Please help the WCC!!!

I normally don't do this, and I'm sure that PAP smears are the last thing you want to think about when looking at a food blog. However, desperate times call for desperate measures.

At one point in my life I was a huge advocate for Gavin Newsom. Mostly because he is hot but also because he spoke at the UCSF Young Women's Health Conference and consistently donated money to the Women's Community Clinic. Unfortunately, his hotness does not trump the fact that he cut the Women's Community Clinic out of his budget this year!

In one fell swoop, the clinic that I volunteer at, the WCC, lost 20% of its funding. We are all actively writing and emailing the San Francisco Budget Committee members.

Before I go into how I would LOVE you all to help, let me tell you a bit about the clinic that Mayor Newsom so heartlessly cut the funding for.

The Women's Community Clinic, known well in my family for creating the uterus sweatshirt that I wear everyday, is a FREE reproductive health clinic in San Francisco that provides personal, client-centered, informative care to all uninsured women who walk through our door (or younger women who do not want to go through their insurance for confidentiality reasons).

Not only is everyone at the WCC committed to providing exceptional care to our patients, they also put an extraordinary amount of effort into the training of their volunteers. I, as a volunteer at the clinic, have undergone over 40 hours of reproductive health training, which allows me to do client intake, teach women about birth control options, and provide information regarding sexually transmitted infections. Soon, they will be paying for me to go to a week long training in San Francisco that will get me state certified to counsel for and administer HIV tests.

During my training with the WCC, I learned a lot about meeting clients "where they are at" and about providing information to clients in a non-judgmental way. Our passion for our clients' health even seems to rub off on them, just take a look at our Yelp! page:

http://www.yelp.com/biz/CojgU6g_ApTlfgPmkwWmqw

We also have a website:

http://www.womenscommunityclinic.org/

Now, on to what you can do to help:

If you live in San Francisco, find out who your supervisor is by visiting http://www.sfgov.org/site/bdsupvrs_index.asp?id=4385 or Google: San Francisco Board of Supervisors District Information. Then, please write them a letter and send it via snail mail AND email. Please see below for a sample letter.

Even if you don't live in San Francisco (I don't but I'm writing anyway!), please write a letter and send it via snail mail AND email, to Supervisors Chris Daly, Tom Ammiano, Bevan Dufty, Ross Mirkarimi, and Sean Elsbernd. These supervisors are all members of the Budget Committee. If you write to Ross, please start by thanking him for all of his support of the Women’s Community Clinic.

And now, a sample letter. Please feel free to just copy this, or add whatever you like. When sending emails, please copy all emails to our Clinic Director, Carlina Hansen, at carlina@womenscommunityclinic.org. If you need stamps, please contact me and I will gladly set you up with a set of envelopes and stamps:

[Date]
[Supervisor Name]
1 Carlton B Goodlett Place
San Francisco, CA 94102

Dear Supervisor,

I am writing to urge you to restore funding to the Women’s Community Clinic in the amount of $202,785. I am a (supporter, patient, volunteer, board member, staff person) at the Women’s Community Clinic. This funding was approved by the Health Commission to be awarded every year for 4.5 years starting in 2006. Despite this approval, this funding has been cut after one year. [Information about your relationship to the Clinic here and why the City should support us]. The loss of these funds will seriously endanger the 4709 health care visits we provide with this funding to women who would otherwise lack access to care.

The Clinic is providing a vital service to the community by providing free health care services to approximately 2000 women per year and harm reduction based street outreach services to approximately 500 women each year. The Women’s Community Clinic has provided these services to the community since 1999. Each year the Clinic has grown in the number of women they see and in the services that they offer. The Clinic serves women who lack health insurance, 60% of whom fall below 100% of the federal poverty level and the remainder of whom fall below 200% of federal poverty level. The majority of these women fall between the ages 20-35 and their only access point for health care is the care they receive for their sexual and reproductive health needs. The Clinic provides 5000 appointments per year to 2000 women – for many of our clients, the Clinic is their primary care provider. The Clinic is a vital access point for these women to receive much needed care – care that would otherwise be deferred and fall on the City to provide. In many cases, the Clinic is saving women from costly visits to the SFGH emergency department.

