Last Friday my friend Melissa and I took a field trip to Berkeley Bowl Marketplace in Berkeley. If you haven’t heard of the Berkeley Bowl, it is an independent supermarket known for its amazing produce section (some say the best in the country).
To really give you the flavor of the place, PLEASE go read this article in the LA Times. It’s great. I promise you will be entertained. And check out this follow-up blog post by the author of the article. Awesome.
Of course, after reading THAT I had to go. Plus my friend from Berkeley said the place rocks. Melissa and I took our girls and had a blast browsing for well over an hour…and we didn’t even make it down the aisles. The perimeter of the store kept us plenty busy! I came home with many delectable treats. A Friday morning well spent, to be sure!
And now, for the barrage of pictures! One of the first things we saw was this olive bar, which was about twice as the big as the picture indicates.
The whole store was great, but seriously, the produce section was OFF. THE. HOOK.
I didn’t even know what half the stuff was. Like this Mexican chayote. Anyone? I didn’t buy one, and not just because I didn’t know what to do with it. Yeah, touching a chayote is what I imagine being attacked by a few dozen porcupines must feel like.
The best part was the amazing variety. So many different kinds of every fruit and veggie.
Of course they had my favorite young Thai coconuts, refrigerated as they should be (Safeway, take note). (Seriously, people, don’t ever buy those brown, hairy coconuts. These puppies kick butt. But I digress…back to the Bowl.)
These grapes were TINY. And so sweet. I bought them simply because they were cute, and thankfully they tasted good too.
Everywhere I turned I saw beautiful produce. A feast for the eyes as well as the belly!
On the way out we grabbed some ‘morning rolls,’ which looked like they might be a bit dry. Au contraire. They were moist, buttery, little bits of heaven. As we ate them, the bakery truck that brought them to the Bowl drove by.
I was a little sad there were no petitioners outside the store yelling at me for ignoring them. And, while the store was very busy, people were friendly and even liked my kids! Just when I thought we had navigated the Berkeley Bowl safely…
We were leaving the store and the bagger was showing me where a picnic table was located nearby. Apparently I was blocking the way because I heard, in a very irritated tone, “EXCUSE ME! EXCUSE ME! EXCUSE ME!” I turned and a woman said (okay, yelled), “Excuse me, MA’AM! You are blocking everyone’s way!” To which I replied, “I know!”
Take that! I came to the Berkeley Bowl ready to fight, lady. 
Hello! My name is Jane Maynard and you've landed yourself on my blog, This Week for Dinner™. Every Sunday I share a weekly menu...and then count on you to share your own! You'll also find other deliciousness that I hope you'll enjoy!
