Liberty's Profile
Berkeley Trader Joe's
I just walked by the new downtown Berkeley Trader Joe's location (University Avenue at Martin Luther King Blvd), and there was a handwritten sign on the door announcing that they will open on June 11th!
Nigerian Caterer in the Bay Area!
I unfortunately do not know of any Nigerian caterers here, but there is a very good Ghanaian restaurant (i.e., still West Africa) called Tropical Paradise. I thought I'd pass along the info as you haven't received any replies yet, though perhaps others will yet make some good suggestions.
They have a Jollof rice, which was very good, although I don't know how it would compare to the traditional Nigerian dish. Their menu has a number of meat dishes, and it is possible that they could make meat-based versions of the vegetarian dishes for a special occasion.
Menu: http://www.themenupage.com/tropicalparadiserestaurant/menu.html
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Tropical Paradise Restaurant
2021 University Ave, Berkeley, CA 94704
Yunnanese restaurants in the greater Bay Area?
Spring World in Chicago also is Yunnanese. Definitely wish Yunnanese cuisine were better represented in the U.S.!
Sebastopol: Infusions Teahouse - Organic Orange Ginger Puerh
Numi has several flavored pu-erhs: Mint Pu-erh, Magnolia Pu-erh, and Chocolate Pu-erh, as well as a non-flavored pu-erh called Emperor's Pu-erh. My favorite is the Mint Pu-erh, even though I'm not normally wild over mint teas. The Chocolate Pu-erh was also excellent. The Magnolia Pu-erh reminded me of jasmine tea, floral but without the distinctive scent of jasmine. The Emperor's Pu-erh was the one that I found least exciting -- a nice pu-erh to be sure, but similar to other pu-erhs I've had. (http://www.worldpantry.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/numitea/home.d2w/report)
It looks like they are coming out with a new line of bottled teas, though I haven't seen these in stores yet.
Their tea garden in Oakland is well worth the trip, IMHO. Very serene, with a formal Chinese-style tea service (though a little different than the technique I've seen when living in China). They had some small snacks on the menu, as well as a large selection of teas. They even had a large barrel with free sample sachets of their new teas, though this was back in January. The tea house is kind of in an industrial part of Oakland, so there is not too much else in the neighborhood, but I think it's a top-notch hidden S.F. Bay Area treasure.
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Numi Tea Garden
2230 Livingston St, Oakland, CA 94606
Help me satisfy my night-time sweet tooth: chocolate cake to go in the East Bay?
I'd recommend the chocolate lava cake at Bobby G's (2072 University Avenue, near the downtown Berkeley BART station). There's nothing like a chocolate cake with rich, warm, chocolatey goodness erupting from the center... They also have a triple mousse cake, with dark chocolate, milk chocolate, and white chocolate mousse. And they're open until 11 p.m. to boot!
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Bobby G's Pizzeria
2074 University Ave, Berkeley, CA 94704
