Berkeley Food Field Trip

John and I are completely obsessed.  We have driven an hour to Berkeley two weekends in a row now, under some pretense or another, but really just to eat Semifreddi's morning buns.  Two weekends ago we went to Berkeley since the King Tut exhibit in SF was sold out.  This past weekend we went to "try the farmers market."  It's a good thing we both share the obsession, or else I'd be lonely all weekend when John runs off to Berkeley.

They only had two morning buns left, so we had to settle for a chocolate chip cookie too.  Rough life.

This is a look of pure joy.  Don't let it scare you.

For those not acquainted with morning buns (perhaps everyone who doesn't live in California), they are similar to a cinnamon roll, except made with croissant-like dough and without icing.  They actually come with or without cinnamon.  The best part is the center section that is moist, rich, and buttery.  Honestly, these buns are worth moving to the West Coast for.  I guess we need our morning buns to make up for our lack of bagels.

I went a little crazy taking macro pics of all the cool flowers and things in Berkeley.  We did a lot of walking around and everyone seemed to have gorgeous flowers sprouting everywhere.  Must be a Berkeley thing.

Hello beautiful street that runs in between the world's best ice cream and the world's best morning buns.  I would like to live on you, immediately.

Preferably in this adorable house.

We walked from Claremont to College Ave (at least I think it's an Ave).  I love all the great signs.

This adorable store, The Treehouse, sells a bunch of "green gifts" that are impossible to pass up.  We ended up getting a blue bamboo serving bowl, because clearly that is a must-have item.

Here's a pic of the whole store.  Wouldn't you love to own and run a place like this?  Or is it just me?

That bowl I love strikes again!  I vow that next time I see this set I will buy it!

Guess you need some bees to pollinate all the blooms around town.

This house was not one of our favorites.  We were especially intrigued by the bizarre metal contraption in the bottom right.  I thought it looked like it would hold an Olympic flame or something.  Any ideas?

These flowers were an electric purple that you don't see in nature much.  The whole yard was covered with 'em.

This flower...bush....well, plant...reminded me of something from Dr. Seuss or perhaps something you'd see growing in the ocean.  And yes, they were as soft and fuzzy as they look.

Lola is another favorite store of ours on College.

Toast/bread serving platters are just about the cutest pieces of wood you can imagine.  They had these last time we were here too, but almost everything else in the store was completely different.  I love these little shops where the owners just fill them with interesting things that don't match but somehow go together perfectly.

I would like to place this table in my house in Berkeley.  Please ignore the fact that I don't have that house, because it would go great!

And naturally we made it back to Ici.  This place gets better every time we go.

We found out Mitch somehow had been ordering his ice cream in a cup this whole time.  What a sucker.  These handmade cones with chocolate tips are not to be missed.

John agrees.

Secret kitchen tucked away in the back.  I wonder how they come up with their fun flavors.  I had orange chocolate chip.  Ice cream with a light orange flavor, tiny pieces of candied orange peel, and chocolate chips.

I need to start storing my cookies around the house like this.  Tupperware just won't hack it anymore.

We also went to a sushi restaurant for dinner that night, but I usually restrain myself from taking pictures in sit-down places, so there's no visual for you.  Obviously sushi doesn't really compare to morning buns and ice cream though, anyway.