Hanging with My Homies

I

got an

email

from my

homie,

Gail,

with

an invitation

to lunch

at

Chez Panisse,

in Berkeley

with

our two

other

hometown friends

Melissa

and Nancy.

Nancy,

who lives in Japan,

is

actually

"chef-ing"

a few

long nights

in the

kitchen

at

Chez Panisse,

while

finishing up

her own

cookbook.

I must back up at bit...

I grew up

with

these

fabulous

women!

I think we even

went

to Nursery School

together

...

then Laurel School

then

Encinal School

then

Menlo Atherton High School

....

We lived

at each

other's

houses,

rode bikes together,

had crushes

on the same guys

and

shared

many

of the same

growth

perks

and pains.

Toulouse and I

drove to

Santa Cruz

to hook up with Gail

I

Gail is my homie,

yup,

she is!

We share so many memories

Gail is a new grandma.

This is her

Mia

We drove to Berkeley

together

and met

Melissa

and Nancy

at

Chez Panisse.

Chez Panisse

has always

been

on my short

bucket list

of

restaurants

to try

before

I die.

Before

I introduce you

to my

homies

check

out

this menu

This is Nancy.

She

is

playing

in

Chez'

kitchen for the

next

week

or so

And this is gorgeous Melissa

when did we meet,

girl?

in Kindergarten?

Sadly,

Gail

was parking

the car

..

didn't catch a

candid

of her

But I did catch

a shot

of

my

heavenly

salad

cucumbers and beets with creme fraiche and chervil

and

the

butter bean salad with celery and bottarga

We

all

inhaled

our

own

individually

beautiful

and

delicious

Pizzetta with artichokes and rosemary

Sorry, Nancy,

I had

to

highlight YOU

in

those

glasses

A

delightful

catch up

on

our lives,

our families,

old friends

and

the 'hood

I tried

to get

a

few

Random shots

of

the

restaurant but it was really busy

..

tried

not to embarass

myself

too much