Berkeley, April 1, 2015—
IN FRANCE AND ITALY it is not "April Fool"; it is poisson d'avril (or pesce d'aprile ); "April fish." I do not know the reason for this, and I'm not about to look for it; we're out of bandwidth here, again.April 1 is also the anniversary of the opening of the Café Chez Panisse — it opened April 1, 1980; it is older than many of its employees and diners. As they say: the days go slow, the years fast.
The place was full of familiars, regulars, habitués; two old friends joined us at table. And here is how we feasted:
Hors d'oeuvres et Kir Royal : prosciutto, radishes, fennel, olives, duck rilettes on toasts (photo above)
| Raviolini aux fèves et fromage frais : raviol filled with fresh cheese in broth with peas and pea shoots, with mint and marjoram |  |
| Agneau de printemps avec les asperges, céleri-rave et mesclun de jardin : spring lamb chops with asparagus, celery-root purée, and garden lettuce photo: LRS |  |
| Gâteau glacé à la PANISSE : ice cream bombe with strawberries and tangerines |  |
| And, to end, friandises — chocolate-covered almonds, candied citrus peel —served on the (paper) poisson d'avril : no fools here! photo: LRS |  |
Dolcetto d'Alba, Cà Viola, 2012 (three bottles, considerable bottle variation, very nice)
• Café Chez Panisse, 1517 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley; 510-548-5525
☛Restaurants visited in 2015 are listed at Eatingday's Restaurants
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