end places.

Probably they did some number-crunching while they were closed and came up with a price that would make the downstairs as profitable as the upstairs and high enough that they wouldn’t have to raise it again any time soon.

How Berkeley can you be?


apéritif: vin de pêche with Prosecco


amuse: squab? liver with candied apricot


Polished off two of these by the end of the meal.


The albacore with its herb crust was lovely on its own, so we ate the aioli with the bread. As usual the aioli was quite mild, not very garlicky. Pairing was an Albariño.


Got a bottle of Blanc de Morgex et de la Salle as backup for the pairing.


Very nice even if a little more al dente than I prefer. Tasting blind I’d have thought the broth was chicken. Pairing was a Fiano di Avellino.


Very nice plate. The eggplant fritters were the bite of the evening.


Nice tannic plums were great with the wild fennel (in Berkeley they grow like weeds) ice cream. To pick nits, the raspberries weren’t fully ripe, not something I expect at CP. Pairing was an old favorite, Durban Beaumes de Venise.


Polished off the complementary lemon verbena and mint tisane before I thought to take a picture.


Total bill was a bit of a shock but seemed fair by current standards for the quality and quantity. I think the price increase since before Covid is less about inflation and more about making a profit downstairs instead of having it subsidized by the upstairs, where the prices have not gone up nearly as much.