Art in Jars, Not on Walls at This Berkeley Cafe

There's a French cafe in downtown Berkeley – next door to the main library and half a block from Berkeley High – where you won't find art on the walls.

At Café Clem, you'll find French items on the menu, a French-speaking proprietor behind the counter and a dining terrace outside, but to see the art, you'll have to look in the cookie jars and dessert case.

"Instead of putting art on the walls, we feature local pastry chefs," said the France-born proprietor, Dorothée Mitrani-Bell, who also owns La Note Restaurant nearby on Shattuck Avenue.

A Patch reporter fond of chocolate but somewhat guilt-prone about nutrition opted for the "Chocolate Freakout" cookie, which boasts not only chocolate but also raisins and nuts.

Among the desserts sold at Cafe Clem, in addition to housemade ones, are those from Berkeley-based Indie Cakes & Pastries and Milkglass bakery, also based in the East Bay.

The cafe began in 2004 on Seventh Street in Berkeley and moved to its current home at 2020 Kittredge St. in April 2012, Mitrani-Bell said.

It's most popular dish?

The croque monsieur, except among the younger crowd. The youngsters go for the chocolate baguette, called "La Tartine Chocolat," a half-toasted baguette served with either shaved chocolate and butter inside or Nutella.

And though the walls don't feature art, you can find a 1920 photo taken in Paris showing French chefs posed in their chef whites. Seated in the center, with a circle around his head, is Mitrani-Bell's great-grandfather, the Chef de cuisine at La Tour D'Argent.