Category — Vegetarian

After living in the East Bay for several months, I started to discover some nice places to shop for organic produce. Here are some spots I visited:

Berkeley Bowl/Berkeley Bowl West

• Pros: This place is like a produce mecca for anyone obsessed with fresh fruits and vegetables. Tons of varieties. Organic produce prices on many core items (e.g. apples, broccoli, onions) are very good. Berkeley Bowl West has its own separate organic section which is nice, but the original Berkeley Bowl seems to have more varieties than the Berkeley Bowl West. Parking is easier in Berkeley Bowl West.
• Cons: Mad shoppers hitting their carts throughout aisles, grabbing the best produce possible. Be prepared to have a heart attack while parking your car or pushing your shopping cart.

Monterey Market

• Pros: This place has really amazing produce. I think the quality is even better than Berkeley Bowl. It doesn’t offer as much variety as Berkeley Bowl does, but it still is pretty amazing given its size. The prices are really good, and produce is SUPER fresh.
• Cons: Again, like Berkeley Bowl, prepare for a mad stampede of food – obsessed shoppers with their carts everywhere. It is not a fancy store; don’t expect it to look like Whole Foods (this is not necessarily a con, but I know people who are turned off by Rainbow Grocery for this reason).

Berkeley Farmer’s Market

• Pros: (I’ve been to both the Thu and Sat markets) This place has superb quality, all organic and lots of turnover. Downtown on Saturdays, there’s some hot food which is convenient for a quick bite or lunch. On Thursdays on Shattuck and Rose, there is less variety of hot food but I love the organic hot food vendor, Today’s Special! It is really an excellent find.
• Cons: It does get a little crowded, and sometimes by the end of the day, the food quality gets low due to heat or just staying out so long. Otherwise it’s a good market.

Temescal Farmer’s Market

• Pros: This is an amazing find in Oakland’s Temescal neighborhood which is becoming really up and coming. The quality of these vendors are A+ with people like Cowgirl Creamery and Prather Ranch (which are truly hard to find as market vendors).
• Cons: Wow, this place is expensive. After being used to Monterey Market and Berkeley Bowl prices, it’s hard to recalibrate what I expect to see in food prices. $8 for 3 sausages that aren’t even organic or nitrate free? No thanks. But to be fair, every produce item we bought that day (kale, carrots, broccoli, bell pepper and spinach) was really probably some of the most amazing produce we have tasted in a long time.

There is probably a lot more fabulous organic produce out there – but these are some great places to check out if you are in the area!

Last week, I stopped by in Berkeley to check out a restaurant called Amanda’s Feel Good Fresh Food. Started by a passion entrepreneur, Amanda West,  her restaurant is a bright, energetic fast food joint serving healthy  food at great prices. Her food includes natural meats, local and organic food where possible, with all items compostable. My favorite items were the homemade sodas (try the ginger ale!), yam fries and the organic Napa salad. Since I am vegetarian, (I had the homemade veggie burger) I didn’t try the meat burgers, but my friend Barak loved the special California burger (a chicken burger with avocado). Most items were $7 or under.  Check out this restaurant! It’s located right next to the  downtown Berkeley BART station near the corner of Center and Shattuck (2122 Shattuck Avenue,Berkeley).

1. Shop at your local farmer’s market. If you wait towards the end of the market, many farmers are willing to sell at lower rates to get rid of inventory.
2. Join a local CSA in your area for a weekly produce box, fresh from a local farm. Some of these items are much cheaper than at Whole Foods. Some examples of CSAs are FarmFreshToYou and others found on Om Organics’ website in the San Francisco Bay Area.
3. Find private label organic food items. At Safeway, they now sell their own organic food line O Organics. At Whole Foods, they have their 365 everyday value items. These items tend to have reasonable food prices.
4. Shop at your local co-op. My personal favorite is Rainbow Grocery in San Francisco. It is like the Costco of Whole Foods. Not necessarily the prettiest place to shop, but full of choices, bulk and great prices.
5. Buy bulk items. Don’t bother buying core items like rice and oatmeal from small boxes. At places like Whole Foods, and co-ops like Rainbow Grocery, it is easy to find wide varieties of healthy grains, nuts, dried fruits and other goodies in the bulk aisle. One of my favorite items is the almond butter, fresh and bulk.
6. My personal favorite store for value-Trader Joe’s. Sure their produce quality is not the best, but many of their packaged items are great prices.
7. Use food delivery services like Planet Organics in the San Francisco Bay Area. They deliver straight to your home once a week, and you can choose any items you want, unlike a CSA. I’ve been using them for a month, and really enjoy the quality of their produce.
8. Grow your own vegetables and fruits in your patio or yard. Tomatoes are especially a good thing to grow as they tend to be more expensive than other produce.
9. Find coupons for organic and local food. Whole Foods has a coupon flyer in their stores that has many discounts on natural food items. There are local guides such as Green Zebra and EcoMetro Guide that have dozens of discounts for organic and local items.
10. Avoid chains and try shopping at local markets. My favorite local market is Sigona’s in Redwood City for produce. Their produce prices are some of the best in the area given the quality of their organic and local sourcing. Another example is the Milk Pail in Mountain View.

