1820 Fourth Street
(Near Hearst, half a block south of Peet’s)
Berkeley, CA 94710
www.ZutOnFourth.com
(510) 644-0444

Zut Alors!

We’ve got a great new place to eat on 4th Street in Berkeley: Zut! When I saw the menu online—with plenty of veg options—I went online right away and booked us a Friday night res. through OpenTable.com. I’m really glad I did because the place was great—and it was packed.

Zut! is just south of Pete’s and around the corner from Sur La Table. It just opend at the end of August 2010.

They have created a terrific modern space with several different zones and a great atmosphere. Walk in and to the right there’s a very cool bar, with an interesting yellowish backlighting that shows people in silhouette. To the left there’s a lively cafe-scene mural covering a three walled room. Up the middle there’s a quieter section with a curved white ceiling and copper-colored mirrors at seated-eye-level that expand the small room. But enough about the ambiance, we came for the food.

Zut!’s webpage says “regional Mediterranean dishes prepared with fresh, locally sourced ingredients.” In my mind, that could mean almost anything in this town, but I wasn’t prepared for how creative and different our selections would be.

We started with two great appetizers. Huge, braised white beans were served with tiny roasted peppers, cooked-down spinach and a tangy goat cheese, with olive oil at the bottom of the plate. K called it a highlight. We also tried the Fry Bread, but don’t let the name fool you. It has nothing to do with the Native American specialty. The chef-selection bread of the night turned out to be thin pita slices, arranged under thin fennel strips, delicate greens, and tiny orange Early Girl tomato halves. The bread was crispy and bore a taste reminiscent of savory won tons.

The food went really well with a glass of biodynamic Cabernet Sauvignon from Mendocino, whose name I wish I could recall.

For our main courses we ordered a fresh mozzarella pizza with a light crust and a bright, tasty tomato sauce, and a Summer Vegetable Tangine which blew my socks off. I have to say, sometimes a dish with couscous and squash at a fancy restaurant can be an utterly bland culinary afterthought. (Note to restauranteurs trying to throw a vegan bone to your veg. guests: Thank you, but even if you throw in a few olives, it’s still bland.) This, however, was a dish of a different breed.

The slow-cooked tangine arrived at the table piping hot, in a wide, yellow ceramic bowl capped with a tall conical lid that the waiter removed at the table. The aroma told me I was in for a real treat. All of the couscous formed a moist starch underlayer for the vegetables—and fruits!—on top. There were squash, thin, light-green peppers, eggplant, and cooked-down tomatoes. But there were also several tasty apricots that came to life in this wonderful dish. I counted a few luscious figs, and several green olives. I’ve never had anything quite like it. Huge compliments to the chef for creating a bold and different vegetarian entree that really impressed me.

At a place so good, we had to try the dessert. We chose a chocolate torte: a rich, gooey chocolate cylinder with a dusting of powdered sugar, and a moat of concentrated, reduced ripe berries all around. Wow.

I’ll have to wait until my next trip to try the all-veg “sides”: french fries with aioli, roasted summer vegetables, and braised summer greens.

Let me highly recommend this welcome newcomer and give them huge props for offering up great vegetarian fare.

1901 University Avenue
(At the corner of University and Martin Luther King)
Berkeley, CA 94704
www.udupipalaceca.com
(510) 843-6600

Udupi Palace is a great South Indian Vegetarian Restaurant at the busy intersection of University and Martin Luther King, in Berkeley, across from the Trader Joe’s construction site, and also the Chaat Cafe. Billing itself as "A place for dosas…" how could I resist?

You walk in and immediately notice that it smells wonderful. We went on a Friday night, a little on the early side, and there was a pretty good crowd—some couples and a large family.

I was very pleased that I chose to get the Samosa: a pair of yummy tetrahedrons; light and flaky (i.e. fried) on the outside, with curried potato and peas on the inside. It’s a rare fried delicacy for me.

A pair of crispy Samosas

The real hard decision was the dosa menu. Dosas are rice and lentil flour crêpes stuffed with something delicious and soft, and rolled into a tube shape that overflows the plate. There were a dozen or so different kinds of dosas, and nearly as many uthappam which are rice and lentil pancakes. Combinations included potato, onions, peas, vegetables, even cheese, and different seasonings. All come thali style with a small bowls of spicy sambar (a lentil soup) and a coconut chutney that I really enjoyed.

