I am so happy right now.

Really. I just ate dinner at Ippuku for the first time, and I am so happy that a true yakitori restaurant has landed right here in my town.

Ippuku feels like a little piece of Japan transplanted into Berkeley. Everything from the entryway to the seating (in-floor recessed seating on one side, booths on the other) feels authentic. And pretty much everyone in the front of the house speaks Japanese, so you’re greeted in Japanese, the menu is in both Japanese and English, and the drinks have a real Japanese feel.

The concept of an izakaya is a place to drink with friends and eat small plates of food (not sushi). Ippuku really delivers here from little plates like Kinpira (sauteed lotus root) which was intensely flavored with a little heat and a lot of sesame… I love lotus root and I was so incredibly excited to see that on the menu, and even happier to eat it.

There’s also yakimono (grilled stuff) including yakitori (grilled chicken). And when I say grilled chicken, I mean all the parts of the chicken including hearts, gizzards, necks, skin, and knee cartilage. Yes, it’s a little weird to eat knee cartilage but it’s one of my favorites (I have been so bummed since not being able to find it anywhere in the US but NYC) — a little meaty, a little crunchy, a little salty. Yum. Not to mention bacon-wrapped mochi which is crunchy, salty, chewy and even a little sweet all at one time. And the individual quail which we pulled apart and split.

There’s also some “fancier” dishes and other warm food — the local uni with ponzu was super fresh and tasted like the sea, and the chicken congee was warmly comforting.

And we drank — beer, and chu-hi, which is a shochu drink mixed with your choice of fresh juice. You get to squeeze the meyer lemon juice at the table and mix it in in your own desired portion.

As for service, our server was really attentive, and when a dish or two took a little longer she was right on top of checking on it in the kitchen. The congee took a long time to appear but at least she kept looking for it for us. And the rest of the service was also good from the manager Dave to everyone else who stopped by to ask if we were ok (at least two others).

So, good luck Ippuku and welcome. I hope you stick around for a long time.

Ippuku
2130 Center Street
Berkeley, CA 94704

Gather Restaurant in Berkeley has been well-received by both “official” critics and local food bloggers. Located across Oxford from UC Berkeley, it’s got the corner spot in the David Brower Center, a recently-completed LEEDS certified building with the mission of housing non-profits with an environmental bent. So Gather’s a great fit – with a focus on fresh, local and sustainable ingredients, and This Week’s Farms featured prominently on a chalkboard.

From the beginning it has been Gather’s goal to offer breakfast, lunch and dinner with local sustainable fixin’s at a reasonable price. I’ll leave the dinner review for another time — all the other reviewers have written about the dinner (and lingering particularly on the vegan charcuterie). Instead I’ll focus on the meals that they have only more recently added: breakfast and lunch.

Gather’s breakfast menu is short and simple: granola, eggs and toast; and egg sandwich (option to add bacon and/or mushrooms). With white cheddar, watercress, arugula and aioli, the egg sandwich is toothsome and tasty (not to mention quite pretty in the morning sun streaming through the windows). So, yes, it is good. But it is not really distinctive. A visit to Cafe Fanny will get you some lovely eggs on toast and more alternatives for the people you schlep along with you. Gather’s breakfast advantage lays in its location and beautiful interior more than in its food today. I actually am a huge fan of well-edited menus, so short can be good. It would be great however if Gather could add a special or two or some rotating items to bring variety and to show off seasonal ingredients at breakfast as well as their other meals. That might also help them bring in more people (it was completely empty when i went… At those volumes i wonder how long they can sustain breakfast).

At lunch the menu includes salads ($7-10.50 depending on variety and size), sandwiches ($9-11) and pizza ($13-15). Each has add-ons for another couple of dollars more. The food is, as expected, quite good. The pizzas are just as good as they are in the evenings. My pork sandwich was fat and almost too big for me to finish. Yes, I’d go again. But I was also left with the impression from my bill (sandwich plus drink) that the price was a little steep for what i had eaten. In a neighborhood where you can get some darn good sandwiches for under $8, Gather may find it difficult to bring in some traffic that might otherwise have seemed fairy natural (students, staff and professors from campus), especially with everyone closely watching their wallets, paying higher tuition, and taking furlough days.

