Let’s go on a fiber adventure together!
I realized, recently, that I made a big mistake.
My husband and I moved to the Bay Area in 2022. But, ever since we moved to here, I realized, we have stopped really looking to experience the Bay.
As a small town girl originally from rural North-Northern California (yes, there are parts of California that are even more north than San Francisco or Napa), moving to a city (Sacramento) within easy driving distance of SF for college was beyond what I had ever thought could happen for me. Before college, I had only ever been to San Francisco 2 times. During my undergraduate degree, there were a lot of weekends spent driving to the Bay to explore everything that it had to offer. I have a lot of really fun memories of the food, the arts, the stores, the music, and the ocean. When my husband and I were offered jobs in the area, we were so excited to not have to drive as far to experience those things! But somewhere along the line, we stopped going on the adventures even though we were closer. So, we thought we would make time to hop over to Berkley for a day of good food, textiles, and fun with friends.
This was our itenerary for the day:
- BART in to Berkley
- Get breakfast and coffee wherever we find it
- The Main Event: Go to Lacis Museum of Lace and Textiles
- Check out the Berkley Bowl (because my friends won’t stop talking about it.
So, let’s get started! We have a lot of ground to cover.
Breakfast: Ashby Eatery and Café Buenos Aires
We ended up getting breakfast and then second breakfast too!
For our first breakfast we stopped at the Ashby Eatery since it was so close to the station. I got the egg sandwich and my husband got the smoked salmon toast. We definitely recommend the smoked salmon toast! It was a good quick bite with a lot of fresh flavor. The herbed schmear was *chef’s kiss*. This little eatery would be a cute stop for a quick, light, mimosa brunch in my opinion. The patio is a really nice spot on a pretty morning.
We then stumbled across Café Buenos Aires while we were waiting for Lacis to open. This café was absolutely adorable. I got the Ollo Latte and my husband got the Pistachio Hot Chocolate. If you don’t have a sweet tooth, I would say don’t be fooled by the Ollo Latte’s description. While it has a spiced sugar cane syrup in it, it is not too sweet. The Pistachio Hot Chocolate, on the other hand, is definitely for those of you out there that prefer a sweeter drink. The empanadas are good too, we really liked the peach filling of ours. It was not too sweet, which makes it perfect for me.
Lacis Museum of Lace and Textiles
Next on our agenda was to check out Lacis Museum and retail store. The only way I can describe this store is to call it a textile artist’s wonderland.
While the offerings for weaving and spinning are light, you can find pretty much anything else you may need in the retail portion of this business. For weaving, they do have a selection of tapestry looms and an assortment of shuttles. I did find some locks that could be used for spinning but not much else.
Whether you be a milliner, quilter, hand sewer, lace maker, cord maker, historical costume sewist, or embroiderer, there should be something for you in this store. I personally, was incredibly happy to find a wide assortment of curved needles! I make fabric covered boxes and curved needles are one of my staples. It can be hard, in my experience, to find curved needles that are long enough to be comfortable to use but thin enough to not ruin cotton when I work with it. I was able to find fine but decently long curved needles here. My only regret of the day is that I did not buy more. They also have a good selection of leather thimbles, which I prefer over metal ones. Some even have slits at the tip for sewists with longer nails.
The book section had to be my favorite part of the whole store! The selection was insane. They even had books in other languages. I can’t even begin to list all the topics they had books on.
Beyond the store, there is also a museum with seasonal exhibits. There are 2 tours per day and admission is $3 per person. During our visit, the main exhibit was about historical bridal pieces. The docent that led our tour was very knowledgeable about each piece. They had pieces that went as far back as the 1880s and also had a few more modern ones. I don’t think I can do the pieces justice explaining their history but I wanted to share some pictures of a few pieces that were on display here.
Berkley Bowl
I know that you all are here for the textiles, not to hear about a grocery store. So, I will keep this short and sweet. I have never been in a place with more types of potatoes in my entire life. The whole store absolutely smelled amazing too. 10 out of 10 do recommend, I understand the hype.
Well, that is it from me this week. I hope you have an opportunity to have a fun little adventure some time soon.
I will talk to you soon,
Laura