November 17, 2010

Pan Forte

The wide variety of Italian Sandwiches at PIQ.

Stroll into PIQ (which stands for Pane Italiano Qualità) in downtown Berkeley, and the first thing you'll notice is a pileup of sandwiches next to a Faema espresso machine, conjuring your favorite bar in Rome or Milan. Look closer, and you'll see that these are some of the most carefully made sandwiches around, on one of more than 10 styles of house-baked breadEach is filled with ingredients specific to one Italian region and perfectly balanced between starch and protein. (None contain more than three ingredients.) ... (read more)

October 06, 2010

PIQ Is On A Mission With Focaccia

An authentically spicy slice of Italy opens in Downtown Berkeley.

Bought as an afterthought, to be eaten on the walk home, a soft chocolate biscotto resembles a row of brown crayons melted together. One bite, blocks away, and it stops you dead in your tracks, so sudden and so shocking is its glory. Countless pastries are sold in countless cafes every day, most too greasy and sweet to tell apart. But this: Its chewy-crunchiness, its fruit, pine nuts, quality cocoa, and a circumnavigator's hoard of spices - those dark, throbbing, way-beyond-cinnamon notes that only royalty could once afford - is the cookie equivalent of chimes. To eat this while doing anything else would be a crime. ... (read more)

September 04, 2010

Pane Italiano Qualita

Italian eats from a literal old-pro

For some athletes, life after sports can be a tough reality check, unless they always wanted to hawk Sketchers -- then it's a dream come true! Using a kitchen-minder making the most of his life post-UEFA Champions League, Pane Italiana Qualita. Baker'd by super-diesel ex-AC Milan defender Rufo and backed by founding partners from both Il Fornaio and Mr. Espresso, just-opened PIQ is a modern twist on the ol' Italian cafe, with two stories of spacious wi-fi-accessible table/chair seating, an LED-lighted Shattuck Square patio, and free-to-use iPads, which're likely prototypes left during a rager for Gray Powell's 26th. Lunch/dinner vittles include by-the-slice/meter pizza like the cantaloupe/prosciutto Parma, calzones stuffed with hot salami, and paninis named after the owners' hometowns, ... (read more)