The Clinic prides itself on its resourcefulness and peer based, client centered model of care. It relies on over 100 volunteers to provide health care services. Volunteers come from all over the community and are health care providers; RNs, NPs, MDs and acupuncturists in addition to lay volunteers who provide outreach services, health education and act as medical assistants and medical office administrators. They donate more than $300,000 in time each year! Clients consistently comment on how amazing these women are and over 97% of our clients rate their experience at the Clinic as “Excellent” or “Very Good.”

While the Women’s Community Clinic has been successful in fundraising from private sources and leveraging volunteer support, they would NOT be able to do what they do without the support of the City. They receive NO other City funding; the City should support agencies that are efficiently run and who can maximize the return on the City’s investment. They rely heavily on these funds to provide direct health care services to women. I urge you to support this funding being added back to the City’s budget. This is a time that the City is sending a clear statement to the public that health care for the uninsured and underinsured is a priority, it is NOT the time to de-stabilize our provider network. I urge you to continue to manifest this commitment and to support the Women’s Community Clinic in its provision of health care services to women in need.

Sincerely,

[Your Name and affiliation, if appropriate]

Cocina Poblana, Emeryville

Cocina Poblana is a relatively new restaurant in Emeryville, on the corner of 65th and Hollis. I had passed it a bunch of times while driving from Nolo to the Women's Community Clinic. When they started advertising a happy hour, my friends Anna, Heather, and I decided we'd continue on with my unemployment celebration.

We were seated almost immediately, but it took about fifteen minutes for us to be able to order our food. To add to the wait, the hostess was unable to tell us anything about the drink selection, and when my margarita came it had a hair in it!

When we finally were able to order, Heather got the Ensalada Poblana ($7), with Romaine lettuce, a full serving of grilled chicken, avocado, Mexican cheese and black beans. Not the most exciting order ever, but Heather seemed to really like it. Plus, the portion was huge. I wasn't totally in wannabe food critic mode, so no, I did not try it. Sorry.

I ordered two appetizers, the ceviche ($8) and taquitos poblanos with beef ($6). The ceviche was made with shrimp, tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, and cilantro. This wasn't my favorite dish because it lacked a ton of flavor. Plus, the veggies were kind of overwhelming; when I get ceviche I want there to be a ton of seafood in it.

The taquitos, however, were out of this world. I ordered them "crispy with beef" and got three mini corn tortillas filled with stewed beef, Mexican cheese, cabbage, and salsa. The beef practically melted in my mouth and had amazing flavor. While not enough food for an entire meal, I was totally full after eating about half of the ceviche and my taquitos.

Anna also had trouble finishing her food--she got a gigantic serving of steak fajitas ($12); enough for two meals. The steak was seasoned with garlic, and garnished with all of the regular fajita fixings.

All in all, I want to go back to this place just to have that stewed beef again. The service and the ceviche leave something to be desired, but the prices and the food, overall, were great. Cocina Poblana has only been open for about a year, so I want to give them the benefit of a doubt.

Do give it a try and let me know what you think!

Cocina Poblana is conveniently located at 1320 65th Street in Emeryville. They even have breakfast, and are open from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., Monday through Thursday, and until 9:30 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. Happy hour is from 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

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

Cafe Gratitude, Berkeley

Guest Wannabe Food Critic (I actually conned her into writing this): Zoey! Zoey is my younger sister who is currently a student at Cal. I think she's becoming a better writer than I am.

“We invite you to step inside and enjoy being someone who chooses: loving your life, adoring yourself, accepting the world, being generous and grateful everyday, and experiencing being provided for. Have fun and enjoy being nourished. Welcome to Café Gratitude.”

In commemoration of my friend Theo’s 20th birthday, a group of us shared a table at Café Gratitude in Berkeley for a “celebration of aliveness.” The restaurant boasts organic ingredients that “honor the earth and ourselves” and food that “is prepared with love.” When invited, I had no idea what kind of restaurant it was. Running late, with double chocolate cake in hand (from Virginia Bakery), I bolted through the door to find a half-dressed pregnant woman swinging her blonde dreadlocks to the music, the overwhelming scent of wheatgrass being grinded, and Theo adorned with all his friends sitting around a shared table.

