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Leena Eats: Ici Ice cream in Berkeley

Leena Eats: Ici Ice cream in Berkeley

Long lines, delicious ice cream--the joy that is Ici.

When I moved to the East Bay in late 2009, one of the first shops I noticed nestled in the adorable Elmwood neighborhood of Berkeley was Ici ice cream shop. It’s hard NOT to notice Ici, which seems to have a line at least 20 people long at all hours of the day and night.

One day while I was waiting in line, a hippy chick on a bike rode by and screamed, “You know there is Ben and Jerry’s too!” Of course there is, and on days when I don’t feel like waiting in line for really really good ice cream made with slightly more local and less processed ingredients as Ben n Jerry’s, I will happily walk down to Safeway and buy myself a pint. But I happen to feel upscale organic ice cream has a place in this world, damn it. Especially when they put bacon in ice cream form.

More food porn from Ici after the jump.

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May 26th, 2010
Posted in Berkeley, East Bay, Ice cream, Leena Eats | View Comments

Leena Eats: A Tale of Two Ethiopian Restaurants (in East Bay)

Leena Eats: A Tale of Two Ethiopian Restaurants (in East Bay)

Ethiopian delicacies from Cafe Colluci in North Oakland

Right on the border of North Oakland and South Berkeley is a strip of Ethiopian restaurants as far as the eye can see. And if you know me? You know I loves me some Ethiopian food–the perfect blend of spices that isn’t as bold as Indian food, but somehow melds together to this harmonious blend of heat and spices you probably never use you in your kitchen. Paired with the sour-dough-flavored spongy injera bread, and I could easily eat this stuff every day of the week.

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May 12th, 2010
Posted in Berkeley, East Bay, Leena Eats, Oakland | View Comments

Leena Eats: Upscale Indian Cuisine

Leena Eats: Upscale Indian Cuisine

The succulent tandoori scallops at Ajanta restaurant in Berkeley, California.

See that in the photo? THAT was not scallop. That was a freaking perfectly cooked revelation from the sea, otherwise known as the tandoori scallop at Ajanta restaurant in Berkeley, California. This is a perfect example of a (sort of) new restaurant trend across the country, upscale Indian cuisine.

Technically speaking, upscale Indian cuisine can go by many names, anything from fusing Indian ingredients and recipes with another country’s cuisine, modernizing traditional Indian recipes, or using Indian ingredients with non-Indian cooking techniques. Examples? So glad you asked…

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March 24th, 2010
Posted in Berkeley, Chicago, Leena Eats | View Comments

Leena Eats: Interview with Lachu Moorjani, chef/owner of Ajanta

Leena Eats: Interview with Lachu Moorjani, chef/owner of Ajanta

Chef/owner Lachu Moorjani with a bottle of Indian-produced wine.

In my five years as a food writer, I’ve met and worked with a fair number of chefs. Chefs that like to yell and chefs that like to surf. Chefs that work quietly and chefs that get so excited just telling you about a new recipe or vendor they found, their passion is contagious. It feels like I’ve met every kind of chef that exists, and yet every now and then, I get a pleasant surprise.

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March 3rd, 2010
Posted in Berkeley, Chef Interviews, Leena Eats | View Comments

Leena Cooks: Gujarati Vedimi (sweet lentil-stuffed bread)

Leena Cooks: Gujarati Vedimi (sweet lentil stuffed bread)

My family vedimi recipe (sweet lentil, nut and coconut-stuffed flat bread).

Growing up, it took FOREVER for me to like Indian food, even though my father is from India. The spices typically used in dishes, like cumin or cardamom, were intensely flavored and overwhelming to my young palate, so when it came to eating, I stuck to breads. Breads seemed safe enough.

My Indian aunts would always make stacks and stacks of various flatbreads they would brush with ghee (clarified butter Indians use to cook) and store in stainless steel containers. Typically I found softly, slightly oily fried puri bread. Occasionally I’d stumble across spicy tepla, or fenugreek-stuffed roti bread. Sometimes it was a crap shoot and I’d land upon a stack of dry as cardboard roti bread, which I still loathe to this day.

But sometimes, sometimes I’d hit the kid jackpot and find vedimi bread. It was always a shock to my young tastebuds, the rush of sugar, the sweet shredded coconut and hauntingly fragrant cardamom pods…it took me years to learn their name and even longer to discover what was in that the magical sweet mix in the center of the bread.

Leena Cooks: Gujarati Vedimi (sweet lentil stuffed bread)

The beautiful, sweet innards of my vedimi.

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March 1st, 2010
Posted in Berkeley, Leena Eats, San Francisco | View Comments

Leena Eats: Berkeley Farmers Market Food Porn

Leena Eats: Berkeley Farmers Market Food Porn

Welcome to Berkeley’s Farmers Market, where locally grown produce and banjo-playing former hippies abound.

You can’t live near Berkeley, love food, and NOT visit their farmers market. It’s not quite illegal (yet), but I’ve heard a band of local yippies will bombard your house with useless pamphlets about water conservation (don’t flush the toilet after each use? YEAH, THAT IS NOT GROSS AT ALL) at all hours of the day.

Consequently, the homeless will also ring your doorbell, minus the water conservation pamphlets and add a little “Need Money” sign. But unless you are planning on feeding them, the homeless don’t give a shit if you go to Berkeley’s Farmers Market.

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February 3rd, 2010
Posted in Berkeley, Food Porn, Leena Eats | View Comments

Leena Eats: Monterey Market

Leena Eats: Monterey Market
Welcome to Monterey Market, home of a crap ton of produce!

When I moved into the East Bay, there were food markets people constantly told me I needed to check out: The Berkeley Bowl, which you might remember from this post, and Monterey Market. Here is what you need to know about Monterey Market–if you are looking for a wide variety of produce (I’m talking eight kinds of potato and ten kinds of oranges) or something exotic or locally grown, this is your place. It was opened in 1961 just down the street by the Fujimoto family, who came from Japan and lost everything during WWII internment camps. Monterey Market used to be a full functioning grocery store, complete with a butcher, but in 1980, they moved to their current location and shifted to produce-only, the Fujimoto family’s specialty. Read the rest of this entry »

January 13th, 2010
Posted in Berkeley, Leena Eats | View Comments

Leena Eats: SF, day two, part one- Berkeley Bowl and SF sights

Leena Eats: SF, day two, part one Berkeley Bowl and SF sights
If this doesn’t get you hungry, I don’t like you.
Leena Eats: SF, day two, part one Berkeley Bowl and SF sights
Two food lovers on the loose—lookout, Berkeley Bowl!!

On day two in San Francisco, we went apartment and sight seeing around the East Bay. One of our first food-related stops was the Berkeley Bowl, a giant grocery store with tons of selection, ethnic foods and other yumminess. Lucky for me, I had my partner in food crime Cari to stake out the joint. (By the way, you can check out Cari’s blog and her take on our SF food trip here.) Read the rest of this entry »

November 5th, 2009
Posted in Berkeley, Improv, Leena Eats, Leena Lives Life, Leena Travels | View Comments

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