Top Dog

It was fun to stomp around Berkeley with my nephew. We took pictures, hiked up the hill to the Greek Theater, bopped around campus, and sat for a while at the fountain in Sproul Plaza. Right on cue, a golden retriever trotted up with a tennis ball, jumped in the water and played until he was whistled away by his human buddy. A noble tradition!
During all the years I lived in Berkeley, I was probably never farther than 5-6 blocks from Top Dog on Durant. About once a week, I'd get a calabrese, a sausage that has fennel seeds and a mildly spicy flavor. With hot mustard, mmmm. They tasted best when we were coming back from seeing a band in SF: take Muni to the AC Transit station, catch the last bus back to Berkeley, then walk up toward home from Shattuck. The last stop of the night, at about 2:30 AM was Top Dog, open all night.