udget). Enough said about that, and now on with the hotel...which looks fabulous from the outside...a grand white 100 year old hotel nestled in the Berkeley hills. However, Andrea's room was run down, needing new paint, and small! I guess 100 years ago hotel rooms were built to different specifications. The lobby was nice, decorated for the holidays with a HUGE gingerbread house with, I kid you not, 2 snow machines that they periodically turn on to spritz drifting snow around the house. We were there when they turned them on, and having no batteries yet again, I missed a fantastic photo op of our faces with a great WTF look going on. The hotel really is in need of a major interior facelift, but Andrea did give kudos to the pool and spa facilities.We declined to dine at the hotel, and instead headed down to Shattuck in Berkeley. We meandered our way down Shattuck, stopping to drool at Chez Panisse's menu, and made our way to a brewery for a few local beers, and then ended up at Cafe Gratitude for dinner.
Cafe Gratitude is a organic, gluten free, live food restaurant. Live food is their sneaky way of saying "raw". Andrea had dined at the SF location, and was eager to try it again. The owners are your typical Berkelians....one was trained in the "being of abundance", and his skills include "keeping attention on all there is to be grateful for". The other owner's presence "is the gift of being present and listening for our most genuine Self to emerge." You can't make this stuff up...straight from the website!The Gratitude part comes in while ordering. Everything on the menu has names like "I am fulfilled" or "I am whole", and when you order, you are self-praising. So Scott and Andrea had "I am elated", while I had "I am devoted". In normal people language, Scott and Andrea had enchiladas, and I has spring rolls and cauliflower soup. Now, I know you are thinking, aren't the foods raw there? How did they make enchiladas and spring rolls? Well, I'll tell you! The enchiladas were filled with a pressed sunflower seed paste, wrapped in a tortilla made with pressed greens, and sauced with a cashew nut sour cream. My spring rolls were an assortment of raw veggies and fruit (beets, apples, carrots, cucumber), wrapped in blanched collard greens, and served with a cilantro-cashew butter sauce. It was surprisingly tasty, and after our self praising we felt so good =)
It was a fun experience, but the next night I opted for some "non-living" food and made some smoked turkey and corn chowder with corn chips (gasp...the chips were processed!!!!)
7 comments:
can you explain the whole gluten-free thing to me? we have a new gluten-free market in town, and while i'm eager to get excited, i don't really understand why...
"i am impressed"
court, i do know that some people are severely allergic to gluten. which sucks, because 'everything' has gluten in it.
Courtney's Gluten-Free Lesson:
My aunt is allergic to gluten, and Scott was also allergic until age 3. Basically, it is a wheat allergy, so you can't eat anything with wheat or wheat by-products (flour and everything with flour in it...like bread). Gluten is the stuff that gives bread its structure. The problem is almost everything is made with wheat by-products, so your food choice is very limited, especially in the late 1970s when Scott was allergic, he had to eat these horrible rice cakes that he still has nightmares about. Today though, there are many tasty gluten free alternatives, so my Aunt does not have it as bad as Scott. You can buy gluten free four for baking and gluten free breads. The gluten free products are made with alternative flours, like potato or rice flours. So, gluten free is also a good option if you don't want to eat white flour.
that certainly sounds like a berkeley type joint!! that's so funny... i'm not sure i'd have been able to actually order with a straight face. sarah can tell you all about gluten free stuff too. a gluten free market has to be those who are allergic's best place to shop and i'll bet those who suffer are excited for it to be there!
it's disappointing to hear the claremont is so run down inside. i just love the building.
i've visited a few gluten free places but most use potato flour as a substitute which i'm more allergic to than the gluten. that and almond paste which again i'm allergic to. boooooooooooo i miss bread.
stayed @ claremont a couple of years ago and could've sworn my room was HAUNTED. it was completely opposite of andrea's in that it was a HUGE room ala a mental institution. Eep! forced a coworker to abandon her room to instead sleep in mine.
LOVE CGratidude in potrero! they use almond milk instead of cow milk for their lattes and are actually yummy. i was surprised too.
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