What an excellent idea! A festival benefiting local food co-ops and farmers in the Bay Area serving great, local food. I see some of the best restaurants, beer and ice cream vendors all on carts.

This event has even been highlighted in the New York Times!

Highlighting some great gastronomic pleasures:

• The Creme Brulee Cart
• Roli Roti
• Tim Luym From Poleng Lounge
• Straus Family Creamery
• Amanda’s Feel Good Fresh Food
• Kara’s Cupcakes
• Ici Ice Cream
• Fentons Creamery
• Bi-Rite Creamery

Located at Jack London Square in Oakland this weekend 8/28-8/30. See their comprehensive schedule.

I was fortunate to see a sneak preview of Food Inc a couple weeks ago at a special Yelp event in San Francisco. After the viewing, there was a Q&A session live with Michael Pollan and Robert Kenner. I was so excited to see the movie and listen to the panel. Here are some reactions from Yelp Elites.

In a nutshell, you will feel inspired to be careful what you buy and eat. I became vegetarian almost 20 years ago after watching a movie like Food Inc after watching the meat processing scenes. Those with quesy stomachs may want to not watch, but those with a foodie and green interest will want to see this film.

Famous foodies Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation), Michael Pollan (The Omnivore’s Dilemma) are featured along with forward thinking social
entrepreneurs like Stonyfield Farms’ Gary Hirschberg and Polyface Farms’ Joe Salatin, Food, Inc. reveals surprising — and often shocking truths — about what we eat, how it’s produced, who we have become as a nation and where we are going from here.

Here’s an interesting fact among many found in the film (and in Omnivore’s Dilemma if you’ve read the book)–Corn products include: ketchup, cheese, Twinkies, batteries, peanut butter, Cheez-Its, salad dressings, Coke, jelly, Sweet & Low, syrup, juice, Kool-Aid, charcoal, diapers, Motrin, meat and fast food.

Hmm, you’ve gotta wonder what’s in your food sometimes before you eat it. Many thumbs up for this movie!

Calafia Cafe and Market recently opened in Palo Alto’s Town & Country center. I was able to eat there on Sunday night, where the tables were actually all full and busy. The ambiance had a nice zen feel with thought through details of design using green materials. The waitstaff was amazing and very attentive (perhaps because we had an adorable newborn baby dining with us). Charlie Ayers, the head chef, was the executive chef for Google for many years.

For vegetarians, I thought the food was excellent. I had their special “hearts” salad, made of hearts of palm, beets (get it? heartbeat), and greens. My main course was a tofu lentil loaf with mashed potatoes and fresh herbs, with swiss chard. My friends shared a pizza, and a turkey burger with fresh cut fries made from scratch.

I would totally recommend this place; this is the kind of restaurant we need more of –fast, easy, healthy and organic. Charlie Ayers, their head chef definitely understands the need after cooking at Google for many years.

For one of my social events, I hosted a 50 person casual brunch to celebrate an occasion. I didn’t want to spend too much money, but I still wanted high quality food. I found a great recommendation through the Berkeley Parent’s Network online, called Greenleaf Platters. They provide green, low cost, organic, local foods already made and delivered to your door. For my event, I ordered quiches, salads, fruits, organic lemondade and coffee.

The food was so great that my friends picked up their business card. Greenleaf then comes back to the venue after you’re done to pick up the glass plates that they lend for the event. Most of their food was organic and locally sourced. I highly recommend Greenleaf Platters for an event. Their manager Hugh Groman even called me the week before to double check my order even though I had already purchased it online just to make sure it was what I wanted.

Celebrating another big 30th birthday, my friend Laura rented a shuttle to Napa valley and checked out some of the wineries. Our first stop was Constantino, a family run winery. To be honest, I’m not really a wine person, more of a foodie, but I thought the atmosphere of the winery was very relaxed and intimate. It apparently is my friend Laura’s favorite winery in Napa and she bought a wine membership from them.

