The
Gourmet Ghetto is a
colloquial name for the business district of the
North Berkeley neighborhood in the city of
Berkeley, California, known as the birthplace of
California cuisine. Other developments that can be traced to this neighborhood include
specialty coffee, the
farm-to-table and
local food movements, the U.S. introduction of
chocolate truffles and
baguettes, the popularization of the premium restaurant designed around an
open kitchen, and the
California pizza made with local produce. The business district, also known as
Gourmet Gulch, is sometimes more formally referred to as "North Shattuck." After coalescing in the mid-1970s as a culinary destination, the neighborhood received its "Gourmet Ghetto" nickname in the late 1970s from writer Alice Kahn. Early, founding influences were
Peet's Coffee,
Chez Panisse and the
Cheese Board Collective.
Alice Medrich began her chain of Cocolat chocolate stores there.