Café Gratitude is a vegetarian restaurant that specializes in organic, vegan (no animal products – this includes eggs and milk), and live foods (food, drinks, and supplements that have not been heated above 115 degrees Fahrenheit). However, the young coconut is not always organic; you must ask – how dare they? The soups are served warm, the pizza not baked, and the coffee cold pressed.

They encourage you to share tables and to read through their very extensive menu. Everything is labeled with a clever and yet embarrassing titles of gratitude: “I am Heroic” gets you a quinoa salad tossed with parsley, mint, and cucumbers served with a lemon dressing ($8). “I am Fabulous” is a faux pad thai made of kale noodles (thinly sliced raw kale), cucumbers, tomatoes, sprouts, teriyaki almonds, and almond butter thai sauce ($12). “I am Rich” provides you with a mixture of orange, carrot, beet, and lemon juice ($7).

To order, the server asked me a pleasant “how are you feeling today?” to which I responded an embarrassing “I am sensational and beautiful.” For those of you who have not memorized the entire six page menu, I ordered a live pesto pizza ($10) with fresh basil hemp seed pesto sauce and olive tapenade served on a buckwheat and sunflower seed flatbread (raw toast) sprinkled with cashew ricotta and brazil nut parmesan (grated nuts). I also had a creamsicle milkshake ($7.50) with orange juice and vanilla soft serve (made of organic nut milk, dates, and vanilla bean).

The food took an incredible amount of time to prepare considering there was no cooking, baking, or steaming involved. When my server returned she looked at me and announced in an overly enthusiastic voice, “you are sensational and beautiful!” and set down my pizza and milkshake in front of me. The pizza resembled two slices of hearty bread sprinkled with chopped tomatoes, sprouts, and grated nuts. The mixes of “cheeses” and bitter sprouts combined with stiff bread made it incredibly hard for me to enjoy ingredients that I usually find so decent on their own--cherry tomatoes, kalamata olives, and brazil nuts. It was hard to chew and even harder to swallow. The milkshake seemed to be a refreshing break from my jaw workout of a pizza, but I was left with an uncomfortable, unpleasant nutty and gritty aftertaste.

In honor of Theo’s birthday the host, servers, and “cooks” sang an enthusiastic “happy birthday” – taken from the Beatles’s rendition – and presented him with a free slice of raw cake. Although we had prepared to eat the chocolate cake from Virginia Bakery, it was cooked and therefore not kosher to eat on Café Gratitude’s untarnished plates and flatware. Sad.
After wiping my mouth on my 100% recycled hemp napkin I left Café Gratitude having survived my dining experience somewhat unscathed. I felt ripped off having spent $17.50 for an uncooked meal that resembled rabbit food and left me with my stomach grumbling, but happy with myself for being able to plug my nose and down my entire smoothie.

If I am to recommend something, maybe a salad is a safe bet. Although I entered the restaurant with “I am Sensational” and “I am Beautiful,” I left with the following feelings:

I am not satisfied.
I am not fulfilled.
I am not celebrating.
I am not as “Berkeley” as I thought.
But, I am beautiful.

Café Gratitude is located at 1730 Shattuck Avenue in Berkeley (one block from the not so certified organic Virginia Bakery). It is open 10 AM to 10 PM everyday.

Fonda, Berkeley

Back by popular demand (yes, that means you, Andy McClary and Enghin Atalay!). Oh yeah, I'm also unemployed (by choice) for the next 3 months, have a ton of money saved up (thank you Aaron), and Margaret is coming back into town--which means that there are many more food reviews to come.

To celebrate my last day of work, I went out with my friend Heather (also a former Noloid). We had no idea where to eat but we wanted to feel somewhat healthy. Though not the healthiest choice in the world, I do feel better about myself when I eat small plates as opposed to a big honking hamburger; hence, we chose Fonda.

Fonda is a restaurant owned by the same group that runs Jimmy Beans (no! don't do it!), Sea Salt, Lalime's, and T-Rex. It's a "Berkeley Upscale" restaurant with a full bar that serves tapas, or small plates. I had eaten at Fonda once before when I started at Nolo and I was really impressed with their drinks and seafood. So, amping up for a new month of reviews, we headed in.

We started out with some chips, salsa, and guacamole ($6). It's simple, but the salsa is very good and the guacamole looked and tasted very fresh. The chips are even cooked up in the restaurant, and came to the table hot, crispy and salty. They make the chips out of thick corn tortillas so they have a really satisfying crunch.

