I've been twice and have been very impressed. Nice salads, interesting pasta's and ravioli's and good service.

A great addition to the neighborhood.

For your lunch itinerary, you may want to include a stop at The Local Butcher Shop in Berkeley. They make one variety of sandwich per day, and they are generally pretty great.

http://thelocalbutchershop.com/sandwi...

If you're lucky enough to be here during a week when their Meatloaf!!! is on the menu, then you'll be lucky indeed.

Try Grace Catering in Oakland.
We used them for a SF reception of the same size
and they were so easy to work with, aside from their food selections being locally sourced, creative and delicious

My favorite in that area is:

Le Petit Troquet
28, rue de l'ExpositionParis, France 75007
01-47-05-80-39

This is a smaller, family-owned jem.
Mme Dominique is out front while her husband cooks.

I got mine at Berkeley Horticulture, near the Monterey Market.
They had a selection of maturity and sizes.

Bistro Liaison has a very nice adjacent private dining room/wine cellar.
We had my daughters delicious graduation dinner there last year.
There were about 14-16 of us, and the service was flawless.

-----
Bistro Liaison
1849 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley, CA 94709

I went there last week and they are some of the friendliest folks around.

The menu was fairly standard, no surprises. There are some value-conscious specials, along
with several 'house' specialties. The food was uniformly was solid and I would consider it better than serviceable. Just don't go in expecting to have your socks knocked off.
I look forward to going back.

Millennium on Geary st. is the hands down favorite of the
vegetarian/vegan grad students in my family.

http://www.millenniumrestaurant.com/

One of my favorite traditional Breton crepe restaurants is:
La Crepe Dentelle
10, Rue Léopold Bellan,
Paris 75002
It's just off of the wonderful market street, rue Montorgueil

Remember to have some of the wonderful cider.

I think you mean the very good:
Chez Janou
2, Roger Verlomme
Paris - 75003
01 41 72 28 41
(it's set back right on the corner of
rue Tournelles - you can't miss it)

another local favorite in that area is the Italian:
Gli Angeli
5, Rue St Gilles
75003 Paris, France
+33 1 42 71 05 80
http://www.chezjanou.com/

You've landed in my favorite neighborhood in Paris.
If you have a kitchen in your rental be sure to allow for a few meals at
home, sourced from the abundance on rue Montorgueil. Don't miss
La Palais du Fruits and the cheese shop just a few steps past rue Grenata.

Restaurants in the neighborhood are mostly locals and include:

La Crepe Dentelle (Breton Crepes)
10, Rue Léopold Bellan,
Paris 75002
(just off of the market street rue Montorgueil)

also try:
Café Noir,
65, Rue Montmartre (Métro: Sentier or Bourse),
+33 1 45 08 42 35.

Not too far is the Place des Victoires, where
Willi's Wine Bar still reigns.

Willie’s Wine Bar (casual elegance – great wines)
13 rue des Petits Champs
Paris - 75001

Have fun.
You can't go too wrong.

Greetings,
I am looking for some inspiration on a place in the area that will be open on a Monday for dinner.
Not too pricey. Not able to make reservations. Bistro or traditional preferred.
Thanks.

Try Food Arts.
It specializes in coverage of trends and industry news,
while the layout tends to be both appealing and straightforward.

For decent regional Indian food, Breads of India is walking distance, south on Sacramento at Dwight Street.
The Tuk Tuk Market (Thai and Asian foods) food court on University at Sacramento has surprisingly good food.
Another Indian, although a longer walk, is Bombay Cuisine, next to the Milan Indian market on 9th St. at University.

It's been my experience that Mr. Espresso in Oakland can fix anything!

http://www.mrespresso.com/contact.html

Please note that while indeed Italian and romantic, Acquerello is most assuredly 'old school'.
I had dinner there recently and although the food was great and the service impeccable,
it is ultra proper. Unlike, for example French Laundry, the service felt rather formal and stodgy.
My recommendation would be Quince. Wonderful food, attentive service and just a little younger...

TS is a private-label repackaging of products that you would probably
pass by in the supermarket. Their criteria is not more than half-hour to prepare
and no more than two ingredients to add -- be it water or an egg, etc.

