Berkeley: random news and notes

If he can make good pasteis de nata, that will be something. I was never able to find good ones in the Bay Area.

Sign’s up. It’s going to be a Thai restaurant.

Umm…what sign? where?

Curses! Update on Pâtisserie Rotha:
Will not open until July 28th, per website
Rotha July 28th opening

Address: 1051 San Pablo Ave., Albany

The old Toots Sweet bakery on Gilman.

1 Like

2 posts were split to a new topic: [Berkeley] KC’s BBQ

A post was split to a new topic: [Albany] Wojia Hunan Cuisine

Pâtisserie Rotha is finally open. I haven’t been yet, but a friend has been twice and says that they sell out early.

Is it just open on the weekends? Never mind that question. From the website:

“We open from 7:30 AM to 1:30 PM Thurs-Fri and 8:00 AM to 2 PM Sat & Sun (please note these are revised times to those previously advertised)”

From their website:

We open from 7:30 AM to 1:30 PM Thurs-Fri and 8:00 AM to 2 PM Sat & Sun

Photos here:
http://www.patisserierotha.com/gallery/

Gah! You beat me to it. Anyway, I’m glad there’s a new place in the neighborhood for Pain au chocolat . I still miss Prings.

1 Like

Today’s students are so lucky…

I am sad that Brennan’s last day will be September 15.
Nostalgic for the original location and plates of turkey-cranberry-mashed potatoes…
relocated now to 700 University, soon to close.

What’s your fave? …brisket? corned beef? Reuben?

Me too. I’ve been going there for thirty years. One day recently, I looked
around and thought, wow, there’s a lot of retired graybeards here. Oh, wait…

( only semi-retired, but still)

…we have time for a ‘last hurrah’ lunch before September 15.

Me, I ended up there too often when the wait at Spenger’s was too long, and have been cheerfully avoiding the place for the past 50 years.

Re Patisserie Rotha:
We stopped in and indeed, they were sold out. I ended up making a very long post since we did a tasting comparison between Rotha, Fournee/Berkeley and Parker Lusseau/Monterey croissants. I have posted it as a separate thread instead.

There are a few changes on the block of San Pablo just south of University. Mi Tierra has rearranged itself so that the taqueria is now right at the entrance, with lots of indoor seating. An asada taco was deeply marinated, a little salty.

The Middle Eastern Market moved their restaurant seating to the front, and has an expanded menu with more kebabs and Persian stews. I may start a new topic on this place after I’ve eaten there a few times.

http://memarketberkeley.com/

Cafe V. is now El Patio, with the same Venezuelan dishes. They apparently changed the name a year or so ago.

1 Like

The Middle East Market food is very good and had expanded their menu a few years ago when the shop changed hands.

I’ve had the koo koo sabzi (a sort of frittata) , fesenjan (a stew with pomegranate sauce and walnut paste usually served over chicken with rice), and lamb shank, which were all quite good with reasonable prices.

On that same block La Marcha, which serves Spanish tapas, is scheduled to open a nearby wine shop which will highlight Spanish and Portuguese wines.