Fire at Chez Panisse

 I just heard that a fire destroyed the wooden facade of Chez Panisse at 3 am today.  It's a story that's everywhere from The New York Times to The Berkeleyside.  People are upset.

I'm also upset.   It's an institution on North Shattuck in Berkeley, and I walk past it many times a year.  I see limos depositing people from out of town.  But I hardly ever go in.

Here's why--and this may be a sacrilege:

• It's expensive.

• It's somewhat noisy.

• Often you have to sit on hard wooden benches, maybe with a pillow to cushion the bum.  You sit very close to neighboring tables.

• There's the sense that you're very, very lucky to be able to eat there.

• My mother once asked for well-done lamb chops and was refused them.

• Jerry and I had a special lunch there once and figured out that it cost us $1 a minute.  We were in and out in one hour.

• In a word, I find it snobby.  I'm never quite comfortable there, in any sense of the word.

The food, however, is good.