Locanda Olmo, Berkeley

Before I left for Japan, I decided I was going to eat as much Italian, Mexican, and American food as possible. Craving gnocchi for some reason, I yelped Italian food and came up with Locanda Olmo. It was listed on yelp.com as being way better than Trattoria Siciliana, two doors, down, so I was intrigued. After guilt-tripping Andy into going with me (it was my last night in the Bay), we made a quick reservation and headed over.

Locanda Olmo is a tiny restaurant with two floors. The decor is pretty simple but very cute. There was one young woman who greeted us as we came in--it turns out she and her husband are the owners. She was very nice and welcoming. Since I was with Andy, I didn't have the opportunity to try some of the delicious looking appetizers (rolled eggplant with ricotta and arugula...tuna carpaccio...), and settled on the bruschetta. Please note--the waitress/owner is fluent in Italian and the proper way to pronounce bruschetta is with a hard "c" and hard "t" as in "brusketta," thank you, Italian 1! She told me after I ordered it that drives her nuts because so many people (not me, thank goodness) say it incorrectly.

Anyway, after all that, I wouldn't really recommend ordering the bruschetta there anyway. Perhaps I'm just not a fan of authentic Tuscan bread...It was too crusty and dense for me. But, the restaurant does use really fresh ingredients, including fresh mozzarella cheese, which was delicious.

For our entrees, I ordered the Gnocchi Incazzati, which is gnocchi in a thick tomato, eggplant, olive, garlic and herb sauce. You can order it spicy or mild. I chose spicy. Andy ordered the Risotto della Rufina (No seriously, he did! No spaghetti with meatballs here!), which is risotto with Italian sausage and a spicy tomato sauce.

The food took kind of a while--I think about 20 minutes--to come out, but I guess it's attributed to everything being made from scratch. Both of our dishes were really well-cooked and piping hot, both in temperature and spiciness. My gnocchi was also good texture wise, which I really appreciate at an Italian restaurant. The problem was, neither of us LOVED the food. It was good, and the service was great, but the food wasn't anything super special.

The restaurant is family-owned, and they pride themselves on having authentic family recipes from Florence, Italy. I think that I need to go back and just have the waitress order for me because I really want this place to work out. But so far...I'm not in love.

If you want to try Locanda Olmo out and let me know what you think, they are located at: 2985 College Avenue (at Ashby) in Berkeley.

For reservations, call: (510) 848-5544. They are open 7 days a week, serving dinner every day from 5:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.

They also have a website: http://www.locanda-olmo.com

Jimmy Beans, Berkeley

I had been meaning to try Jimmy Beans forever because it's one of those cafes that are written up everywhere, and Kete is a partial owner in that group of restaurants (Jimmy Beans, Sea Salt, Lalime's, T-Rex and Fonda). So, since Andy offered to take me anywhere I wanted for lunch and Bette's had already closed, I dragged him to Jimmy Beans.

At Jimmy Beans, you order at the counter and then the food is brought to you. As we walked in, I wasn't too impressed with the inside. I know the place has been around for a while, but it just seemed like a few bottles of bleach would do wonders inside. Also, the guy at the counter was not the most friendly. He basically ignored me until I asked if I could please order.

I was in the mood for breakfast, so I got the Eggs Blackstone (English muffins with tomato, bacon, poached eggs and hollandaise sauce), which comes with a "trio of sauces." Andy got a steak sandwich. After waiting a good twenty minutes (the place was practically empty, so why it took so long, I don't know), they came with our food. My eggs were delicious. The hollandaise sauce was actually done really well, and the bacon was perfectly cooked. After my first egg, I was already full. The rest of the plate, though, I was not too impressed with. The potatoes were pretty uneven--some undercooked and others were burned. It also came with the sauce trio, whatever that was. Basically, they put three dollops on my plate next to the eggs--one was a pesto, the other a tomato salsa and the last was some kind of sweet red pepper sour cream or something to that extent. I didn't really see the point. They were put next to my eggs, so most of the sauces mixed in with the hollandaise which was pretty gross, and I guess it might be interesting to use with the potatoes, but none of the flavors even went together--especially for breakfast! It was confusing and a total waste in my opinion.

Andy can't wait until I get this review up and going because he wants to rant about how awful his steak sandwich was. So, I'll let you all wait to read his commentary on this blog post.

All in all, the eggs were good, everything else, I wasn't too into. I'd much rather go to Bette's for a much cuter atmosphere, better service, better prices (this total came to $27 where Bette's would probably be about $22), and way better food (i.e., no sauce trio business)!

If you would like to go to Jimmy Beans despite my recommendation that Bette's is infinitely better, they are located at 1290 6th Street in Berkeley.
Phone: (510) 528-3435

They are open Monday through Friday, 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Saturday through Sunday, 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.

They have a website, too: http://www.jimmybeans.com/

Bette's Oceanview Diner, Berkeley

This place has come to be one of my favorite breakfast places in the area. Rachel and I used to always go across the street (from Nolo) to the Westside Bakery and Cafe, and every single time we went, we'd swear to never go again because the food is terrible, the service is terrible, and they are really really really slow. Now that we've found Bette's, we are never going back to Westside.