But what’s really remarkable—and I’ve been saving this comment for the end because I wasn’t sure you’d believe me—is that the masala dosa that I ordered was as long as my arm, if not longer!

Masala Dosa longer than my arm

Seriously, this thin, light, lentil-flour crêpe was as delicious as it was wide. I tore through it pretty quickly and was rather proud of myself to boot. Kathryn was amazed to see it go. She got a spinach masala dosa which was a nice twist on the theme. The crêpe was green and maybe even more delicious than mine, with a slightly bitter spinach kick.

Near the edges, where there’s no stuffing, the dosa dough is dry but fluffy, yet it’s sort of hard to cut with the dull knife I had. I don’t have any idea whether or not it was radically uncouth, but I picked it up and ate the last tasty bits with my hands, burrito style.

Now here’s the crazy part. For a samosa appetizer and two huge dosas, the bill came to about $16.75 with tax, before tip. Check it out!

2/27/2010 Update—I went back to Udupi Palace with a big group of work colleagues, and I got to see a lot more of the dishes. Just about everyone got a dosa. The Spring Dosa looked fantastic. The Paper Dosa, be forewarned, is gigantic but is not stuffed. There’s nothing inside. The dosa wrapper is dipped into the sambar and coconut side dishes. I think that I would find it unsatisfying.

1823 Solano Avenue
(At Colusa, next to Peet’s Coffee)
Berkeley, CA 94707
Natures-Express.com
(510) 527-5331

Nature’s Express is a great new vegan restaurant that recently moved in next to Peet’s Coffee at the top of Solano Ave, in Berkeley.

With its modern, clean—almost sterile—interior, with splashes of vivid color, and a wide cashier’s counter in front of uniformed chefs at work, Nature’s Express is setup like a fast food restaurant. But that’s where the similarity ends. Well, that and the Air Baked Fries.

There’s a wide selection of appetizers, salads, wraps, breakfast burritos (served all day), soup, burgers, even dessert— amazingly, all vegan.

I couldn’t resist the Air-Baked Sweet Potato Fries, which are soft and delicious, almost chewy.

The first entree I tried was The Patrick-Goudreau, essentially a tofu scramble with veggies in a green tortilla wrap. It was really good, healthy tasting, not too large, and I’d certainly order it again. For $5.25, it’s a great deal! The burrito is named after local vegan chef, teacher, blogger, and cookbook author, Colleen Patrick-Goudreau [CompassionateCooks.com] Several of her cookbooks line the shelfs along the side of the store, giving you something to flip through while you wait for your food.

I asked, and found out that Ms. Patrick-Goudreau isn’t associated with the place. The burrito name is an homage, like The Alicia (Silverstone), The Moby, The Stella (McCartney, I guess), and The (Albert) Einstein. Ms. Silverstone’s book The Kind Diet is also available for sale.

Tonight I tried The Moby, a spicy, and fresh tasting burrito with potato, cilantro, black beans, guacamole, green chili, and salsa.

Nature’s Express is cheap, healthy, and fresh, and I’m happy to have it in my neighborhood. I hope they do really well!

Nature's Express on Solano Avenue

2/27/2010 Update—I went back this week and they had changed their menu. Despite my best attempts to edify the public with this blog, no one got the references in the breakfast burrito names. Now the Stella is the Stellar. The Moby has had a makeover, and now comes with Sriracha sauce, but it’s still delicious. The Patrick-Goudreau now has a new name, The Kick Start.

The Berkeley Produce Center is a friendly and quick little market, right in the heart of the Gourmet Ghetto. Despite it’s relatively small space, they have just about everything I need, and their prices beat the big supermarket on the same block (you know who you are) every day of the week. The place is so convenient and reliable, that for those who live nearby, it’s really the anchor of the neighborhood.

They have great fresh veggies, with a respectable selection of organic fresh and bulk foods. Try the fresh-squeezed orange juice they make up in the back. And don’t miss the groovy mural on the North wall. I only wish that they wouldn’t run out of my favorite yoghurt so often.

The Berkeley Produce Center It’s a great place to pick up both the key ingredients and the inspiration for a great meal on your way home.

1543 Shattuck Avenue
(Between Cedar and Vine)
Berkeley, CA 94709
(510) 848-9664

Cha Am is by far my favorite Thai Restaurant. They’ve been on Shattuck since 1985, and they’re absolutely still going strong. They hit the mark with dish after dish, it seems you can’t go wrong. Their lunch specials are great, and I often go there with a group of people from work. Dinners are even better, especially when you can order with friends and try several different entrées.

