Cycle 15 - Item 182 5 (Fri) July 2024 Top Dog Frankfurter 4.0 at Top Dog -Berkeley, California, USA- with the Family Summer Holiday in USA (Day 10 of 11) Day 1 (15.173 Sauteed Pea Sprouts with Garlic) Day 2 (15.174 White Clam Chowder…
In the San Francisco Bay Area. With the Family. Their first time in Northern California. The immediate objective was to escort DJ and three of his friends to compete in the finals of a global logic competition at Stanford University, while taking advantage of the opportunity to show the family my hometown/region, including San Francisco, Silicon Valley, and Berkeley, and visit my best friend Hahn, who lives in Los Altos, maybe even drop by my childhood home in Saratoga. The itinerary is packed, nearly every hour scheduled with activities. Stay tuned.
After three nights at a hotel in downtown San Francisco, then 4 nights at a rented house in Redwood City, the final 2 nights at Hahn's place in Los Altos.
TOUR PART I
Spending our last day visiting Berkeley.
2218 Haste Street - I lived in Unit 3, the one on the second floor, left side.
For starters, I wanted to see if the apartment where I'd lived was still there. Turning onto to Haste Street, the address immediately popped into mind: 2218 - if I'd tried to think of it just a minute before, no luck. It was still there.
LUNCH
Top Dog is an American restaurant. Specializes in "finely seasoned grilled sausages on French rolls." Local landmark - founded 1966.
Located at 2534 Durant Avenue.
When I was in college, Top Dog was a daily thing - not really, but seems so in memory. Open from 10:00 to 02:00 (Sun-Thu) or 03:00 (Fri-Sat), I'd grab one on the way to class, or in between classes, or on the way home, or during a pub crawl or during a late-night cram session.
All run by one guy, who takes the orders, runs the register (does the math in his head), grills the sausages, pours the drinks, sells souvenir t-shirts, yells at customers to get their finished orders ("2 Tops, 1 Garlic, 1 Chicken Apple!").
I believe that the "Top" was somewhere around $2 back in my day.
Precooked then reheated upon order - the guy somehow tells the different sausages apart.
Amazing, exactly as I remembered it. The classic Top Dog Frankfurter - or "Top," as in "I'll have 2 Tops, please." - was perfectly burnt to a crisp, perfect snap, perfectly salty and juicy and beefy, topped with my favorite combo of sauerkraut + dark mustard - as per the website "With kraut n' mustard, please!" (yellow mustard, ketchup, minced onions also available). I would've had more, but I was saving myself for dinner (which didn't happen as planned).
Garlic Frankfurter (4.0) + Top Dog Frankfurter (4.0) + Smoked Chicken Apple (2.0)
One thing that I love about America is the continuity, the history, the tradition of even the smallest things - that the hot dog joint that I enjoyed 30 years ago is still around, same location, same menu, same quality.
Blondie's Pizza, another landmark, also in the same location, same menu, presumably the same quality - didn't try it (never liked the thick crusts).
TOUR PART II
After lunch, I took the family on a quick tour of campus.
Having spent the past few days in and out of Stanford, often described as having one of the most beautiful campuses in the world, I was struck by the contrast at Berkeley, which I found more beautiful by far - and not just because I'm a graduate, and we detest everything about Stanfurd. The buildings at Cal are more traditional, and more varied in their design - the Spanish-style buildings at Stanford are kinda cute but boring in their uniformity. The rolling hills make the landscape feel more natural, more dimensional - Stanford is flat. And the lush greenery, including so many majestic trees, which I'd never noticed as a student, was gorgeous - by comparison, Stanford looks like a desert.
Sather Tower - aka "The Campanile" - probably the most building on campus.
Also notable was the difference in climate. Largely due to the weather itself, the East Bay (Berkeley) is inherently cooler than the South Bay (Stanford). But the larger buildings, rolling hills, and big trees made Berkeley feel even more more hospitable, a place to lie down on the grass in the shade and read a book - as I often did, as an English lit major.
Valley Life Sciences Building - the largest building on campus.
Best of all, as hoped, the campus tour generated interest in DJ, who now wants to apply. In fact, he seems more interested in Cal than Stanford. I would be extremely proud for DJ to attend Stanford, of course, but I would be proud and pleased if he chose Cal instead.
TOUR PART III
Berkeley didn't take very long, even after buying Cal merch at the student store, even after shopping for records at Amoeba.
With my newly purchased Cal hat.
So we decided to visit the Golden Gate Bridge, which we'd overlooked during the San Francisco phase of the trip.
A wisp of the bridge can be seen on the far left.
Alas, the famous San Francisco fog was so heavy that the bridge was mostly obscured.
Cleared up on the drive back.
DINNER
The plan had been to eat dinner at Steve's Korean BBQ in Berkeley, but we'd left early.
So we returned to Los Altos and revisited Chef Chu's, our favorite restaurant of the trip.
Mushu Pork (3.5)
Wonton Soup Deluxe (3.5)
Prawns in Lobster Sauce (3.0)
General Chicken (2.5)
Shrimp Fried Rice (3.5)
I couldn't help daydreaming: if DJ were to attend Cal or Stanford, I would visit him once a year, stay with Hahn, and eat every meal at Chef Chu's.
MIDNIGHT SNACK
Back at Hahn's, we finished packing, said our goodbyes, and left for the airport to catch our midnight flight to Korea.
Located in International Terminal G.
Redemption High Rye Bourbon
Very disappointing spread, even though I wasn't hungry.
From day one to the very end, it was the most exciting, most down-to-earth, most fulfilling, most nostalgic (didn't get around to visiting my childhood home), most expensive (total estimated cost, not including personal shopping: ₩24,009,231) family vacation ever.
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