Berkeley Restaurants

The wind was blowing towards us walking down Cedar, and my mouth watered, hoping the smell was coming from the place we were headed. When I walked up to the hole-in-the-wall and saw a beautiful cut of salmon searing on a grill next to an open window with a picnic table, I knew we were in the money.

Gregoire's is why my former roommate moved from the real ghetto of East Palo Alto into what she calls "the gourmet ghetto" of North Berkeley. Here, the flames competetively sear strictly organics with neighbors like Chez Panisse, or don't if they take the raw food strategy, all vying for your pallette's wildest imagination. The gamut includes you week's wages and a phone call two months ago, to walk-up organic Thai for 5 bucks.

Gregoire's is somewhere in-between, since you'll have to wait with other hungry foodies huddling on the sidewalk stretching their ears for their order of seasonal French-prep delights to be ready, even if called-in ahead. You can't reserve the lone table on the sidewalk, and the hungry people munching on bones at it won't pay attention to your eagerness, either. The menu is full of lamb, chicken, potatoes puffed or wedged, scallops, halibut cheeks, gourmet mac n cheese, roasted tomatoes, and the prep is littered with flavor as chutney, spices, grilled onions, bread crumbs, and dippings.

We took our meal to a show at the Greek where the pricey $10-$20 entrees stood up with flavor, unique bistro take-out boxes that our neighbors admired longingly, and silver-painted plastic utensils.

Lunch and dinner menu on their cute website
Free parking on nearby residential streets
New location in Oakland
Visit http://www.511.org to plan your mass transit trip

French is my favorite food prep style for the flavor that comes with simple things like meat and sides, and this place does it right.

The Halibut cheeks were a little dry, breaded and fried, with bone surprizes, but nevertheless enjoyed.
The lamb and chutney is worth getting your fingers greasy for, and the chutney is reason enough to order it.
The potato puffs are rich and naughty.
The mac and cheese with mushrooms was tasty and filling.
The potato fingerlings were delicious.

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