There’s a wide selection of vegetarian items, with delicate spices and flavors that set the bar for me with other Thai restaurants. These days, I love the red and green curry dishes, Gaeng-Tofu and Gaeng-Pak, the most. For a long time, I was a Pad-Pak-J adherent, with every great vegetable and fried tofu. The Cha-Am Fresh Rolls are similar to other Thai restaurants I’ve tried, but the Vegetarian Po-Piah, their deep-fried cousins, sing with wonderful base notes, and a nice light crunch. It doesn’t say it on the menu, but you can order a vegetarian version of the Cha-Am Noodle which makes a superb alternative or complement to a rice dish.

My only gripe is that they recently stopped serving the lovely Thai tea that they had for years. I hope it’s just a temporary thing.

Let’s hope Cha Am will still be as great 25 years from now.

1603 San Pablo Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94702
CafeFanny.com
(510) 524-5447

If you are curious what kind of breakfast you might have the day after a meal at Chez Panisse, you can go to Alice Waters’ Café Fanny.

Every time I eat there, I’m surprised by both the simplicity of their food, and how delicious it tastes. I generally order Two Poached Farm Eggs On Levain toast, and because the ingredients are fresh and organic, it is incredibly satisfying. If you don’t believe this matters, try it yourself! I entered a skeptic and left a believer. In addition to eggs and toast, the menu offers things like Café Fanny Organic Granola (also available in local grocery stores), which I haven’t tried, though it looks tasty. There are Buckwheat Crepes in the morning, Sandwiches and Salads for lunch, and desserts and pastries all the time. There’s even a small coffee counter inside.

The downsides to this place are the limited indoor seating and the pricing—it;s not cheap. Further, for the purposes of this blog, I’d rate their vegetarian options as limited, and vegan offerings downright scant—Waters’ conception of the good life definitely includes fine cheese and prosciutto. However, if you are looking for organic and delicious, and you’re feeling a bit indulgent, this is the place for you. It also has a real Berkeley feel, and just writing about it makes me hungry.

1346 Martin Luther King Junior Way
(between Berryman St & Rose St)
Berkeley, CA 94709
Fat Apple’s on Yelp
(510) 526-2260

Although there are two Fat Apple’s Restaurants (Berkeley on MLK, and El Cerrito, just East of the El Cerrito Mall), architecturally, they could not be more different. The cozy Berkeley restaurant is painted to look like Jack London’s library, with (painted) books on the walls, and miscellaneous Jack London memorabilia.

People say they have excellent take-out, and baked goods, but I only go there for a hearty Breakfast/Brunch.

See Kathryn’s review of Fat Apple’s in El Cerrito

2114 Vine Street
(Between Shattuck and Walnut)
Berkeley, CA 94709
TheJuiceBar.org
(510) 548-8473

Located in the heart of the Gourmet Ghetto, The Juice Bar Collective is hardly large enough to fit a car inside—unless you had an electric Smart Car. There’s a sales counter, and exactly one table inside, with extra seating on the sidewalk.

From this modest spot comes a mighty selection of sandwiches, soups, salads, baked goods—and JUICE! Almost all of the food is organic, and predominantly vegetarian.

My favorite dish is the black bean polenta casserole, which is offered either with cheese, or in a vegan version, with red salsa. For $5.25 I can’t think of a heartier lunch. They also have fantastic vegan cookies, including a vegan molasses cookie that will knock your (rainbow) socks off.

As indicated in the name, The Juice Bar is a collective, so there’s a good vibe amongst the people working there. They also have a selection of pizzas, lasagnas, soups, salads, sandwiches and wraps, including a hummus/veggie wrap which is the perfect item to scoop up for a picnic.

When the seating is all taken, I often sit on benches right across the street—it’s sunnier over there anyway. I highly recommend this restaurant to anyone, vegetarian or otherwise.

1730 Shattuck Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94709
CafeGratitude.com
(415) 824-4652

When I first heard about this place opening in San Francisco in about 2003, I laughed at the concept: a healthfood restaurant that compels you to utter affirmations? No thanks.

Now, by 2010, I eat at the Berkeley Café Gratitude on a regular basis, and I love it. Café Gratitude exclusively serves food that is raw, vegan, and organic. The entrees are in fact listed as positive declarations: for example, I AM ELATED is a vegan quesadilla (the cheese is made from ground nuts) and I AM GIVING is an Asian kale salad.

