Category Archives: Eating Out

Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker (Berkeley)

Edit 29 January, 2009: Hershey’s announced that they were going to close the Scharffen Berger factory down in West Berkeley, fire their workers, and move production to a plant in Illinois. It looks like they’ve already shut down the factory tour, as a visit to that website just redirects to Hershey’s homepage. Get your California-made Scharffen Berger chocolates while you still can!


As a small kid growing up in America, I only knew two chocolates: Hershey’s and Nestle. Both were milk chocolate, and both were (to me) just okay. Early on, I found that I preferred the Hershey’s “Special Dark” brand of chocolate candy, just because of that slight bitter tang. Ever since then, I’ve always gone for dark chocolate over milk.

Annie is an avowed chocoholic. She introduced me to fine, European-style milk chocolates such as Lindt and Cadbury (the ones that are actually made in Europe, not the American-made ones). Those were good, but I still preferred dark.

Today we went to the Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker factory in Berkeley to take their factory tour. (If you’ve not heard of Scharffen Berger before, they are a very popular maker of “artisanal” chocolates, specializing in dark chocolate.) Unlike the “Willy Wonka” factory, you don’t need to have a golden ticket to get in. Just make a reservation online, and show up 10 minutes before your scheduled start time. It’s totally free!

Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker (Berkeley)

Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker (Berkeley)

Continue reading Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker (Berkeley)

HC Dumpling (Cupertino)

Are you hungry for Xiao Long Bao?

Xiao Long Bao at HC Dumpling in Cupertino

Hu-Chiang Juicy Pork Dumplings at HC Dumpling in Cupertino

We had just finished shopping at the farmer’s market and were looking for a place to eat lunch.  I remembered that one of our friends recommended this place in Cupertino Village on Wolfe Rd called HC Dumpling.  She said that their xiao long bao were pretty good, on par with the world-famous Din Tai Fung xiao long bao.  We hadn’t had xlb in a while, so we decided to check them out.

Continue reading HC Dumpling (Cupertino)

Gum Kuo Restaurant (Oakland)

After buzzing on all that fancy food at the Fabulous Food Festival in San Francisco, we were ready for some good old, homey Chinese food.  Besides, Annie wanted to pick up some fresh noodles, won ton and sui gow skins from Yuen Hop Noodle Factory in Oakland (that’s for another post or two…).  So we drove across the Bay Bridge to Oakland Chinatown.

After picking up the fresh noodles and skins, we drove into the big Asian mall complex at 9th and Franklin.  On the ground level, in the breezeway on the Franklin Street side of the complex is Gum Kuo Restaurant.

Gum Kuo Restaurant (Oakland Chinatown)

Gum Kuo Restaurant (Oakland Chinatown)

Continue reading Gum Kuo Restaurant (Oakland)

Getting Buzzed at the Fabulous Food Festival

Saturday, we attended the first annual Fabulous Food Festival in San Francisco’s Concourse Exhibition Center.  As in our TomatoFest experience, we got to go as "foodie correspondents" for FoodBuzz.  The Fab Food Fest was a craft foodie’s showcase, with over 120 vendors featuring gourmet chocolates, sauces, baked goods, utensils, and other treats.

Fabulous Food Festival in San Francisco

Fabulous Food Festival in San Francisco

Continue reading Getting Buzzed at the Fabulous Food Festival