I hope not though. I would like to see Gather’s breakfast and lunch stick around, and maybe just evolve a little bit. Make the morning more distinctive to match the rest of the day. And at lunch? A daily special at a sweet spot price point would be nice (I know the menu changes regularly anyway, I mean a price that people are excited about for this quality of food, the way people feel about Gregoire prices and don’t mind the lack of service and seating).

Gather Restaurant
2200 Oxford St
Berkeley, CA
510.809.0400

05.24.2010 Update: It looks like Gather has officially closed for breakfast… which I am actually really sad about. After I wrote this post I went back for breakfast at least two more times. I tried to go again about two weeks ago and… nope. Too bad. I wish they had given it a little longer (and maybe a little more varied menu) before pulling the plug.

When I made plans to meet up with @BasilLeaf, I suggested dinner and she responded with an enthusiastic, “I LOVE FOOD!” So I decided to take the opportunity to try out a new restaurant I’d kept forgetting to visit — one that I first spotted in The Perfect Spot back in February. Opened by a married couple, Chris and Veronica Laramie, the restaurant hints of an elegant, modern meal with two (prix fixe) courses at $25 and additional courses (say, dessert) at $11.

BasilLeaf and I found ourselves tucked into the restaurant on a rainy evening. The restaurant was a bit stark and not particularly cozy for that type of evening, but the food was suitably comforting despite its modern turn. The menu is short and sweet, which I like (nicely edited, only good items make it), but which people who prefer something-for-everyone menus may find too limiting. There are essentially 3 dishes in each of three loose categories — starters, entrees, and desserts.

First, an amuse bouche — a spoonful of a couple of beet preparations… refreshing and thankfully only limitedly beet flavored. Then I started with the risotto, a lusciously  lovely smooth and flavorful risotto with excellent texture accented with fresh morels  and scrumptious cippolini onions providing a surprisingly sweet contrast. BasilLeaf enjoyed the Farm Egg and judging from the sounds of satisfaction and savoring coming from her side of the table, I will be ordering it the next time. It’s like breakfast at dinner, and really, how can you go wrong with maple and bacon? Even if there may have been a touch too much foam. (Our server did nice job of describing the courses to us, which was helpful and interesting, and would have been more so if it didn’t feel so much like an interruption in the conversation).

We both ate the halibut for our mains, a substantial chunk of sous-vide fish. I’m not sure I’ve had sous-vide fish before. It was well cooked and flaky, but in itself did not have much flavor. Considering how many different flavors surrounded it that was probably for the best. It seems that the chef is very enthusiastic about vegetable purees with carrots and fava beans in color smears, green garlic, and a small amount of olive on top.The fish was on a bed including artichokes (yum) and a few more fava beans and other greens. It was good, yes, with both of us cleaning our plates. But the consensus between the two of us was that our appetizers were better.

To drink, there is a wine pairing available, two 3 oz pours for $13, but we passed on that and had the non-alcoholic drink of the evening, fresh mango juice. The juice was, as mango always is, quite delicious, but really did not pair that well with the food. Something lighter, perhaps a bit sparkly, certainly with less sweetness, would have served better to bring out the flavors of the food and dance on the tongue.

After two heavy courses and a couple of pieces of fresh, warm bread (ooh, the butter with sea salt is good), we hadn’t saved any room for dessert. So reviews of dessert will have to wait for next time.