My favorite dishes are the grain bowls, in particular I AM WHOLE and I AM ACCEPTING. The first involves sea veggies, carrots, roast almonds and kale over a choice of red Bhutanese rice or quinoa. The second also comes with an offering red rice or quinoa, topped with avocado, seaweed, and nuts. I get either of these with both grains, half-and-half. They are both delicious and nourishing.

Café Gratitude’s atmosphere is crunchy in the extreme: the waitpeople are kind and often dreadlocked, and the low grind of the juicer at work forms the background noise. Its red-brick walls make it cozy and warm. There are sofas, a bar in front, and outdoor seating on the sidewalk.

The food here is not cheap, so rather than raise prices infinitely, they started offering half portions, which is what I go for (it’s plenty of food).

I recommend this place to anyone—it’s great for vegetarians, not to mention a quintessential Bay Area experience.

Warning to people with nut allergies: for you, every entree may be I AM IN ANAPHALACTIC SHOCK. So be careful, lots of dishes involve nuts.

1511 Shattuck Ave
(between Cedar St & Vine St)
Berkeley, CA 94709
Soop in Epicurious Garden
(510) 548-7667

Soop is a great, unique, little takeout stall in the upscale Epicurious Garden. Obviously, they make soup, with a few vegetarian selections every day. I think they also make some sauces. You can buy either pint or quart sizes.

With a hearty piece of whole wheat sourdough, or fresh cornbread thrown in, Soop’s soups make for great, simple meals. I like the Thai Red Lentil with Coconut, but I keep coming back to the Green Soup, which is a puree of green split peas, zucchini, spinach, basil, parsley and celery.

It’s not like I’m a purist about food choices, or even someone who thinks it’s necessary to follow all the unwritten rules, but I have to admit to being a little shocked to see people mix, match, and combine different soups. I admit that when I was a kid I probably mixed Coke and 7-up from the soda fountain more than a few times, but truly that was more scientific experimentation than a well thought out culinary construct. You only have to mix coke with Fanta Orange once to realize just how wrong you can be. Still, I’m told, and I’ve witnessed, people adding the green soup to other soups, and swearing by it. Really! Well, okay, if you want to knock your socks off, get the Green Soup, and then walk across the street to the Cheeseboard bakery when the Zampano have just come out of the oven. With red-pepper flakes, a little bit of melted Parmesan cheese on top, cornmeal sprinkled all over, and just enough olive oil to make your fingers shiny when you pull it apart, Zampanos are the perfect bread to dip into Soop.

1832 Euclid Avenue
(At the back end of the La Val’s / La Burrita alley,
between Hearst Ave & Ridge Rd)
Berkeley, CA 94709
La Burrita
(510) 845-9090

I’ve been a fan of La Burrita ever since I moved to Northside, in my grad school days, and I frequently recognize a few of the same guys who have been working there for years. La Burrita is tucked into the back of a little pedestrian food-alley on the west-side of Euclid Avenue, half a block up from Hearst, on a short commercial strip with nice cafes and a few other restaurants that mainly serve the campus community. Celia’s Mexican Restaurant and Brewed Awakening Cafe is just across the street.

There’s a big-screen TV hanging from the ceiling and tuned to sports, to keep you occupied while you wait for take-out, or stick around and watch the game. I could say that there’s nothing too special about the food, but year after year, I’ve made it a regular standby, especially when I’m on my own for dinner. I crave it because it’s consistently good, and you can tell that they understand the meaning of healthy ingredients. The portions are generous—I’m usually satisfied with a regular sized burrito.

La Burrita is very veg-friendly. They have six different vegetarian burritos which are just under $4 or $5, depending on the size you get. Not bad! Two of the default options are vegan.

La Burrita is actually where I discovered how much I love green, tomatillo salsa. It goes well with their thin, hot, almost irresistible tortilla chips. I struggle to take less than I usually do.

Once in a while, I’ll skip the burrito and order the Veggie Tamale Plate instead. The tamales can be hit or miss, but the rice and veggies that come with it are excellent. There’s also a different kind of sauce that they serve with the tamales that I like. I don’t know the name of it. The Tamale Plate is $4.29 and it’s large enough that I often can’t finish it.

There are a few large, picnic-type tables outside, where students gather around lunch and dinner time. Inside there’s more seating than it first appears, owing to the narrow row of two person booths along the north side.