To accompany our appetizers, we each got Mojitos ($9)--Heather got a ginger Mojito and mine was classic. Fonda was actually written up in the Chronicle for their cocktails, and for once I'm not arguing with them on an opinion. My Mojito was perfectly mixed, not too strong, and had a ton of fresh mint.

Next we ordered a salad, trying to be somewhat healthy. The salad was basically a Latinized Caesar, with crisp romaine, crunchy asparagus and Manchego cheese with a garlic lemon dressing ($7). It was very tasty and rather filling despite the dressing being light and citrus-based (no creamy dressing here!).

We had trouble deciding between the two seafood dishes ($13). On the lunch menu, there is a tuna tartare with avocado, or a halibut dish. Since the tuna tartare is a staple on both the menu at Fonda and at Sea Salt, we decided to go with the halibut, which is more seasonal. The halibut is served cooked with corn tortillas and grilled green onion so that we were able to make little tacos out of it. The fish looked like it would be too heavily spiced, because it was a really dark red, but it turned out to be spiced perfectly. There was a really hot salsa on the side that was too much for Heather, but I thought it added a lot to the taco.

My biggest pet peeve with fish is that it is often overcooked. Believe me, I know overcooked (boyfriend Andy!). This halibut was cooked wonderfully and flaked apart in my mouth. Because the onion was grilled, it also lent a really smokey flavor to everything.

The last dish that we ordered was the Torta Alambre ($12). My Spanish being incredibly weak I completely flubbed and didn't realize that this was a sandwich, but it ended up being pretty good. Inside a toasted and pressed roll, they had grilled skirt steak with bacon, black beans, rajas, and cheese. For tapas, it was huge, and served with more chips.

While it was good, I would say that it was my least favorite out of all the things we ordered. The steak could have been a bit more rare and sliced into smaller pieces. There could have also been a little more bacon in the sandwich. It wasn't a bad course, I just think it sounded better on the menu than it actually tasted.

Very very full at this point, Heather and I took a dive and decided to order dessert as well. I ordered the sliced mango with lime ($6) and Heather ordered the tamarind creme brulee ($7). I'm usually very nervous about ordering fruit at upscale restaurants because I pretty much know that I'm going to get ripped off. However, yesterday it was hot outside and I had already drank two Mojitos, so I was game for anything. Fortunately, they did anything but rip me off with the mango. We received an entire pint glass that was overfilled with juicy, sweet strips of mango with a hint of lime. Considering how expensive mangoes were the other day when I went to the grocery store, I'd say we got our money's worth. There were at least two to three mangoes stuffed into the glass.

The creme brulee was also great. It had a really nice orange rind flavor to it and a beautiful, thick sugar crust on top. The custard inside was not overly sweet which is a common issue with creme brulee. It was served with pie-crust cookies.

Heather and I both had to roll out of our booth because we were so full. The grand total was $90. Keeping in mind that $40 of that was for drinks, I think that we got a great value for our lunch. Plus, I didn't need to eat dinner after such a huge meal.

I'd definitely recommend this place for a good night out. The atmosphere is really nice, the service is relaxed and the food is tasty.

If you want to try Fonda, they are located at 1501 Solano Avenue in Albany. For reservations, call (510) 559-9006. They also have a website: www.fondasolana.com.

O Chame, Berkeley

There was a long wait at Bette's and my friend Rachel and I were anxious to try something new. Feeling like traitors, we walked across the street from our weekly brunch spot and looked at the menu for O Chame. O Chame is consistently ranked in the Chronicle's Top 100 list, and everyone online seems to rave about their udon noodle soup. I should have known better than to trust the Yelpers, but I figured that of all people, Michael Bauer had to have decent taste when it came to restaurants.

The restaurant is very cute. They use very unique, thick, beautiful pottery for every dish. Everything is very well thought out when it comes to aesthetics. Rachel and I decided to go big and have a tuna sashimi appetizer. For the main course, she went with udon noodles with shrimp, seaweed and sprouts, and I ordered soba with pork tenderloin, radishes and spinach (I'm not a big udon fan, I prefer soba. Good soba. Katsumi said it's an Asian thing.)

