Sunday, March 18
If you’ve read my blog before or chatted with me about the Bay Area, you probably know where The Boyfriend (TB) and I went for breakfast. If you guessed Fellini, you’re right. If you didn’t guess Fellini, you must be new.
Fellini Restaurant, 1401 University (at Acton), Berkeley. Omnivore-friendly cuisine, with several vegetarian and vegan options. Vegan items are cooked in vegan-only pans.
I had:
- Vegan Benedict, “Scrambled tofu and veggie Canadian bacon on an open-faced English muffin, topped with vegan Hollandaise, and served with house potatoes and vegan sour cream.“
- An iced Americano (espresso and water)
TB had:
- Vegan Breakfast Sausage Scramble, “Scrambled tofu topped with ground soy breakfast sausage, sautéed peppers, red onions, roma tomatoes, garlic and herbs. Served with house potatoes, vegan sour cream and toast.“
- Soy latte
- Fresh-squeezed orange juice
We talked with the owner, Jeff, for a few minutes. I told him that not only do we eat at Fellini whenever we visit Berkeley, Fellini is one of the reasons we visit Berkeley. I then begged Jeff to open a Fellini in the Seattle/Tacoma area. He said he would. Woo-hoo! (Yes, I know he probably wasn’t serious. Just let a girl dream, would you?) A little while after our conversation, Jeff treated us to a free refill on the orange juice. I’m not saying that raving to the manager will get you free juice, but it certainly can’t hurt.
- Taste: Excellent, as always. Not only is the food tasty, the coffee is great and the orange juice is indescribably delicious. (We saw Jeff throw whole oranges, skin and all, into a large juicer.)
- Portion size: Generous
- Price: Moderate
The only bad thing I can say about Fellini is that during the week, they’re only open for dinner. They have a separate coffee bar on site that is open in the mornings.
Post-breakfast drinks at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., Berkeley. TB had a soy latte; I had iced tea.
- Taste: Decent
- Portion size: Typical espresso drink sizes
- Price: Average
We ate lunch at Udupi Palace Vegetarian Cuisine (South Indian), 1901 University Ave. (at Martin Luther King Jr. Way), Berkeley. All vegetarian, many vegan options.
- I had #15 Mixed Vegetable Uthappam vegan pancake (peas, red onion, carrot, red bell pepper)
- TB had #8 Mysore Masala Dosa vegan spiced crepe with potatoes
- Both meals were served with a small bowl of spicy soup, coconut sauce, and chutney
- Taste: Good
- Portion size: Just right
- Price: Inexpensive ($12.50 excluding tip)
- Cash only
We picked up dinner fixin’s from the grocery store and after dinner, we went to Gelateria Naia, 2106 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley, for dessert. TB had the picolo size with two flavors of vegan sorbetto, mango and kiwi. I had Scharffen Berger Chocolate and Madagascar Vanilla soy gelato (also vegan, of course).
- Taste: Yummy
- Portion size: A bit large; we both wish Naia would let adults order the “kid”-sized portion (I would guess the picolo serving is about 8 oz./1 cup of gelato)*
- Price: Moderate, $7.00 (excluding tip)
- Cash only
*Update: Adults can order a bambino (child’s) serving, however, Naia charges the higher picolo price, with choice of one flavor, not two.