La Burrita is enough of a mainstay for me that I miss it if I don’t go once every few weeks. I’ve got my stamped frequent-burrito discount card in my wallet, ready for the next time.

1504 Shattuck Avenue
(Between Vine and Cedar)
Berkeley, CA 94709
CheeseboardCollective.coop
510-549-3183

I have to admit that it’s not easy to write about something you love so much, and hold in such high reverence as I do The Cheeseboard, a bakery and cheese co-operative in North Berkeley’s Gourmet Ghetto. But here goes.

If you want to get to know one of the best parts of Berkeley, visit The Cheeseboard on a summer Saturday morning, grab anything that looks good, and sit yourself down on the covered outdoor benches facing the street. The whole city eventually walks by. Morning dog walkers tie their antsy pets to the parking meters. Fleece-clad couples stop by, pushing strollers bearing well-fed, wide-eyed babies. Tweed-wearing UC professors, and gray-haired activists mix with young couples still in last-nights clothes. Therapists in neutral colors and smart wool shoulder wraps amble with the ladies of Vine Street. Teenaged skateboarders text by, narrowly missing the exercise set, who clutch the silver and black coffee travel mugs they carry around. All while few familiar panhandlers languidly angle for spare change.

I love the bread, the luscious smell of Fresh Baked Bread. I love the piquant, wafting aromas of sharp cheeses, baked into the cheese rolls, and detectable from a block away. I love the thin outer crust of the zampano roll, perforated with slits or holes on top, with red pepper flakes and a slightly melted cap of shredded real Parmesan (Asiago?) cheese. I love the simple olive foccacia baked into a hand-sized four-part disk, with a cornmeal undercarriage. I love Wednesday’s beer batter rye, which holds its hearty taste and freshness for days. I love the sourdough English Muffins, which make this native San Franciscan’s heart sing— completely plain with absolutely no adornment. They make Thomas’ English Muffins seem like a bad cardboard impostor, forever after. I love the morning scones with bits of fruit (like currant). I love the blueberry millet muffins, with lightly-crunchy toasted balls of millet, I had only ever seen before in birdseed.

I love the baguette pieces which condense all of the sourdough goodness of a baguette into a three or four-sided pillow of crust and seeds. I love the City Batard when I need a perfect, wide loaf of Sourdough. And who wouldn’t love the fluffy Chocolate Things, which are a decadent excuse for more chocolate for whomever needs such an excuse.

I cannot not mention the greatest Bialy this side of old Białystok—a chewy sourdough disk, like a hole-less bagel, but baked, not boiled. Translucent onions flecked with poppy seeds melt their way into the Bialy’s center depression. Oh my.

I love the Mr. Espresso coffee (my very favorite local, boutique, organic, fair trade coffee roaster), served daily until 10 am. And I fully appreciate the worker-owned Berkeley co-op vibe, where everyone you see making bread and selling the cheese has a stake in the success of the business and earns the same wage. Their pride shows in every roll, and Berkeley loves them for it.

Everything there is oven fresh, with the bread traveling just a few feet from the prep table to the oven to the self-serve racks. The Cheeseboard rotates their menu throughout the week, so if you go there enough, you start to learn the days when your favorite specialties appear. (Otherwise, here’s a Cheat Sheet.) This isn’t a place for dull, wide baguettes, bland white-bread, or flaky butter croissants. This is where real bread is born and comes of age.

Oh and did I mention that they sell cheese? There’s a long, wrap-around cheese counter, staffed by highly knowledgeable and friendly folks who take the time to make suggestions, explain the cheeses, and dole out samples, cut right there for you to taste. The chalkboard on the wall lists maybe a hundred different cheeses, if I ever bothered to count. There’s no obvious line, so draw a playing card from the rack in the center, and that’s your “number.”

If you’re wondering whether the artisinal cheese and gourmet bread ever tied the culinary knot, look no further than the huge lines snaking outside of The Cheeseboard Pizza next door.

So, if you want to please me, just sit with me there for a while. I’ll savor my bread, pretend to read the newspaper I brought, and try my best not make a small mess of crumbs below. And, if you would, please let me know if there’s anything clinging to my beard, since I’ll be in too much bliss to care.