The tuna appetizer was not only presented well, but tasted amazing. The tuna was actually lightly seared and cut into thin, but not too thin, bite size pieces. It was served on a bed of braised leeks with a horseradish/mayo sauce. I loved this dish. The tuna was so soft it almost melted in my mouth. It was obvious that the chef knew how to properly cut fish. Often in the U.S. when I go out for sashimi, the pieces are so big that I have to bite them in half, and then sometimes the fish isn't cut properly/isn't totally fresh so it's more chewy than it should be. This fish was not only fresh but it was cut perfectly.

I think I would have enjoyed that dish even more if it had a bit less of the horseradish sauce. While I really enjoyed it, it overwhelmed the fish and made me concentrate solely on the burning sensation in my nose. Still, this is definitely a recommended dish. The main courses, however...

Let me tell you about the soba and udon that I had in Japan. I had it served two different ways. At the upscale restaurant that we went to with Katsumi, I had cold soba noodles, where the soba (made fresh at the restaurant, daily) was lightly cooked, then drained on a basket, served cold with a bowl of salty, hot, highly seasoned soup. The noodles, which still have a bite to them since they haven't been sitting all day in soup, get dunked into the soup one bite at a time. Same with the udon--the noodles might be thick and almost work like but even they have a tiny firmness to the middle of them.

In Japan I tried hot soba. At the airport. For about ten U.S. dollars, including tempura, rice, tea, radishes, and soup side dishes, I got hot soba noodles in soup. They weren't bad. They weren't mushy but they didn't have much bite to them, and the flavor of the noodle wasn't as distinct as it was at the upscale place. Not bad, but considering I got tempura and rice along with everything else, I wasn't going to complain. Besides, it was better than anything we'd get at a U.S. airport.

Flash forward to O Chame. My soba came hot. It was beautifully presented, with the bright green spinach all on one side, the perfect round slices of pork tenderloin in the middle and radiant yellow radishes on the other side. Rachel's was also gorgeous. The noodles looked more like linguini noodles, but they were all nestled in the bottom, covered with pink shrimps floating on top, surrounded by dark green seaweed.

Now keep in mind that my expectations were already kind of low, considering the waitress said that they don't even make their noodles fresh at the restaurant (what restaurant, known for noodles, doesn't make them??), but both of us were extremely disappointed in our dishes.

First of all, my noodles were practically soggy, as if they had been sitting in the soup for fifteen minutes. Either that, or maybe the noodles just weren't quite the proper consistency when they were made. Or, they may have been over boiled since they were most likely pre-made and dried instead of cooked fresh. Rachel said that her udon noodles were also soggy, and that she didn't like the texture. Though she hasn't gone to Japan before, the udon that she is accustomed to is what I know--fat. These linguini-like atrocities practically broke as she applied pressure on them with her chopsticks.

The accompanying veggies and meat in my soup didn't help either. The radishes weren't bad, but didn't do much for me in the flavor department. They were rather bland. The spinach was...boiled spinach. The pork tenderloin was edible but not the Japanese style that I was expecting.

Every time that I ordered pork in noodle soup at a Japanese restaurant, it would come in very thin, bite sized pieces, with a small section of fat on the end for flavor. It was grilled first, to get the juices flowing and then put on top of the soup.

Maybe it's the California influence, but this pork tenderloin had no fat on it, it was about a half inch thick, and needed to be eaten in about two bites. It also tasted like it had just been boiled instead of grilled, because it was pretty dry and didn't have any flavor. When I tried dunking it for long periods of time into the soup, it didn't really do anything since the soup was so delicate in flavor (but tasty-probably the best thing about the whole dish), and the meat was so thick that the soup couldn't permeate it to make it juicier.

This stupid noodle dish cost me $12 alone.

Everyone who recommends this place is crazy. Were you thinking about recommending this place to me? If so, you are crazy too. The noodles that they are known for aren't even fresh and they don't cook them well. If I had to go back, I wouldn't be upset about ordering from the appetizer section and maybe relaxing and admiring the pottery, but I would be upset if I had to foot the bill for anything on their soup list. Perhaps Bette's Diner was sending us bad traitor vibes from afar, but I'm skeptical.

