Saul's Deli, Berkeley

I was looking for a bite to eat in Berkeley, but didn't have time for a full sit-down lunch or a long line, so I decided on a long-time local deli, Saul's.

I ordered the pastrami sandwich on rye with mustard and house-made potato salad. Normally, I’m a Reuben guy. I thought, I’d change it up a bit and order something more simple. Saul’s makes a good deli sandwich, but there’s nothing dramatic about it. Everything is good, just not spectacular. This is a high quality sandwich with very good potato salad and fresh bread. No downsides really. Just no upsides either. 

Perhaps my expectations are out of whack. When I order a Reuben or a pastrami sandwich,  I guess I want to be wowed like I am at Veritable Quandary in Portland or Public House in Temecula. 

I'd recommend Saul's absolutely. I may just have to go back a few times to figure out where the "wow factor" is.

Dona Tomas, Oakland

Dona Tomas Chilaquiles Verde were Damn Good! It was just before closing time for Sunday brunch at Dona Tomas’ in Oakland and I was hungry. I ate breakfast a little later than normal that morning with my brother, then had some errands to run in the East Bay, all while I was managing my dehydration syndrome (a.k.a. hangover) from a limited diet the night before of truffle cheese, olive bread, red wine, bourbon and cigars. I keep reminding myself, that stress will kill me, not food.

I rank Chilaquiles as one of my Top 5 breakfast meals. I rarely miss an opportunity to order this simple dish of leftover corn chips with either salsa verde or rojo, some queso fresco, and some eggs. Dona Tomas’ adds a fresh avocado on top for added richness.

Yes, it tastes as good as it looks and I could have eaten another plate of this stuff. 

Katy's Kreek, Walnut Creek

I've been to Katy's a few times for breakfast only. Each visit was first thing in the morning, so there hasn't been any sort of breakfast rush or even a slightly busy restaurant.

The only thing I've ordered has been the blueberry pancakes with their Black Label bacon. The bacon is very good; crisp with a high meat content. The pancakes are offered with plenty of butter, syrup, and blueberries. The cake is fluffy and light, but because of the size, I seem to always leave a little pancake on the plate. It's a good breakfast if you like pancakes and bacon, can't tell you about anything else there.

Zut! on Fourth, Oakland

On my way back in from San Diego last week, I dined at Zut! in Oakland and ate at the bar. Bartender was friendly and helpful. She knew her way around the menu and wasn’t afraid to give an opinion. At her suggestion and based upon facial expressions I chose three items off of the starter menu.

First were the fried smelts, with lemon and aioli. I always order smelt when I have the opportunity simply to compare them to Kokkari. These were fried fresh. I preferred to squeeze the lemon that night rather than the aioli, just to contrast the fried smelt. The lemon was wrapped in cloth, a minor service item, but a lost serv5ce touch these days. The smelts were good, crispy and salty almost at Kokkari’s level.

Next were the stuffed squid and the meatballs. The execution of the squid was spot on tender. No one wants a tough squid. Inside each squid chorizo, mint, and some bread crumbs. They served the squid on top of a relative of broccoli rabe.  The meatballs were composed of lamb, beef, and pork, topped with cheese and avocado on a tomato base and lightly gratinated to melt the cheese. The meatballs were tender and seasoned with more North African spices than Italian or Mexican. I probably would have served the meatballs, with the rabe and the avocado with the squid and tweaked the seasoning to more classical to the region. So I don’t know if it classifies as more fusion or freestyle. All the major elements, squid and meatball were cooked with care, but I’m a little challenged by the ending combinations of avocado with tomato sauce and bitter rabe on subtle squid.

Obviously, I dined that evening from a very specific area of the menu, starters. There is a whole section of pizzas as well as main courses that included a vegetable tagine, ahi with salsa verde, and a hanger steak. My hesitancy in declaring Zut! as brilliant fusion stems from the Italian base of pizzas, Moroccan style tagine and less than classical combinations of meatballs with avocado. As I mentioned, a challenging menu. The execution on my dishes was right on, no real misses. Which says chef knows how to cook well. So what is Zut!? Fusion, confusion, or innovation? Time will tell.

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Va de Vi, Walnut Creek Night Two

After a good experience on night one, it only made sense to come back a second night. For night two, I decided to sit at the bar (sorry, no pictures this time). The bar had a mixed crowd of diners and drinkers, with most waiting for a seat in the main dining room. The restaurant has quite a following, so first come first serve seating at the bar may be your only option. Two bartenders worked feverishly to keep up with waves of demand. In between, my bartender / server did a wonderful job of always keeping an eye out for my needs. I never felt rushed or crowded at the bar.

I started with the rock shrimp and avocado lumpia served with wasabi-orange cream and ponzu sauce. Light and Lumpia aren't usually associated with one another but I made an exception for the fried lumpia on the bartender’s recommendation. They were lighter than expected and had a nice crispy crust. Probably a big seller at the bar, the saltiness and fried parts would probably go well with beer or wine. The avocado tasted fresh and the shrimp was not rubbery. Lots of sauce on the plate, similar to the heavy sauce applications I mentioned from the night before, seem to overwhelm what were well fried lumpia. Sauce just makes anything fried mushy. If they could restrain the sauce application, the lumpia are fine.

Moving on to one of their more popular items, the ahi tartare with meyer lemon zest, sesame oil and soy, topped with wasabi tobiko served with sesame rice crackers. I like eating tuna tartare and I eat it out a lot. This ranks high in flavor, but misses with the large rounds of green onion in the body of the tartare. After three bites, all I could taste was fish texture, green onion, and sesame oil. Yes, some green onion is good, more is not better.

I noticed from the night before, two pastas on the menu. After having mixed feelings about the potsticker sized mezzaluna from the previous night's experience, I thought it only fair to give the gnocchi a shot. Call it redemption or because I love pasta so much. The house made gnocchi with fava beans and greens, mushrooms, shallots in a white wine, vegetable stock and parmesan cheese sauce were a treat. The gnocchi were pillowy soft and with a good texture. High marks for the texture and flavor of the gnocchi. However, their gnocchi was completely smooth with no texture, no ridges. More typical of what is prepared in American restaurants. The sauce was rich, creamy, and well seasoned. The use of mushrooms and favas brought out layers of flavor and texture to the dish. The sauce itself was ‘spoon worthy’ in terms of flavor. Bravo on the overall dish.

So after two nights at Va de Vi, do I have a verdict? Borrowing a measure used in finance, relative peer group evaluation within a category, Va di Ve would score in the top decile of restaurants in Walnut Creek without question. But if I used a broader benchmark or peer group, say San Francisco or New York restaurants, I would have to score it in the top third. It’s the level of saucing, adding too many elements, and the idea that if "some is good...more must be better" that appear over and over again. Let the food speak for itself and Va di Ve will go from the Top Third to the Top Decile in any relative valuation scoring system.

 

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