Berkeley, April 8, 20112—
A VERY NICE DINNER tonight in a venue new to us, casual, cozy, friendly, and unbearably loud. Too bad: undoubtedly it's our fault; we're just too old for a happening place like this.
I started with this fine salad, lettuce, frisée, pine nuts, shavings of cheese. Another came with it: arugula, burrata with tapenade, fried artichokes — siamo a Roma!
Then gemelli with duck ragù, the little pasta spirals perfectly cooked, the ragù deep and delicious. Dessert: "soft serve" ice cream, a beautiful crema morbide, recalling the earlier burrata like a nostalgic ballad…
Falanghina; Nebbiolo
•Boot and Shoe Pizza, 3308 Grand Avenue, Oakland; 510-763-2668
2 comments:
Read the Yelp! reviews which confirmed your impressions. I don't think I'll be visiting this place.
Excessively loud music.
Too crowded.
Poor lighting.
Uneven, slow service.
High prices for "peasant" dishes.
No parking.
I'll just keep going to Dopo and let this place die on its wrought-iron vine.
If this one's all-in-the-family then maybe it will be trashed. Still, truth always wins.
I read Yelp rarely, finding negative comments too personal, positive ones too general to be useful. On your points:
•Music too loud for mid-70s me, alas fairly normal for bistros these days.
•Comfortable chair and table spacing; didn't seem crowded to me.
•Reasonable lighting, and quite interesting art and decor.
•Satisfactory service — professional, in fact.
•Fair prices for delicious, well-conceived preparations of interesting dishes featuring first-rate ingredients.
•We parked on the street within two doors of the restaurant.
I'm not sure what your last paragraph means, but I hope you're right about truth.
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