1888 Solano Avenue
(Between The Alameda and Fresno Ave)
Berkeley, CA 94707
AjantaRestaurant.com
(510) 526-4373

Ajanta is my all time favorite Indian Restaurant, and one of my favorite places to eat in Berkeley. It’s beautifully decorated, the service is warm and solicitous, and the food is seriously amazing, with plenty of vegetarian options.

Ajanta has a wonderful, ever-changing menu, with rotating regional dishes, and a other favorites that we always see. But if you’re expecting chana masala (garbanzo beans), baingan bartha (eggplant), and aloo saag (spinach and potatoes), like (almost) every other Indian restaurant in the USA, think again.

My absolute favorite dish is Bheh, Khumbi Aur Matar, a vegan dish from Sindh (western India, now Pakistan) with lotus root, shiitake mushrooms, and peas cooked with caramelized onions, ginger, garlic and spices including mango powder and coriander. Oh my.

You may also find entrées like Lobhia Aur Khumbi, a vegan Punjabi dish made with black eyed peas and organic shiitake mushrooms cooked in a sauce made with onions, garlic, tomatoes, and spices including coriander, turmeric, and paprika. Yum!

But whatever you order, do not miss the Tandoori Portobello Mushroom appetizer. It will forever change the way you think about mushrooms. It comes served with a spectacular mustard sauce.

If you’re vegan, let them know, so they can steer you clear of the dishes made with yogurt or butter (ghee). Whenever I have asked, they have always been completely accommodating.

Ajanta rates high on the date-worthy scale, and it’s a great place to bring anyone you want to impress. Even the wine list is broad and well considered. Given the quality of the food and the elegance of the place, the prices seem very reasonable to me.

Ajanta is across the street from the Oaks Theater.

2507 Hearst Avenue
(between Euclid Ave & Le Roy Ave. Across from Campus.)
Berkeley, CA 94709
(510) 540-1124

I started going to TC Garden in 1993, and I could swear that the prices haven’t changed one cent. TC Garden is a small, no-frills, Chinese restaurant serving the UC Berkeley campus, on the Northside, and I love it. It’s tucked into a small restaurant row that every grad student at Berkeley has to know about.

Back in the 90s, Mom and Pop ran the place, with twin sisters cooking in the back. The menu is vast, and the food comes quickly. I remember it for the Tiananmen Square poster they had in the window, and the kindness they showed me, knowing my order, and welcoming me a few times a week.

Mom and Pop retired a while back, but otherwise the place has not changed. Lunch for three, with an appetizer and hot tea for around $16. Seriously.

There’s a long list of vegetarian entrées, from rice plates to chow mein and chow fun. My favorites are the mixed vegetables rice place (veggies in a clear glaze, over rice) and the mixed vegetables chow mein (in a semi-sweet soy sauce) which is excellent.

1841 Euclid Ave
Between Hearst and Ridge
Berkeley, CA 94709
(510) 549-1460

Celia’s Mexican Restaurant is a relative newcomer to Euclid Avenue, the main street for lunch and cafes on UC Berkeley’s north side. La Burrita is another Mexican restaurant that’s been there, across the street, for years, but Celia’s is different enough that I hope the two can co-exist peacefully.

Celia’s has a nice, large, sit-down dining area, with booths along one wall. I’ve only had one dish there, and it’s amazing. I get the Vegetarian "Hand Burrito" which should be called head burrito because that’s how large it seems. Filled with lightly sauteed vegetables, and covered in a tasty red sauce, this burrito is a real treat. There’s something about the white onions, zucchini, or black beans I ordered that makes this meal a huge standout. So far, I haven’t figured it out, so I’ll continue conducting the experiment Bucking the Nor-Cal burrito style, Celia’s burritos don’t come wrapped in thin foil and can never be stood up on their butt. They are simply too large, too delectable, and too delicate for a vertical burrito hoist. No, Sir; be prepared to use a knife and fork.

The food comes with thick, fresh tortilla chips and a few different kinds of salsa. Everything tastes homemade and fresh, the beans and rice are vegetarian, and the waiter is very friendly.

1511 Shattuck Ave
(between Cedar St & Vine St)
Berkeley, CA 94709
Picoso in Epicurious Garden
510-540-4811

Picoso is an excellent take-out Mexican Food place in the upscale Epicurious Garden on Shattuck, two doors up from César, and across the street from the Cheese Board Pizza. They make my favorite burritos in Berkeley, and if you time it wrong, around the dinner hour, you’ll end up waiting around with a nice group of hungry people who share my opinion.