Our next stop was V. Sattui, another family run winery near St. Helena. Despite its beautfiul grounds with oak trees and picnic tables, the place was a mad house! We did arrive Saturday at noon, but once I walked inside the tasting room and deli, it felt like going into a squished Trader Joe’s during rush hour, with people running around everywhere. The picture above shows a very nice deli and cheese selection.
They also carried Frog Hollow Farms’ organic and locally made jams. Even better is their fresh produce (especially peaches) if you find them in the Ferry Building in San Francisco. I don’t think I would go back to V. Sattui, it was way too crowded and ruined any notion of being in Napa.
I used to live in New York, walking distance to the Dean and Deluca shop in SOHO. I was delighted to see even a larger Dean and Deluca in Napa. Above is a picture of locally sourced organic fruits. They had a wide assortment of farms nearby.

Dean and Deluca wasn’t as packed as V. Sattui, and the food options were way better, with fresh pastries, exotic teas, spices and wines. The only thing I wish Dean and Deluca could do better is to put benches or tables outside their patio so people can actually eat their food properly.

It’s wedding/birthday season and my last weekend was packed with trips to both Sonoma and Napa. A big group of my high school friends celebrated two birthdays in Sonoma wine country. I couldn’t make it until the dinner which was held at El Dorado Kitchen. The drinks were very fresh and relaxing (see the mint mojito and pomegranate cocktail above).
To start, I had a Caesar salad with local, organic romaine lettuce, with cucumbers. The salad was also very fresh, but I think it had a little too much dressing for my taste.
Although we sat outside near the pool and patio, the interior (see above) of the restaurant was decorated in a relaxed, but modern California style.
For my main course, I tried a mushroom, pea, tomato bow tie pasta. This was a fantastic pasta dish. As a vegetarian, I often don’t expect much from pasta, but the mushrooms in this dish were unbelievably tasty.
At the end, I tried a rhubarb tart with ice cream served on the side. This was better than the other choice that the table had which was a chocolate brownie. I recommend trying this rhubarb tart, it wasn’t too sour nor was it too sweet. El Dorado’s service was prompt and courteous and all of our food came out at the same time piping hot. I’d definitely recommend stopping here if you are in Sonoma tasting wine. El Dorado is located in central Sonoma right on the square, 405 1st St W. There is also a hotel as part of the building which is nicely decorated.

I was in Hong Kong last week and many of my friends brought me to new places in Hong Kong that carried organic and healthy foods. One of them was a market, called ThreeSixty, that was a smaller version of Whole Foods in a major mall in downtown Central called the Landmark. The selection was very impressive for a place in Hong Kong, but prices were very high.
ThreeSixty even had a nice food court on their second level, with over seven local restaurants and food stands to choose from in a nice, shiny environment. They had everything from wheatgrass juice to Italian food to pan Asian food to an actual sushi boat restaurant in the back.My friends brought me to Life for dinner, an organic, vegetarian restaurant in the streets of Hong Kong’s SOHO district. Tucked in an ally near a major escalator, the restaurant was cozy and reminded me of something you would find in the Bay Area.
Inside, the place was very crowded, with a warm color scheme.

I ordered an Asian stirfly vegetable and tofu dish on top of quinoa. The taste was very strong, but perfectly complemented the plain tasting quinoa. We also tried a lentil burger (which I highly recommend), a pumpkin soup, and a masala chai tea. After the meal, we went for a quick massage at a place called “Happy Feet”– a perfect ending to the day in Hong Kong.

With the original Pasta Shop market in Rockridge for over 25 years, I recently checked out its second trendy Fourth Street Berkeley location. The Pasta Shop is squeezed in between other great food places, like Dona Tomas’ taqueria outpost, a tea shop, a wine shop, a meat market, and more.
Of particular interest is one of the best cheese selection that I have seen (see above) at the Pasta Shop. They also have a fresh pasta section and a nice take out deli section with salads, and entrees to choose from, similar to Whole Foods. However, don’t expect too much from their produce selection. Definitely check out this place if you are in the Berkeley or Rockridge area. A lot of their products are natural, organic and locally sourced. Pasta Shop is located on 1786 Fourth Street in Berkeley or 5655 College Avenue in Oakland.

