One lucky customer snagged a ladle (or could it be a copper egg spoon?) from Alice Waters at the flea market she and her daughter, Fanny Singer, held Sunday outside Chez Panisse. Photo: Nancy Rubin

They started lining up early, way before the 10 a.m. opening time, to be sure to get a tiny bit of Alice Waters, who hosted a “flea market,” with her daughter Fanny Singer on Sunday. By mid-morning, the line stretched from in front of Chez Panisse on Shattuck Avenue all away around to the end of Vine and then onto Walnut.

“It was a good-humored, patient and orderly line,” one person commented on Berkeleyside’s Facebook page.

Waters and Singers had only announced the sale of “treasures, bargains, and Alice’s hats,” on Instagram, but notice of it was picked up by local and national media, ensuring a huge crowd.

“Fanny and I are Spring cleaning and selling or giving away everything we do absolutely not want and need,” wrote Waters. “It is amazing how much I have accumulated over the years.”

The odds and ends that Waters and Singer did not want were set up on tables that stretched out on Shattuck Avenue in front of Chez Panisse. There were all sorts of items, including plates, glasses, jars, pitchers, tea kettles, ladles, bottles of olive oil and posters. Waters sat at a table in a multi-colored hat and laughed and chatted as she signed copies of her memoir and cookbooks.

Nancy Rubin, an accomplished photographer and  frequent contributor to Berkeleyside, took these photos.

Alice Waters signed books at the flea market she and her daughter, Fanny Singer, hosted March 31 outside Chez Panisse. Photo: Nancy Rubin
Alice Waters. Photo: Nancy Rubin
People examine what is for sale. Photo: Nancy Rubin
Waters mingled with the people who came to look at her stuff. Photo: Nancy Rubin
Examining the goods. Photo: Nancy Rubin
The line to view items at the flea market/garage sale stretched many blocks. Photo: Nancy Rubin

"*" indicates required fields

See an error that needs correcting? Have a tip, question or suggestion? Drop us a line.
Hidden

Frances Dinkelspiel, Berkeleyside and CItyside co-founder, is a journalist and author. Her first book, Towers of Gold: How One Jewish Immigrant Named Isaias Hellman Created California, published in November...