Hamburger!

Berkeley, May 11, 2012—

WE THOUGHT WE'D SPEND the afternoon on a sentimental walk around our old neighborhood, Berkeley's Telegraph Avenue — where we'd lived when we were first married, fifty-five years ago today. Much has changed, of course. It's much more densely populated, much more diverse, scruffier. The Piccolo Café has become the Mediterraneum, and that has declined somewhat over the years. Larry Blake's is gone, and the Black Sheep, and the Old Europe where we used to dawdle over a Viennese coffee. Art Music is a thing of the past, and Fraser's, and George Goode.

But Kip's is still there. It's not quite the same: the downstairs café is now a Chinese restaurant; the burger joint is upstairs where the pool tables used to be. And, of all things, a Chez Panisse alum, Jon Helquist, has been hired as a consultant. I'm not sure what he's accomplished; I don't think the votes are all yet counted.

We had a hamburger and a beer. The burgers used to be char-broiled; Kip's was one of the first places to do that; today's version seemed griddled to me, in the more conventional manner. It came on an okay rectangular Italian-style bun (I'm not sure what I mean by that), with grilled onions when we asked for them, a tomato slice, and lettuce; a rather nice green salad on the side.

IPA on draft

• Kip's Restaurant & Bar, 2439 Durant Avenue, Berkeley; 510.848.4340