Where can you find a great cup of coffee, and some of the finest chocolates around? Check out Coupa Cafe, a hangout for techies, Stanford students, and food connoisseurs. I had a meeting in Coupa this morning and as I was waiting, I noticed the sea of laptops everywhere. Wireless is free here, but better yet is the selection of food and coffee.

Wow! As soon as I walked in, I felt instant energy in NOPA, a very popular restaurant in the North of the Panhandle (hence the name of the restaurant). My friend Merel met me at the communal table at the front and we were seated to our table. The ambiance was not too snobby, yet not too casual, and it had very much a neighborhood cozy yet classy feel. Our other guests were arriving late, so we decided to order a few appetizers to start.

My friend and I started with the Warm Goat Cheese, Crostini and Pickled Beets ($9.5) followed by the Arugula, Shaved Fennel, Radishes and Champagne Vinaigrette ($7). The warm goat cheese was wonderful and carefully blended with very fresh bright pink beats. The arugula salad contrasted nicely with the goat cheese.

Soon, Chris joined us and he tried the Pan Roasted Halibut, Zucchini, Fingerling Potatoes and Chard ($19). Since I’m vegetarian, I only tried the potatoes and chard, and my favorite dish by then was his side of chard, nicely cooked but not too soft with a warm buttery taste. I shared the Baked Pasta, Spinach, Carrots and Breadcrumbs ($18) and we ordered sides of polenta and baked cauliflower. Their menu indicates that most of their food is sustainable, local and organic.

By then, another friend, Kiyoung joined us and we shared a nice dessert together: Rhubarb Crostada and Vanilla Ice Cream ($8). The rhubarb was exceptionally fresh and blended perfectly with the vanilla ice cream. Another friend Jennie joined us towards the end who ordered the Warm Doughnut Holes and Rum Caramel ($7.5). This dessert was to die for! It was at a perfect temperature, warm enough to be eaten and not too hot with lightly sprinkled sugar.

I really had a fabulous time at this restaurant. The service was exceptional. It was unbelievable to see the entire place packed on a Monday night. Reservations are very difficult unless you like to eat very late (they close at 2AM) and I’d recommend contacting them in advance. Apparently the top chefs come to this restaurant from all over the city to eat after they are done working. I definitely am coming back! NOPA is located on 560 Divisadero @ Hayes in San Francisco.

To celebrate the end of a volunteer project, I went to Triptych with my team, a restaurant that opened in SOMA last year in San Francisco. Inside, was a funky vibe, with art strewn all over the walls, two record players playing actual record LPs at the front, and a disco style bathroom in the back.

The group ordered a lot of food, and being vegetarian, I mainly recalled the veggie selection since the restaurant didn’t post their updated menu on their website. We started with a tofu salad, an artichoke salad, a seafood salad. The salads were made fresh. Below is a picture of an entree, a vegan spring vegetable tagine with tofu, spinach, tahini & pita (~$13). I really enjoyed this dish, the chef cooked tofu in a different style that was unusual.
The rest of the team tried other meat dishes, and below was a popular paella dish mixed with mussels and roasted red peppers.

Here is a picture of the bar in the background, with the team very happy with the meal.
Kamael, Cynthia and Nancy happily devour the pear tart for dessert.
Overall, I was satisfied with the quality of the food and prompt service. Parking was very easy in SOMA. I was surprised that despite a long list of organic and biodynamic wines on the menu, the restaurant was out of the entire stock of organic wine. I settled for an organic looseleaf brown nettle tea. We were the only table left towards the end of our meal, but it made it a better place for conversation and high quality attention by their staff. Triptych is located on 1155 Folsom St (between 7th and 8th) in San Francisco.

My friend Jen had a baby shower which took place at the Samovar Tea Lounge in San Francisco. We sat in the table (above) and ordered teas. I ordered the organic “chill out” tea, a blend of blend of chamomile blossoms, peppermint, lemon myrtle, jasmine blossoms, lemongrass and lavender flowers. We also tried their curry egg salad sandwiches, cucumber sandwiches and ended the tea with the matcha brownie and green tea mousse and an assortment of cookies. I’ve been to both Samovar locations–one in SOMA and the other in the Castro. I definitely prefer the laid back, more welcoming atmosphere of the Castro location. The one in SOMA felt much like a sleek but sterile art museum. I wish the tea menu were better written; the teas were not labeled organic properly and I had ask the waiter which tea blend was certified organic. Also the service was so-so. All in all, I think Samovar is a nice place to host a small special occasion or date. Samovar is located on the corner of Sanchez and 18th in the Castro or in Yerba Buena Gardens in SOMA.