Alice Waters Faves, Tonga Room Fate, Cereal Eatery, MORE!

ALICE WATERS - The Green Goddess reveals some of her favorite places to eat in this interview over on Berkeleyside. She likes "ethnic food" like Japanese at Ippuku and Indian at Ajanta, finds The Cheese Board Collective "magical" and says that she goes to Ici and Summer Kitchen a lot. [Berkeleyside]

TONGA TRIALS - Signore Lucchesi has the latest on Peter Scully -- partner in Bin 38, The Republic, Apartment 24 and other such haunts -- who has signed a letter of intent with the Fairmont Hotel to buy and move its tiki kitsch-tastic Tonga Room somewhere else. Scully is all about preserving the integrity of Tonga: "I want to make it as exact or close to the same, and I sure as hell am gonna try to do that, 1000%." But The Planning Commission still needs to give its final blessing, which won't happen until January. Location is still TBD, considering the deal isn't even final yet. [ISSF]

OPENING REPORT - Schweet Boks cereal eatery's opening was delayed, but the good news is it'll be up and running tomorrow from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Asian-American owner Dexter Cheng made up the name -- his own funky, sort-of-phonetic spelling for "sweet box." And the concept came out of his childhood amazement with American cereal after eating porridge, rice and noodles for breakfast in his earliest years. Cheng feels cereal is missing from the Asian communities in the Sunset and hopes to change that. Let us know how you think he's doing. [UrbanDaddy, EaterWire]

WINE COUNTRY - Availability is waning for the many events that make up Meadowood resort's annual 12 Days of Christmas. The star power here is really worth checking out, though you'll pay for it. Book asap if interested. [Zagat]

OAKLAND - Rebecca Katz, author of The Cancer Fighting Kitchen, is thinking outside the box, partnering with Bocanova chef Rick Hackett to speak at a special dinner on November 16 made with cancer-fighting ingredients. Katz will speak at the dinner and sign cookbooks. Jessie Turner and Emily Bezar will play live jazz and all proceeds will go to Healing Journeys. $90 covers apps, wine, dinner, dessert, tax and tip. Make a reservation by calling the restaurant.

[Photo: Road Food]