berkeley

Sweet Adeline Bake Shop: Local and Organic Cookies from the Bay Area

Filed under: Dining

Though it's a single-store operation in California and doesn't ship its wares beyond the Golden State, Sweet Adeline Bake Shop's cookies are so delicious that they've been nominated for a Luxist award anyway.

Located at the intersection of Adeline and 63rd Streets in Berkeley, Sweet Adeline is owned and operated by Jennifer Millar. A Culinary Institute of America chef, Millar gained early experience working for Jam's, Bud's and Hulot's in New York; in 1988, she moved to California and became pastry chef at Square One in San Francisco before starting Sweet Adeline.

Today, Sweet Adeline is one of the Bay Area's best cookie makers. Its offerings include the bittersweet chocolate cookie, praline cookie, ginger cookie, peanut butter cookie; beyond cookies, the bakery offers a host of breads, tarts, pies and cakes. Everything is made in small batches, and most of the ingredients used are organic and local. The bakery's fruit usually comes from the vendors at the Berkeley Farmers' Market.

Sweet Adeline also specializes in baking cakes. Favorites include The Americana, a dark-chocolate, Devil's-Food-style cake that's filled and iced with a creamy dark chocolate ganache (9-inch cake: $35) and the Rigo Jancsi, a chocolate soufflé filled with chocolate ganache and raspberry jam or fresh raspberries, glazed in chocolate (9-inch cake: $40).

Vote for the company you believe makes the best cookies. Readers' Choice Winners will be announced on March 1st.

Tags: berkeley, best bakery, best cookie, best sweets, BestBakery, BestCookie, BestSweets, luxist-awards, sweet adeline, sweet adelines bakeshop, SweetAdeline, SweetAdelinesBakeshop

Twitter Co-Founder's Home For Sale

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates, Celebrity Shopping

I saw this flitting around Twitter a few days ago and retweeted it myself but it's time for a closer look at the home of Twitter co-founder Biz Stone. Stone used the popular microblogging service to let the world know he is moving on to a new home and has put his old one up for sale. He likely needs a bit more room. Stone's two-bedroom cottage in the Berkeley Hills of California is long on charm but short on space, it's around 800 square feet.

The home comes with a fine provenance. It was designed by William Wurster an architect and the namesake for UCBerkeley's Wurster Hall. The cottage was built as his own personal studio in 1960 and is a light and airy retreat. The simple and modern home has wood floors, skylights, fireplace and a small kitchen. It is listed at $575,000.

[via Freshome]

Gallery: Biz Stone In The Berkeley Hills

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Tags: berkeley, biz stone, BizStone, twitter

Chez Panisse Tableware

by Nicole Weston (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining

When it comes to high end dining, most consider the food, rather than the tableware. At Berkeley's Chez Panisse, chef/owner Alice Waters worked with Heath Ceramics to design custom place settings. Her reasoning was that since her food was locally sourced, her tableware should be, too. While you can buy the full range of Thomas Keller's tableware, Heath Ceramics has only released a 4-piece set, along with some serving dishes, for home use from their Chez Panisse Collection. The set is available in a neutral almond/ginger color. Price: $146.

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Tags: alice waters, berkeley, ceramics, chez panisse, ChezPanisse, dinner, dinnerware, heath ceramics, placesetting, plate, plates, serving, tableware

Conphorm Um Tote, Handbag of the Day

by Nicole Weston (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Handbags

Conphorm is a design company based in Berkeley, California that is dedicated "to revealing the inherent relationships between structure and function." In other words, they want the use to be built into the material - a trait that I cannot say that the majority of the handbags we like share. With the Conphorm Bags, there is no wasted or purposeless space. In fact, all of their bags unzip to be completely flat. The Um Tote, like the rest of Conphorm's product line, is made from industrial felt, utilizing the scraps of excess factory material that might otherwise be wasted. It measures 12.5 x 9.5 x 5 inches and has an appealing flow to it, in addition to a utilitarian practicality. You can choose the zipper color from blue, grey, green or orange. Price: $115.

[via Cool Hunting]

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Tags: berkeley, Conphorm, handbag, handbag of the day, purse, tote