And there will definitely be a next time. eVe is a worthy addition to our food scene, bringing interesting food into a different price range. It does not soar as highly as Commis in either food or service but then neither does its pricing. eVe does have an intimate feel, with essentially just Veronica, Chris and our servers (whose name I didn’t catch) taking care of the place. And it is conveniently located near downtown Berkeley. With Gather, Five and eVe, that neighborhood is becoming more interesting than it has been in a while.

eVe restaurant
Facebook page
1960 University Ave
Berkeley, CA
510.868.0735

A strange side note — when it came time to pay, we gave the server our credit cards, and she asked us to fill out the receipt with our expected tip before taking the credit cards to the back, giving the reason that their system is not set up to accept tips after the fact. That piques my curiosity. Why would a restaurant set up a credit card system that doesn’t take receipts with tips written in?

Pimiento de la Vera roasted leg of lamb with “baba ganoush” in ciabatta

Today I hit Gregoire for lunch. If you don’t know Gregoire, it’s the East Bay’s premiere take-out place — a little tiny postage stamp of a place, but which churns out great food. For dinner, gourmet French food (my first visit there I had seared duck breast… to die for… I will have to review dinner separately).And for lunch, sandwiches, salads and lavash wraps. Both the lunch and dinner menus change monthlyAlways offering a selection of various potato products (don’t miss the crispy potato puffs… little poofs of crispiness surrounding surprisingly light “mashed potato”), and a choice of desserts (anything with the word “fold” in it is heavenly for me… I’m a sucker for flaky pastry).

Anyway, as I was saying before I got distracted reminiscing about previous Gregoire meals, I went there today and enjoyed a lamb and baba ganoush sandwich sitting in the sun on the picnic tables on the street. Gregoire has limited seating both indoor and out (maybe 3 counter seats inside? 2 tables outside) but a day like today was perfect to sit there crunching through the lovely toasted ciabatta bread. As I was eating the sandwich, I thought, I have never had a bad lunch here. The menu changes every month, I’ve never had the same sandwich twice, and everything I’ve ever ordered at lunch has been great. And I thought, I have to review this place. I can’t believe I haven’t yet.

All lunch items yummy, and all under 10 bucks for the “main course”. Sandwiches come with a mini-side (today I think it was cous cous salad) so you don’t actually have to order any potato product (which are sized to share anyway). Today I actually had a side of fries with aioli, and they were good, but really I should have stuck with the old standby of my favorite crispy potato puffs. I could eat a whole meal of nothing but those. In fact, I think I have.

Gregoire Restaurant
2109 Cedar Street
Berkeley, CA
510.883.1893
(also in Oakland)

Emilia’s Pizzeria opened in the fall and from the friends & family opening onwards has been gathering the kudos. It’s a small shopfront (still no sign, although I think I saw it leaning up against the wall when I picked up my pie tonight) and Keith Freilich, the owner, mans it by himself, from answering the phones (it’s a good idea to order your pizza ahead of time if you expect to get one) to making each and every pie.

And the pizza? It’s a large 18″ pie with thin crust (sort of NY style) with the edges have that great  crisp bite followed by a satisfying chewy denseness. Because the crust is thin, it’s a little weak in the center (especially after a drive home), but still makes the grade. The sauce is one of my favorites, bright and sparkling, light but with character, that elevates the pizza and provides an excellent accompaniment for the mix of cheeses (including fresh mozzarella — love it). We got pepperoni, mushrooms and red onion, which tasted great, but I’m thinking next time I’ll get a bare pie so I can revel in the sauce and cheese.

And when will be the next time? Emilia’s has vaulted to the front in the running for the large-thin-crust-take-home pizza race, leaving Cheeseboard and Gioia in the dust. I can’t stop thinking about that brilliant sauce.

I’ll be calling some time next week to place my order. Plain cheese pizza please! Or maybe that Italian sausage, which, rumor has it, he makes himself.

Emilia’s Pizzeria
2995 Shattuck Ave
Berkeley, CA
510.704.1794

And Keith? If you’re out there, it’s nice to see you on Twitter. But Twitter really becomes more interesting with two-way communication, so you might want to reconsider that “Not planning on reading direct messages or @replies” policy.