Doubting me? Try it yourself. I'll be across the street enjoying my Maryland Breakfast with crispy potatoes, nicely seasoned corned beef and runny eggs:

O Chame is located in the 4th Street area, at 1830 4th Street in Berkeley, CA.
Phone reservations can be made by calling (510) 841-8783

The restaurant is open for lunch, Monday through Saturday from 11:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Dinner is served Monday through Thursday from 5:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., and Friday through Saturday from 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.

They also have a website: http://www.themenupage.com/ochame.html

Bucci's, Emeryville

One of the great things about working at Nolo is that they constantly feed us. Once a month, there is a randomly selected group called "The Lunch Bunch" that goes out to eat on Nolo's dollar. I was one of the lucky selectees this month. I voted that we go to Cafe Rouge or Eccolo, two restaurants that I have always wanted to try, but unfortunately was out-voted by the group. We went to Bucci's in Emeryville instead.

The place came highly recommended by everyone who was going, so I had some hope that it would be good. The decor was really nice, so that got my hopes even higher. Unfortunately, it was downhill from there.

First of all, they served us a plate of bread and olives, but didn't even give us bread plates. I wanted to eat the bread with what the Yelpers say is the best olive oil in town, but there was no way to really do so. Everyone at our table basically just stared at the bread until our food came. To add to the madness, the CEO of our company came. He's a really great guy and very laid-back, but the fact that he's the CEO made it kind of difficult, as we all had to play the food ordering game (figuring out how he's ordering so we can figure out how much we can all get).

The service was okay. They were good at remembering to refill my water glass, but our waitress was very short and abrupt, as if she just wanted to turn over the table. When David (the CEO) started going over a practice presentation, she kept staring at us as if we were over staying our welcome. As if? We were, I guess.

I took the queue from everyone else and just ordered a main course. The menu itself is really simple, and not in a good way. I was very unimpressed. They had basic Italian style food that you can get at any run of the mill restaurant (i.e. spaghetti with sausage, linguini with clams, etc.), but in tiny portions, for no less than $15 a plate. Supposedly they did fish well, so I ordered the Alaskan halibut with aioli.

The fish itself was okay, but everything else around it was a nightmare. The fish was put on a bed of sliced mushrooms, halved cherry tomatoes, spinach, and sliced red potatoes. The combination of all of them together was okay, but nothing new or exciting. Plus, the potatoes were raw! I ate all of them because I was starving and the servings were so small, but never have I been to an upscale restaurant where they didn't know how to cook a potato. Since they were sliced pretty thinly, I almost feel like they didn't cook them at all, because it doesn't take much to cook a potato slice that is only 1/4 inch thick. The aioli was also terrible--too thick and too much mayo. It also didn't have any flavor aside from the mayo. The great aiolis that I have had have some sort of flavor infused, such as lemon or garlic, but this had nothing to it.

I looked around at everyone else's food, and they ate everything on their plate, but no one was raving about how good it was, which usually happens at these things when no one knows what to say to one another. Two of the women in the group ordered the linguini with clams, and the linguini looked almost mushy it was so overcooked (it fell apart on their forks). Plus, it looked like it was cooked in a simple tomato sauce, so nothing too exciting. If they can't even cook pasta and potatoes properly, I don't even want to know what happens when they try to cook something unique.

Our waitress was also very good at snatching our plates away when we were finished, even interrupting one of our lunch bunch members as she was talking to see if she could take her plate. Needless to say, I would not recommend this place to anyone. I still love the company that I work for, but I would have been annoyed if I had had to pay for this meal. If you feel like defying my anti-recommendation, here is the information for Bucci's:

6121 Hollis Street, Emeryville 94608
(510) 547-4725

http://www.buccis.com

Bakesale Betty, Oakland

My mom always raves about this place's pies, but I never knew that they serve regular food, too! Paw Paw had cut out an article from the newspaper on Bakesale Betty the last time I was at her house, and it mentioned that they serve the best chicken pot pies and fried chicken sandwiches. I had to try it out.

As fate would have it, one of the girls I work with had to go pick up a friend who lived near Lake Merritt for lunch. So, we headed off to pick him up and they asked for a recommendation as to where to eat. Conveniently, her friend needed a ride to Berkeley, and Bakesale Betty was on the way there.

The place itself would be very hard to find if it weren't for the huge line of people outside during lunch time. Even the firefighters from next door were lined up, so we knew it must be good. There isn't even a sign on the door, and there is no menu--the only reason we knew we found the right place was that there was a piece of butcher paper taped to the wall that said "Fried Chicken Sandwich...Chicken Pot Pie...Egg Salad Sandwich."