Best way to hold on to a non-purchase resolve is to look at
the ingredient list and note the high volume of preservatives
and other unpronounceable additives.

Their sales strategy seems to work on a methodology of
peer-pressure, tinged with shame.
Try to resist being bullied into buying.
I'm not generally such a downer, but this 'semi-homemade' stuff
is not really food...

Try le grande épicerie at the Bon Marche'
on rue de Sevres in the 7th.
Another place that has a wide variety of 'gourmet' international groceries
is the food hall on the third floor of the Galeries Lafayette
Blvd. Hausmann in the 9th.

My vote would be for:

Le Petit Troquet
28, Rue de l'Exposition
75007 Paris, France
01 47 05 80 39

This tiny, charming, little piece of old Paris (near the Eiffel Tower in the 7th),
is where I sent my parents last week to celebrate their 55th wedding anniversary.
Madame is front of the house, Monsieur is the chef and their 20-something daughter
is in charge of the breads and desserts.
Be sure to make a reservation, as there are only about 8-10 tables.

Here's my vote:

http://www.kepirorestaurant.com/maine...

I was there a couple of months ago and this was by far
the most sophisticated, yet NOT the most expensive, food and dining experience
I've ever had in Budapest after more than half-dozen visits in the past few years.

Have a great trip.

How about Bistro Liaison on Shattuck & Hearst?
IMO, their food has improved recently
and they even have an adjacent banquet room that comfortably
seat around 10-15

I was there a couple of weeks ago and it was wonderful.
The tofu dishes - we ordered both of the hot one's - were as good as it gets.
Other dishes, including the plesantly gooey yamakake were made
with great care and were high on flavor. I particularly liked the black cod preparation.
Although there were only two of us, we happily ordered enough for four,
just to taste that night's specials.

Yes, the place is small, but despite a large birthday party of eight
when we were there, it never felt too noisy or too closed in.

A great place to go before or after a screening at the Castro.

The paste, generally from Thailand and sold in a gooey black block,
calls for hot water to be worked into it (I always use my fingers in a shallow bowl)
then strained for both seeds and skins.
The end result should be the consistancy of a very thick fruit nectar.
It is quite densely flavored, and while I am not familiar with the Laxmi product,
I cannot imagine that any concentrate would be more highly flavored than the
reconstituted paste. Thai products seem to be more readily available
here in the S.F. area where I live.

After buying her book 'Spices' at the restaurant on a recent trip to Boston,
I have made Chef Anna's short ribs, as well as other recipes,
and I would vote against cutting the amount down.

Perhaps you should plan to add small amounts gradually.

Here's a link to another pastrami taste-off
from the February Berkeley Monthly:

http://www.themonthly.com/food-02-07....

My current favorite is Bui, on Solano Ave.

Here's the link to their Special Events pages, which list all of the upcoming winemaker dinners

http://www.liaisonbistro.com/special_...

As an aside, the food at Liaison seems to have been invigorated lately. Given that it's my local, I have always used it as a comfortable option when I wasn't feeling too ambitious.

But my most three most recent meals there have rivaled some of the best Bay Area bistros, along with many in Paris, and it has now become a destination of first choice.

Euro,
and well worth the unfavorable exchange.

Just don't get fooled by the fleur de sel caramels at
trader joe's. They look right, but...

I bought a box with high hopes, fine texture, but the flavor is almost the same as the Brach's that you find in your Grandmother's candy dish.

I agree.
I had a great meal there a few weeks ago.

The other restaurant that completely knocked me out with its emphasis on fresh, seasonal foods was call Kepiro, located
close to the Central Market.

http://www.kepirorestaurant.com/maine...

Just passed by the Socca Oven stand in the semi-new Epicurious Garden (or Epicurious Hallway as we refer to it at my house) and saw the curtain down on the Socca Oven, with a vague notice from Gregoire saying thanks and sorry, but that the location was closed.

There was an additional, conflicting notice that seemed to be from the management, saying that the 'location' is closed but would be reopening in two weeks.

Any scoop on a new arrival?