Places we kept going back to again and again: Camino, Pizzaiolo, adesso, Dosa, Corso Trattoria, Gregoire, Rudy's Can't Fail Cafe, Wood Tavern

Fun for a special occasion: Michael Mina, Commis (actually reasonably priced, so maybe not just special occasions)

For when you can't stop eating: Zabu Zabu, Espetus, farmer brown's brunch

Perenniels: Yank Sing, Bette's Oceanview Diner, Cheeseboard

It's New to Me: Katana-Ya

Over-rated: Chez Panisse Cafe

Next time: places we're looking forward to eating in 2010

The Michelin star ratings for San Francisco were released back in October. I haven't exactly made it a goal to eat at all the restaurants on the list, but I thought I'd examine the list and see which I've been to, and maybe revisit some I haven't been to in a while, and put others on my radar. Turns out I haven't been to many, especially not recently, so I can't speak much to whether they've earned the stars are not… but, here goes. And lots of others to come.

• Eaten eat (ever)
• Eaten at (in the past year)

Three Michelin Stars (exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey)

• The French Laundry — Great experience, worth it, would go again, but there are so many other places I want to try too in the meantime…

 Two Michelin Stars (excellent cuisine, worth a detour)

• Coi — Anniversary dinner there this year was inventive and interesting, didn't blow me away, but I would go again and eat in the lounge
• Cyrus
• Manresa – Dying to go again, the first time was a few years ago now and I was so jetlagged I can barely remember the second half of the meal
• The restaurant at Meadowood

One Michelin star (a very good restaurant in its category)

• Acquerello Luce (N)
• Ame
• Auberge du Soleil
• Aziza (N)
• Bouchon
• Boulevard
• Chez Panisse — After several visits I've decided the cafe just isn't really that interesting to me. Still haven't eaten at the restaurant
• Chex TJ
• Commis (N) – Good, relatively "reasonably priced" for a three-course dinner
• The Dining Room at the Ritz Carlton
• El Paseo (N) closed since the Guide has been printed Santé (N)
• étoile (N)
• Farmhouse Inn & Restaurant Terra
• Fifth Floor
• Fleur de Lys
• Gary Danko
• La Folie
• La Toque (N)    
• Madrona Manor
• Masa's
• Michael Mina — I know most think it's overblown, but I actually like it. Especially just dipping in to eat at the bar quickly before the theatre
  
• Murray Circle
• One Market – Better than I expected, but due to its location, naturally has a real business-lunch feel
• Plumed Horse
• Quince (N)
• Range
• Redd
• Solbar (N)
• Trevese closed since the Guide has been printed
• Ubuntu — dying to eat here
• The Village Pub

OMG, every weekend for weeks (I say weekend because I travel during the week, but sometimes even more than 1x a week) when I’ve been in town, I’ve gone to Tacubaya on 4th St. in Berkeley… ordering up a couple of tacos de lengua. Yes, beef tongue tacos.

Tongue is not necessarily one of my favorite beef cuts – texture can be a little weird – but here it works in the taco’s favor… super moist and tasty chunks, with a green tomatillo salsa, and covered in onions and cilantro. Plus a little squeeze of lime. It’s like going to taco heaven for me. Ok, upscale taco heaven. Yum.

Early dinner tonight at Corso (skipped lunch). The Bellini al Corso was great, quite sweet though, so avoid if sweet is not your thing. Mozzarella burrata was creamy — the filling was different than I expected, not the best I have ever had, but went well with the pinenuts and oil on the plate. The t-bone steak (they didn't have the fried rabbit, which is what I was dying for) was expensive, large, and overcooked. Menu said medium rare, but it was definitely more like medium or even medium well except for close to the bone where it was ok. I did bring the extras home, but it's too bad Bellodawg can't eat them anymore. The polenta with marscapone was great though… not even really heavy at all, light fluffy airy and creamy somehow all at once. I still like Corso, thumbs up, but I'll be passing on the steak next time in favor of a pasta, a pizza, or maybe the rabbit, if it's there.