Local Favorites: Cheese Board Pizzeria

In honor of our approaching 2 year anniversary of being California residents, I thought I'd share another one of the local spots we frequent. Sam and I live in an area of Berkeley affectionately called The Gourmet Ghetto. This adorable little neighborhood is home to numerous local establishments, most of which are restaurants. We have become quite the foodies and are spoiled by the vast selection of eateries within walking distance of our apartment. One of the very first places we tried when we arrived in Berkeley was The Cheese Board. 

This delicious pizzeria serves vegetarian pizza made with organic/local grown ingredients and has introduced us to some fun toppings like broccoli and key limes and unique cheeses. The Cheese Board is also a collective, which means it is worker owned. Pretty cool. When strolling down Shattuck during lunch or dinner time, it's pretty common to see the line wrapping out the door and down to the corner. 

So, funny story: the first time Sam and I went to Cheese Board, we didn't realize that they only serve one type of pizza a day. We saw one of the signs listing "today's toppings" and thought we could order a slice of pizza with any of those toppings. Wrong. After much confusion, one of the workers finally explained the concept to us...

Since the pizzeria is fairly tiny, patrons tend to grab a seat wherever they can. A tradition has evolved for groups to cross the street to the grassy median and picnic there...despite all of the signage saying not to.

Usually, Sam and I grab our pizza to go, but sometimes we hang around to listen to the live music or people watch. I love that this place is 3 short blocks from our apartment. And yes, we always get a full pizza...

Some SoCal Love

This summer, Sam was given the amazing opportunity to intern  for 10 weeks at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena. Unfortunately, that also meant a summer spent apart :(  Thankfully, we have some wonderful friends from college, Bjorn and Kendell, living in the area who offerred to let Sam crash in their spare bedroom, AND conveniently, Bjorn also works at JPL. Planning and making this internship work out would have been infinitely harder without their generosity!

Even though the longest we have spent apart so far is 2 weeks, I've realized I really dislike not having Sam around. It is so quiet without anyone else in the aparment, and I've found that I've taken a lot less interest in actually cooking a meal. At least I have Daysie to keep me company!

Anyway, the internship has given us the excuse to spend some more time down in LA visiting (aka living) with our wonderful friends. The weekend before Memorial Day, Sam and I made the drive down to LA to get him set up. We drove down early Saturday morning, so I could have some time to chill before driving back solo on Sunday.

That evening, the four of us met up with Annie, another college friend visiting her hometown of Laguna Beach for the summer. The city was quite entertaining with it's surfer dudes, art gallaries, and other various shops and boutiques. We ate delicious sushi at a rooftop restaurant over looking the ocean, and then grabbed dessert at a local ice-cream shop. Us ladies also endulged in some gourmet chocolates to share...that might have been a little much after my nutella gelatto.

All in all, a very fun evening! I was totally bummed the next day having to drive back up to Berkeley all alone. Thankfully, I was well caffeinated and had a stash of audio books and podcasts to keep me entertained!

The following Saturday, I flew down for the three-day weekend. My BART ride from Berkeley to SFO took longer than the actual flight from SFO to LAX...amazing! And so easy. We spent Saturday afternoon on the beach in Malibu eating a delicious picnic Kendell prepared, along with some yummy sangria. The wind made it a bit cool for a swimsuit, but we all still managed to get sunburned. For me, this included my hands, the bottom 1/3 of my legs, and my head. Let me tell you, I am sporting some awesome tan lines right now!

Sunday was a bit warmer, and we headed over to the Getty Villa to enjoy the beautiful outdoor gardens and the exhbit "Aphrodite and the God's of Love" (where we giggled like little kids over some of the more risque paintings/sculptures).

Sam and I were particularly intrigued by this sculpture. Half of it was buried in the sand and protected by erosion while the other half was covered by water. Pretty cool.

After our intellectual morning, we began our search for a place to picnic and enjoy another one of Kendell's delicious lunches. Kendell somehow found this little place called Red Rock Canyon Park. It was very pretty and surrounded by massive red rock formations from the canyon. Unfortunately, we weren't wearing the appropriate shoes to hike, so we couldn't explore very far. It was a great little spot though. The weirdest thing is that we had to drive down this long dirt road to finally come to the park entrance. There were a bunch of private homes all along the road, and we kept thinking we were going to end up in someone's drive way. Persistance paid off though!

After lunch, we spent some more time lounging on the beach with glasses of wine and the sun in our face before heading over to dinner. We had reservations at Inn of the Seventh Ray. This new age hippie restaurant is set in a beautiful outdoor area overlooking a little creek. The atmosphere is incredibly peaceful, and the food to die for! Everything is made with organic and locally grown ingredients.

Chicken Breast with Achiote Essence 

Miso Braised Short Rib 

Prime Hanger Steak

Though it is a little on the more expensive side, I think the food and atmosphere are well worth the splurge!

The rest of the weekend we spent relaxing and enjoying the good company! I was pretty sad to leave Monday evening to catch my flight home, but at least I didn't have to spend 5+ hours driving on I-5. I'm hoping I'll be able to make it back down for some more fun before Sam finishes up his internship at the end of July. Now I'm just trying to stay busy with work and school until Sam flies up again.