I love the really flavorful rice; and the beans, salsa, and guacamole always taste exceptionally fresh.

At the counter where they make the burritos, there’s a about three stools where you could wait for your food, or sit and eat. You can also take your meal into the back garden, where the seats and small tables are scattered among an outdoor terraced patio with nice landscaping, although that’s probably a better lunch idea than dinner.

1686 Shattuck Avenue
Between Lincoln and Virginia
Berkeley, CA 94709
Cha-Ya.blogspot.com
(510) 981-1213

Cha-Ya is my favorite restaurant in all of Berkeley. A small (20 seat) strictly vegan Japanese kaiseki ryori restaurant in the Gourmet Ghetto. Kaiseki cuisine is an edible art form largely unknown outside of Japan, and most-closely associated with Kyoto. Take me there for my birthday, or any day; I never need an excuse to go.

A vegan meal at Cha Ya consists of many small plates, and there’s a huge variety of dishes and food styles to mix and match. Weekly specials are posted on the wall. You can probably go ten times and never order the same thing twice. It can be overwhelming on your first visit if you’re not familiar with the food. Here’s a little orientation, based on what I usually order.

Among the soups I’ve tried, I prefer the Dobin Mushi, a “pot soup,” with all kinds of delicious veggies and mushrooms. Once you pour off and finish the broth (like tea), you can dive into the pot and eat the veggies. The salads are all incredibly fresh, and come with seasoned hijiki (seaweed), ginkgo seeds, tofu, greens, and sometimes persimmon.

There are a number of small dishes (Kozara) that I love, but my hands down favorite is the Gyoza (vegan pot stickers). Served with gyoza dipping sauce, they’re warm and melt in your mouth as the steam rises from your first bite. They’s sweet and chewy and really a treat. I also recommend the simple and delicious Robata Yaki (which is served as pair of skewers with grilled vegetables, mushroom, and tofu, glazed with a sweet plum sauce).

Cha-Ya has a very wide variety of al la carte veggie rolls: both hosomaki (nori seaweed on the outside), and nigiri vegetables on top of the rice, strapped on with a little nori belt. Among the hosomaki, don’t miss the Kampyo, seasoned gourd. It doesn’t sound impressive, but it has a mouth-watering, sweet, slightly vinegar taste. With the Nigiri I really love the way they do the eggplant. Seasoned perfectly, the eggplant is soft and delicious.

There are some special rolls that are particularly decadent. The Cha-Ya Roll is my guilty pleasure: tempura sushi filled with avocado, yam, and carrots, the entire roll is lightly battered and deep-fried, served with a special house sauce. It’s amazing.

On a cold night, there are noodle soups, and on hot nights, you can order cold noodles, like Zaru soba.

The menu contains six or so Combination Dinner Sets, which come with a bowl of miso soup and a small salad, in addition to an entree. The combos are probably a great deal, but I can never wrap my mind around how they’re organized or what I should choose. If you’re already ordering an entree that’s part of the specials, it makes sense to see if the specials work for you.

I’ve just scratched the surface, but I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that they have a number of vegan desserts. The Vegan (chocolate) Cake is usually excellent, but the Vegan Ice Cream Sundae is the real prize winner, with both azuki beans, and green tea sauce.

The menu features many kinds of fine teas, and a range of sake (hot or cold), including Sho Chiku Bai Sake from Takara, made in Berkeley!

The place is small and popular, so if you get there too late, you might be standing in the cold for a while waiting for a table. Be forewarned.

1889 Solano Ave
(between Fresno Ave & The Alameda)
Berkeley, CA 94707
KhanaPeenaRestaurant.com
(510) 528-2519

When Khana Peena moved in across the street from Ajanta a few years ago, I thought it was a bad business decision. Now here it is, 2010: Ajanta is still at the top of it’s game, and Khana Peena is making it work, with a totally different style of Indian food, reasonable prices, and a nice ambiance.

I actually think their food has gotten much better recently. There’s a big vegetarian selection, and they do all of our favorites really well. Chana Masala (spicy garbanzo beans) is great; Aloo Sag (creamy spinach with potatoes) is Kathryn’s favorite; and I really love their Bhindi Masala (okra is a spiced dry sauce). The different kinds of naan (bread) are wonderful.

This is another place I like to take out of town guests. When you have a bunch of people, ask for one of the booths in the back. You can sit on floor-pillows, at a long low table and have a great private dinner experience.

I should also mention that Khana Peena delivers!