a couple of friends and i decided it was time for an east bay adventure today, mostly because none of us felt like working on a beautiful friday. clearly a more productive way to spend the day is several hours of grocery shopping and sake tasting and aimless wandering. word. we’d heard that berkeley bowl is a mecca of fresh produce and decided to make a pilgrimage, cause we’re food nerds. we had a few issues with google map directions because i can’t type and the city of nerkeley does not in fact exist, but we ended up there alright and discovered the stunningly ridiculous produce paradise of a supermarket. check out these drop dead fucking gorgeous easter egg radishes:
if you’re interested in some serious produce porn, i’ve got it for you right here…
all of us walked around in a overwhelmed daze through the massive produce section (apparently the biggest in northern california), stumbling excitedly like five year olds (or chris olson) at disneyworld for the first time. i’ve never been in one place with so many completely foreign or vaguely familiar but never before seen fruits and vegetables before. they had horn melons and chirimoya and salsify and chayote and more apple and orange varieties than i even knew existed. like, who knew carrots came ROUND?
could they be any more fucking adorable?and i knew golden raspberries existed, but i’ve never seen them so pretty:
my similarly awestruck companions enjoyed playing with their food as much as i did. poor jess got attacked by a buddha’s hand:
kwame tried to get us all to smell the nasty crack of the durian while annie displayed her new tentacles:
i could stare for hours at the stained glass colors of these heirloom tomatoes:
or these:
ever seen a japanese naigamo? me neither.
or an indian bitter melon? fucking sweet.
we met some really nice people who work there, including my new friend who not only knows how to chop brussels sprouts with a cleaver but also is trying to make everyone jealous with his kickass moustache. you know what dude? yeah, i’m jealous i can’t grow a sexy handbar ‘stache and wield a sharp object so stop fucking rubbing it in, okay?
although i could continue posting orgasmic produce photos forever, i’ll end by showing a few of my favorites from the meat section. in order to check out the incredible bulk pastas, beans, and dried fruits, the kickass beer and wine and sake selection, the extensive asian foods aisle, the supersized olive bar, the fantastic cheese and seafood and bakery and coffee sections, and all the other wonders of the berkeley bowl, you’ll just have to go and see for yourself. but as i was saying, the meats.
i don’t know why i included that picture but i think it’s kinda cool. sorry for all you squeamish folks. to finish up, my favorite quote of the day belongs to kwame, who was responsible for this gem: ‘umm…yeah, i’ll take all the oxtails you have.’ what?! 10 pounds of oxtail? yeah, that’s normal (NOT). but that’s why we love him…
the other favorite phrase of the day could definitely apply to berkeley bowl as whole. very good eating? holy fuck yes.
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