Being the amateur food critic I am, I allowed everyone to get the same thing (a fried chicken sandwich) and didn't try anything else. A gigantic sandwich (packed with 3 huge pieces of fried chicken) and a water bottle cost $8.00. Sounds expensive, but I was full after only half of my sandwich, so split two ways, it is only a $4.00 lunch.

The sandwiches are made on soft, fresh rolls, piled high with a cabbage, fresh jalapeno, and vinegar slaw, along with three pieces of juicy, crispy, slightly spicy fried chicken. Leilani had a little bit of trouble with the jalapenos, but since they were fresh I didn't think that the spiciness was overpowering. In fact, it was just about perfect. My biggest problem was that the seating provided by Bakesale Betty is limited to stools and milk crates, so I had cabbage pieces and napkins flying everywhere.

Despite the huge line that consistently stood outside the cafe, the turnover is fast. We stood in line for about two minutes before we were helped, and the employees were very efficient. They even take credit cards!

Lunch was delicious (everyone complimented me on my recommendation even though I'd never eaten there before). I didn't get hungry until about 5:30 that evening, and the chicken was still crispy then, which is one of my tests for fried things. Still crispy and still delicious. I highly recommend trying their sandwiches! I promise next entry will not be something fried (I hope).

Bakesale Betty is located right on the corner of 51st and Telegraph. Parking may look daunting but actually isn't bad at all if you go around the corner.

5098 Telegraph Avenue, Oakland, CA
(510) 985-1213

They are open Tuesday through Saturday, 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

The Alley Cafe, Pinole

"I told you." --Andy

Andy is the pickiest eater on the planet. This is his favorite breakfast place on earth. I hate to admit it, but I love The Alley too. This is the perfect place to go when you're in the mood for a no-nonsense, no frills greasy spoon breakfast. Don't expect any rosemary potatoes or eggs benedict here...They only accept cash and you will leave with arteries slightly more clogged than usual.

They serve hash browns, not home fries, and the toast comes pre-buttered. According to Andy these are the two signs of a great restaurant. While I'm not sure I agree with that, I do agree with paying $4.50 for two sunny side up eggs, four slices of sourdough toast, two entire hot links, and about five potatoes worth of hash browns.

The service here is very nice, sometimes slow when it's busy (there's usually only one waitress and one cook), and they are really big Giants fans. This is the only negative aspect of the place as far as I can tell. There is an old lady who comes in every day wearing an A's jacket, though, and they seem to treat her fine so I'm not too worried about it.

Living in El Cerrito, this place is close enough that it's not a bad trip. If you are in the area and in the mood for a classic greasy spoon diner with charm, check this place out! I try to go later in the morning on Saturdays because it can get packed early on and after church on Sundays. It's a balancing act because they close at 2pm, but if you can, give this place a shot.

The Alley Cafe is located at 2265 Pear Street in Pinole.

Louisiana Fried Chicken, El Cerrito

No, THIS is the place where you are supposed to get fried chicken. The service isn't anything to write home about (don't expect anyone to multi-task or work fast or be very friendly), but the chicken has always been consistently great!

The fried chicken has a great, thick, crunchy skin that actually isn't greasy; the meat itself is always hot and juicy, even the breast meat. Plus, it's spicy. The first time that Andy and I ate their chicken, we weren't prepared enough. It's a really slow spice that gradually gets hotter and hotter, but we couldn't stop eating the food to be bothered to notice that our mouths were slowly beginning to burn. Andy eventually had to run to the store and get us lemonade while I continued to pick up and eat every single crumb of the leftover fried bits.

We have always gotten the food to go. Normally, I would say that fried chicken to go is a bad idea, but this chicken is so crunchy that it doesn't get soggy, even after it's been in the refrigerator for 2 days (not that it makes it that long without being eaten). When we've ordered a family pack for $15 (I swear not for just the two of us...), we've gotten 8 pieces of chicken, 4 rolls, and one large side, so the food is also very affordable.