Bette's is located on Fourth Street in Berkeley, across the street from Eccolo. It is a very small and cute place that serves both breakfast and lunch in and old-time style diner. The service there has been very fast and friendly each time that I've gone there, but make sure to note that they are always very busy--there is usually at least a 15 minute wait each time.

The first time I went to Bette's, I ordered the Maryland Breakfast, which consists of corned beef hash, two poached eggs and toast. The thing I love about their corned beef is that it's fresh and made from scratch. They also cook it well so that it has a nice crispy top to it, but not so it's overcooked--the meat is very tender and the potatoes melt in your mouth. The poached eggs on top are perfectly runny and kind of bring everything together.

My other favorite breakfast at Bette's is the California Breakfast--you get home fries, roasted tomatoes, and toast topped with ham and two poached eggs, covered in a lemon-herb butter sauce. With sourdough toast, this meal is to die for. I sometimes find myself dreaming about the California Breakfast at about 4 a.m. It's very filling, but I never feel heavy after eating it, I think because all of the ingredients are fresh. The eggs are cooked perfectly and the lemon-herb butter has real fresh chives in it. The homefries at Bette's are also pretty exceptional. Unlike most places, they really use a lot of onions and cook the potatoes so that they are crispy and full of flavor. I recommend this meal to anyone.

The beauty of Bette's is that it's a pretty unassuming place in the middle of 4th Street--and all of the meals are at or below $10, which is a really great deal in that area. Go here if you are in the area or just want a really good breakfast.

Bette's is located at 1807 Fourth Street, in Berkeley.
They do not take reservations, but if you want to call them for take-out, they can be reached at (510) 644-3230.

They are open Monday through Friday, 6:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Saturday through Sunday, 6:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

They also have a website with the menu and information on the take-out store: http://www.worldpantry.com/bettes/home.html

Rivoli, Berkeley

I am wayyyy behind. Sorry, things have been *kinda* hectic at work, but now that things have calmed down I'm ready to start blogging again.

My family went to Rivoli for my birthday dinner. Everyone that I told we were going there said, "Oh, I remember going to that place a really long time ago. Good food." It seemed from talking to my friends and family that Rivoli is one of those well-loved places that people just start to forget about sometimes. I'm on a mission to make people stop forgetting.

The appetizers at Rivoli are to die for. There were five of us, so we ordered three appetizers and split them. The first one that I tried was a crab souffle. It was really light and airy, with a slightly crispy outside. The flavor, though, was amazing. It tasted truly of the essence of crab--as if they had used the good parts to make the souffle (this is my Chinese side talking-by good parts I mean the body and that gushy yummy stuff from the back). The second appetizer I tried had slices of roast duck over blinis, garnished with fresh grapes and currants. This also was amazing. Andy even ate the currants along with everything else. Usually, I try not to order duck if I'm not out for Chinese food, because I often find that it can be too dry. This duck, though, was flavored magnificently and was still moist. The last appetizer we ordered was the portabella mushroom fritters with aioli. We originally chose them because I had read online that it's one of the only dishes that's kept on the menu year-round. The mushrooms were meaty and not greasy despite being fried, and were complemented perfectly with the aioli. Unfortunately, since Rivoli changes their menu every three weeks, it's going to be hard to find these same dishes, but if you see any one of them on the menu, I highly recommend them all.

For the main course, I ordered a chicken with prosciutto and kale dish. I remembered the last time I went to Rivoli with my friend Margaret that they did a great job with the chicken. This time, I wasn't as impressed. The chicken was still moist, which was a plus, but I didn't feel that the flavors went too well together. The prosciutto was overcooked, so I missed out on that flavor, and the bitterness of the kale made everything taste funny. They had cooked the kale with pomegranate seeds, which was interesting, but I think it just needed a lot more butter. A lot.

Andy was very happy with his dish--he got a steak with scalloped potatoes and spinach. He ended up eating everything except for the decorative tomato on the side, which is very impressive. I laughed because he said that it was presented in a way that he would think the meal would be "gross", but that as soon as he tasted it, he really liked it (This means the plate looked gorgeous and appetizing).

My dad had the salmon, no complaints there, and my sister had a risotto cake. I was too full to try either one, but they seemed to enjoy their meals a lot. My mom got scallops, which were really good. They were cooked well and what I really liked was that the restaurant wasn't stingy on the scallops--there were at least seven to nine on her plate.

Dessert also was great. Rivoli always has a hot fudge sundae on their menu, which is a classic. Definitely when ordering, I recommend splitting it between two people because it's huge. The nuts are really well toasted and seasoned, which is the best part, but I'd still probably go to Fenton's in the end for some really good hot fudge. We also ordered the sorbet--that day they had made raspberry and mango with mini shortbread cookies. The sorbets were very refreshing and tasty, and truly tasted like the actual fruit.

I really love this place--the atmosphere of the restaurant, too, is really great. They have a beautiful garden behind the restaurant, that is viewable from all of the tables. Since the place is so small, the service is friendly and quick. My only hold up with not eating at Rivoli all the time is the price--this place is not cheap, but when you do go for an all-out eating experience, it is well worth it.

Rivoli is located at 1539 Solano Avenue in Berkeley.
To make reservations, call (510) 526-2542 or 1(866) 496-2489.

They are open Monday through Thursday, 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Friday, 5:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.
Saturday, 5:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.
Sunday, 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

They also have a website: http://www.rivolirestaurant.com