These are photos from my recent trip to Berkeley and Oakland, California. I was helping my daughter, post her shoulder surgery.
This is the Cheeseboard pizza from Thursday. Cremini mushroom and Kale with a side of their famous cilantro pepper sauce to dip the crust. As an added bonus, they top your slice with a sliver! Cheeseboard Collective is an institution in Berkeley.
Here’s the background info from Cheeseboard’s website:
About Our Pizza
Cheese Board Pizza started with a simple, fun idea during one of our shifts
We’d grab some extra sourdough baguette dough, pick our favorite cheeses from the counter, and toss on veggies from the market next door to make pizzas just for us. Then, in 1985, we decided to share the fun and started serving a single type of vegetarian pizza to customers after hours on Friday nights. Each night, we’d make one fresh, unique pizza with veggies, specialty cheeses from the Cheese Board, and a thin, sourdough crust.
Today, that same recipe is still our go-to. The Pizzeria, now located just two doors south of the Cheese Shop and Bakery, is open for lunch and dinner four days a week. We’ve also added salads, roasted garlic, cookies, soft serve ice cream, sodas, beer, and wine. Live music is part of the scene at both lunch and dinner, adding to the vibrant atmosphere. Even though the line for pizza often stretches down the block, it moves quickly, with music keeping things lively along the way.
Here’s a rose I saw on my walk from my Berkeley Airbnb and Cheeseboard.
Beautiful Bougainvillea I spotted on a walk in Oakland with my son and daughter-in-law.
I’m not sure what these berries are. I just thought it made a unique shot on my walk to Cheeseboard for a slice.
Berkeley is a beautiful town when you open your eyes and notice the little things like flowers.
The tree-lined streets made for nice walks when I returned to my Airbnb after taking care of my daughter at my son’s apartment.
This was my cozy Airbnb — a separate room with it’s own entrance at the back of a home. I stayed here five years ago when my son had shoulder surgery. It has a bathroom, bedroom and a kitchenette.
Now for everything Cheeseboard:
My last three evenings, I walked from the Airbnb to Cheeseboard for a slice of pizza (and a sliver) before it got dark. It was my daughter’s idea. She told me to go home early so I could have Cheeseboard, which is a treat I enjoy when I visit my kids. Prior to my Cheeseboard walks, I was getting home after dark, exhausted and savoring a cup of chowder I had bought the day I arrived. I wrote about Cheeseboard years ago: How long would you wait for pizza? Hint: It’s Cheese Board.
I’d walk around Shattuck Avenue for about 30 minutes then get in line at Cheeseboard and walk home with my salad and slice. Yes, I’d get in line because there is always a line. There is also a cheese shop two doors down owned by Cheeseboard where I’d buy a few treats for the kids to bring the next day, like their favorite cheese, crackers, chips and homemade tomatillo salsa.
About Cheeseboard: They make one flavor of pizza per day and one salad. No special orders except Gluten and/or Vegan free. The pizza’s randomly change according to fresh produce and they locally source cheese. There is never meat on a Cheeseboard pizza.
I had this one and will say it was really, really good. I liked the Cremini/Kale better, though.
The pizza I had on my last night in Berkeley.
This is the line going into Cheeseboard. The open door near the front of the photo goes into their cheese and bakery shop.
The line wound around the corner and down the street.
If you go to Berkeley, I highly recommend a slice of pizza at Cheeseboard.
What’s your favorite pizza or a pizza spot?
What do you think of my Berkeley photos?
If you’ve never been there, did you think it would be so beautiful?
I was outside at 6:30 a.m. writing in my journal when I heard a coyote yipping in the distance. Then more joined in. It got louder, closer and sounded like a pack murdering prey right outside our fence. I’ve never heard anything like it! I can’t run, so I hobbled my way inside the house. It got quiet.
Then I watched coyote after coyote slink along our fence. I couldn’t count how many, because some were hidden behind bushes. I got a photo and video of one coyote jumping on the wall.
I posted this photo — which is blurry because it’s a screen shot of the video — to social media and I got an interesting response.
“Great shot and love your Soleri bell!”
I have never heard of a Soleri bell before and I wasn’t sure what she was talking about.
I googled Soleri and found out that the prior owners had indeed left us a Soleri Wind Bell.
In a nearby town called Paradise Valley, an artist from Italy named Paolo Soleri made bronze and ceramic wind bells in the 1950s and 60s.
Cosanti Originals bronze windbells are made using handcrafted techniques and traditional designs in our Arizona studios for over 65 years. They feature vibrant colors, organic textures, and design motifs that vary from piece to piece or artisan to artisan. Each one is a true “original.” They come in a variety of sizes and complement both indoor and outdoor spaces. Each purchase supports The Cosanti Foundation which promotes sustainability through experimental architecture and agriculture.
What a fun surprise. I read all about something that’s been hanging in our yard for years that I knew nothing about. When the weather cools down, we will take a trip to Paradise Valley to look at the gallery. The wind bells range in price from a little over $100 for recently made ones to close to $8,500 for original vintage ones made by Soleri himself. I’m sure that the prior owners of our house would have taken this Soleri Wind Bell with them if it was an original! But I’m pleased they left this one with us!
