Summer Kitchen Bake Shop: Easy-Going Eatery, Bona Fide Food

Credit: http://www.elmwoodshop.com/stores/summerKitchen.html

My wallet always feels lighter after eating at Summer Kitchen Bake Shop; yet, somehow, I find myself returning for their delicious food time after time. Like many Berkeley restaurants, Summer Kitchen is a health-conscious and environmentally responsible shop, which, contrary to popular belief in this country, makes their dishes taste even better. Although the price you pay for real food is steep nowadays, Summer Kitchen Bake Shop is irresistible and you can’t help but shell out the extra dough (no pun intended) for the meal.

Not only that but Summer Kitchen has an amazingly relaxed vibe to it. The intention behind the shop, according to their website, is to make the guests feel like “Summer Kitchen is an extension of their own kitchen”. And, to the extent possible in an eatery, they achieve this atmosphere. They have seasonal fruits and vegetables that you can buy, as well as have dinner meals and prepared food that you can take home with you, which gives this place the feel of a deli more than a restaurant. There is even an open view of the kitchen and you can see the care and attention your food is getting, making the place feel more intimate. Although ordering food off the menu breaks the homey façade and makes you realize that you are indeed in a place where people serve you, Summer Kitchen still maintains a laid-back atmosphere that is perfect for any time of the year.  

Brentwood White Corn, Cherry Tomato, and Burrata Pizza. 

            I visited Summer Kitchen over the weekend with my boyfriend Ben, and we (accidentally) ordered the most expensive pizza in the place: Brentwood White Corn, Cherry Tomato and Burrata.  Not being the foodie experts that we wish we were, Ben and I had no idea what Burrata was, and wrongly assumed it was a form of greenery. When we got our pizzas, our “Burrata” tasted suspiciously like basil, but I was enjoying my meal too much to give a second thought. Turns out that Burrata was the cheese on the pizza. I now know that it is a creamier version of Mozzarella and it means “buttered” in Italian, which is fitting considering the super softness of the cheese. The cheese played an important role in enriching this pizza, to be sure. And the supporting cast of this pizza, that is the cherry tomatoes and the basil, were sweet, tangy, and super tasty. But the superstar of the pizza was the white corn. It was so sweet and delicious; it made you wonder why people don’t always put corn on pizza. Overall, this pizza was a heavenly combination of ingredients appropriate for a place as wonderful as Summer Kitchen.