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The view from the upstairs porch, Chez Panisse

Berkeley, August 8, 2013—

AS NEARLY EVERYONE knows, Chez Panisse was closed for a number of weeks this last spring after a serious fire under its dining-room floor. And as nearly everyone knows, it reopened in late June, the dining areas completely refurbished and the front wall of the building rebuilt.

I left the country just a few days before the reopening, and only got home a week ago, so it was only tonight that I was able to see the restaurant at work again.

Of course I can't be objective about Chez Panisse: I've been associated with the restaurant from its opening. Perhaps that permits me some pride in its recovery from the fire, and the new beauty of the dining room.

We ate downstairs: Squash-blossom fritters, light as a feather, with cucumber salad and anise hyssop; King salmon à la nage (swimming) in a delicious vegetable broth wih broad beans and pistou; grilled quail with sage, fried croutons, pancetta, wild mushrooms, and roasted vegetables; mulberry ice cream on meringues with fresh peaches. A fine summer supper, intelligently composed and artfully prepared and served.

Rosé, Domaine Tempier (Bandol), 2012; Nebbiolo, Castello di Verduno (Langhe), 2011: both of them authoritative, and perfect with the food

• Chez Panisse, 1517 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley; 510-548-5525