Vik's Chaat and Market, Berkeley

Procedure for this afternoon:  drink mango lassi, eat lamb samosa, sketch.

Vik's serves chaat (Indian street food) in a brightly colored warehouse in west Berkeley.  They explain on their website that "chaat" means "to lick" because traditionally these small dishes were "served on a leaf and were so tongue-tickling that one could not resist licking the last morsels from the leaf before discarding it."  Founded in 1989, Vik's has expanded twice to accomodate its growing clientele--and also has a small market space attached, which sells various spices and other Indian products.

Looking up from our table