My favorite side by far is the greens. They too are spicy, and have slices of pork thrown in to help flavor them. I haven't been impressed by any of the other sides. Andy and I have tried the dirty rice (too dry), the rolls (taste store bought), and the cole slaw (actually pretty good, because I like mine with light mayo and theirs has hardly any). But, my recommendation would be to make some mashed potatoes and rolls at home and then get everything else from Louisiana Fried Chicken. Go here it's so good.

This restaurant is a chain, but I can only speak for the El Cerrito Plaza location. They have a website: http://www.louisianachickenbayarea.com.

They are located at the El Cerrito Plaza, if you are facing Albertson's, it is on your right in the corner. Their phone number is (510) 524-9633.

I have no idea what their hours, are, but I think they close kind of early (around 8). GO!

Angeline's Louisiana Kitchen, Berkeley

Just as I was getting ready to move out of Berkeley, Andy and I noticed advertisements for a New Orleans-style restaurant moving into that graveyard of a building on Shattuck that used to have Eddie Bauer and Gateway. I'm pretty skeptical of anything in that building, but I still looked at the menu online...They have beignets!! How could I resist?!

I've been to Angeline's twice now...The first time I went with my friend Nnekay before going to see Stranger than Fiction (very cute movie!). It was pretty empty when we arrived, since it was only about 5:00 p.m., but the wait staff was very friendly and accommodating. We chose to sit next to the window. Surprisingly, the interior of the restaurant was very cute, but elegant. Pay attention to the gigantic alligator/crocodile thing on the wall, it's made entirely of buttons.

Nnekay ended up ordering the BBQ shrimp and I ordered the jambalaya (both about $12.95). Both of our meals were really filling and incredibly tasty. The shrimp comes with a thick, sweet, brown "BBQ" sauce on it, which is delicious. It is served over rice with veggies on the side. The shrimp was cooked perfectly and was served with just the right amount of sauce. The waitress told us that it was originally just an appetizer but since the shrimp ended up being so popular, they decided to make an entree out of it. If you can, try this shrimp--I was skeptical at first but it really was delicious. My jambalaya was nice and spicy but there wasn't too much heat. It is packed with chicken and andouille sausage, so when I brought my leftovers home to Andy he was super happy and ate them all in one sitting. That's another great thing--the servings are huge! They don't look all that big, but because they are so dense and packed with flavor, I only ate about half of my jambalaya.

For dessert, we each got an order of beinets. They were listed at $3.50, so we figured that we should each get a serving and then sneak them into the theater. Fortunately and unfortunately, the servings are huge. We each got a box that had about six or seven nicely sized hot, non-greasy but fried goodness covered in pounds of powdered sugar. I'd like to say that we didn't eat all of our boxes because we were too full but neither of us could stop eating.

When I went with Andy, we were also going to see a movie, so we again went early. Since we got there around 4:45 p.m., we got the lunch menu. I found that the dinner was pretty affordable for what we got, but the lunch menu is a great deal. The only issue was that the jambalaya wasn't ready yet (jambalaya gets served after 5:30 p.m.). Andy was very sad, but decided to order the hamburger with a side of hushpuppies. The great deal was my oyster po'boy with a side of gumbo for only $11.

I got a full-size sandwich packed with fried oysters, lettuce, and tomatoes. The oysters were breaded with a little bit of cornmeal, which made them extra crispy on the outside, but really tender on the inside. The gumbo was also awesome. Unlike most gumbo that I've had in the past, which has usually been sitting around for a few hours, this tasted fresh. Nothing was overcooked, even the shrimp, which were tender and still juicy. The okra was also cooked just right so that it wasn't too slimy.

Andy was pleased with his hamburger and said for the first time ever that he was really pleased with my blind selection of a restaurant. I had never had hushpuppies before, but Andy said that they were a bit different from the ones he's used to--these had more flavor. They were served really hot with a crunchy outer texture, but the cornmeal on the inside was sweet and soft.

Too bad we didn't have time for dessert. The food was so good that we ate everything on our plates. Oh, and the movie we saw was decent too (The Departed).

Angeline's Louisiana Kitchen is located on Shattuck near Bancroft in Berkeley.
2261 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94704
(510) 548-6900

They are open Monday through Saturday, closed Sunday.
Lunch is served from 11:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Dinner is served from 5:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., Monday through Thursday,
and 5:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., Friday and Saturday.

They also have a website: http://angelineskitchen.com/