I had the most delicious fig goat cheese tart at the Slanted Door. I'm not too crazy about the Slanted Door but their Pastry Chef-Mutsumi Takehara is a genius so I put up with the wait, the loud dining room, and mediocre main courses. The fig tart served warm had a nuttiness that was unexpectedly wonderful union of flavors- you could not even know that goat cheese was involved. I wanted everyone I love to instantly have a bite of this pie.

Another expensive mediocre meal at Vanessa's Bistro

Vanessa's Bistro on Solano was highly touted on Chowhound so after a hiatus of restaurant hunting, I took Clees and Steve for a celebration meal. The most promising aspect of the meal the salmon tuna poke- but it's hard to mess up poke. The quail was more than tad overcooked, the Miso Glazed halibut was quite ripe- perhaps the last night it could be served- as was the fish in the Chef's Special Seafood Claypot. The much recommended seafood coconut curry was okay. Note to self, never trust a stranger's review.

The dessert was regrettable in the case of bread pudding(too turpentine) or forgettable(cheese cake). I normally order creme brulee whenever I can and "nobody home" is all I could think breaking into the ginger creme brulee.

Figs and Blueberries

July is the height blueberry season and the start of reasonable figs in the market. I always try to eat double fistfuls of blueberries whenever I can.

Pave

Three establishments in Berkeley offer Pave regularly, Crixa(always), Fanny's(once a month), Betty's To Go (on Sundays). I stood in line quite grumpily at Fanny's when I spotted these dark beauties.