Gourmet Ghetto facts for kids
The Gourmet Ghetto is a fun nickname for a special business area in North Berkeley, California. It's famous for being the starting point of California cuisine, which is a style of cooking that uses fresh, local ingredients. This neighborhood also helped make things like specialty coffee, the idea of eating farm-to-table food, and delicious chocolate truffles and baguettes popular in the U.S.
You can also find restaurants here that were among the first to have an open kitchen where you can watch the chefs cook. And the California-style pizza made with fresh, local ingredients also got its start here! This area is sometimes called "North Shattuck." The name "Gourmet Ghetto" was given to it in the late 1970s by comedian Darryl Henriques. Important early places that shaped this food scene were Peet's Coffee, Chez Panisse, and the Cheese Board Collective. Alice Medrich also started her famous Cocolat chocolate shops here.
The neighborhood, with Alice Waters' Chez Panisse at its heart, became a hub for getting food directly from farms. They focused on using fresh, locally grown ingredients, especially those that were natural and sustainably farmed, and often organic. Alice Waters and her friends, who were interested in social issues, actively promoted the idea of eating in a way that helps the community and the environment. Many people who worked at Chez Panisse later opened their own successful restaurants, bakeries, and food shops in the wider San Francisco Bay Area.
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History of the Gourmet Ghetto
The story of the Gourmet Ghetto began on April 1, 1966. That's when Alfred Peet, who was from the Netherlands, opened the very first Peet's Coffee shop. It was located at the corner of Walnut and Vine streets. Peet's was the first coffee shop in the U.S. to sell special coffee beans from all over the world. They also offered darker roasts, like French roast. At first, the store only sold whole, freshly roasted coffee beans for people to make at home. They only brewed coffee for customers to taste before buying. Alfred Peet was very particular and insisted that his customers follow his exact instructions to make European-style coffee at home. Peet's Coffee started a big trend for specialty coffee across the country.
More Food Pioneers Arrive
The Berkeley Co-op grocery store, which focused on natural foods, was already in the neighborhood. There were also several local butcher shops that had kept going even as more people bought pre-packaged meat.
In 1967, the Cheese Board opened a few doors down from Peet's. It was started by Elizabeth and Sahag Avedisian, who were academics. They wanted to sell fancy cheeses while they studied. But their business became so successful that it interrupted their studies! So, in 1971, the Avedisians sold the store to their six employees. The new owners formed an employee-owned collective and renamed it the Cheese Board Collective. The Cheese Board also sold local cheeses and baked bread because bread and cheese go together perfectly. In 1975, they introduced the sourdough baguette to the U.S., and it became very popular with their soft cheeses.
Chez Panisse and Farm-to-Table Eating
Chez Panisse was founded in 1971 by U.C. Berkeley film studies professor Paul Aratow and Alice Waters. Alice Waters had studied French, was a political activist, and loved to travel. The restaurant opened in a beautiful Arts and Crafts-style house on Shattuck Avenue. It served French-style dinners but used ingredients grown right here in California.
Alice Waters was very active in promoting the idea of a new way for food suppliers to work together to create tasty meals. At first, Waters bought ingredients from the Berkeley Co-op and smaller markets around Berkeley. Her staff even went out to find ingredients like wild blackberries, and neighbors brought produce from their own gardens. David Lance Goines, who was Alice Waters' boyfriend and a talented artist, created posters for the restaurant and other businesses in the Gourmet Ghetto. Alice Waters and her friends, including film scholars Paul Aratow and Tom Luddy, created a kind of food club at Chez Panisse. They wanted to make local food a strong part of the economy and encourage social change. In February 1973, Waters hired Jeremiah Tower as the head chef. Tower helped the restaurant focus even more on salads and local food. He said a big moment for local food happened in October 1976. That's when he made a meal using only regional ingredients. This included cream corn soup from Mendocino, oysters from Tomales Bay, cheese from Sonoma, and California-grown fruits and nuts bought at a farmer's market in San Francisco.
More Delicious Additions
In 1973, Victoria Wise, who used to study philosophy and was Chez Panisse's first head chef, opened Pig-by-the-Tail. This was a French-style charcuterie (a shop selling prepared meats) located across the street from Chez Panisse. In December 1973, Alice Medrich started selling her chocolate truffles from Pig-by-the-Tail. After selling out her first small batch very quickly, Victoria Wise asked Medrich to deliver 25 dozen truffles every day! This was the beginning of a huge excitement for chocolate truffles in America.
Looking for a bigger space, the Cheese Board Collective moved into the shop next to Victoria Wise's in July 1975. A couple of blocks down Shattuck was Poulet, a fancy restaurant that featured the cooking of Bruce Aidells. He would soon become famous for his new and interesting sausage flavors. Later, Aidells started his own sausage company. Another co-op, the Juice Bar Collective, opened in 1976. In 1977, Alice Medrich opened her own chocolate and dessert shop called Cocolat. It was on the same block as Chez Panisse and Pig-by-the-Tail. Medrich's chocolate truffles were a bit bigger and less smooth than French ones. These became known as California truffles. Victoria Wise said that when Cocolat opened, it really "cinched the whole Gourmet Ghetto thing," meaning it made the area truly special for food.
New Dining Experiences
In 1980, Chez Panisse opened a more relaxed dining area upstairs from the original restaurant. This second-floor cafe was almost like a separate restaurant. It offered an à la carte menu, meaning you could order individual dishes like pasta, pizza, and calzone. This was different from the table d'hôte or prix fixe style downstairs, where you got a set meal.
In the cafe, one of the first California-style pizzas was made in a big, wood-fired brick oven. They used unusual toppings like goat cheese and duck sausage. The cafe was designed with an open kitchen so that customers could watch their food being prepared. While other restaurants had used open kitchens before, Chez Panisse's way of doing it really influenced chef Wolfgang Puck. He then made the open kitchen idea much more popular, starting with his Spago restaurant in Beverly Hills.
Until the late 1980s, the Berkeley Co-op grocery store provided natural foods to local residents and chefs in the Gourmet Ghetto. Next door was the French Hotel cafe, which was known for its cappuccino and espresso coffee.
Where to Find the Gourmet Ghetto
The North Shattuck Association says that the main part of the Gourmet Ghetto business district is along Shattuck Avenue. You'll also find some shops on Walnut and Vine streets. It's generally bordered by Rose Street to the north and Delaware Street to the south.
