The Butcher's Son Berkeley, CA Review

For the last few weeks pictures rolled in on social media of The Butcher's Son. Matt and I put it on our list of must try places with each new photo that we saw. a 100% vegan deli - yes please! We got there at lunch time on a dreary Saturday and the small spot was packed. The case was pretty empty but after looking at the menu up front we saw they were not sold out yet. We got our order to go just in case a seat would not open up. We got lucky and a seat opened up though.

We both decided to try the Cotija cheeze so we bought a sample sized piece, I am not really a cheeze person but this was so good. Dry and salty and just perfect.

We both decided on the Sriracha peppersteak sandwich with potato salad as our side. We heard my name called and Matt got up to get our order only to see someone else walk off with it. After telling them what happened they made our meal again. Ughh the wait!

Photo courtesy of Matt - I was busy eating.  The sandwich is so legit. It truly tastes like a deli sandwich and not some fast food chain mumbo jumbo. Seitan based steak, peppers, veggies, sauce and crusty (not hard) bread. Every bite is an explosion of flavors. The sandwich is huge - so come hungry or split one. The sandwich + side is like $11, which is not bad. We have paid the same for a sandwich that lacked 90% of what these bad dudes pack. The potato salad is really good too, it has a savory smokey flavor and a crunch on the potatoes.

As we wrapped up our meal I saw someone with a cannoli and made Matt go get one.  Growing up these were a staple at Christmas gatherings. My grandma would make them and an assortment of other Sicilian treats. I never cared for them as a kid - maybe because I was busy with all the other food. I have been nostalgic for good Sicilian/Italian pastry forever. While the cannoli was good I do not think it was a cannoli. The shell was lacking crunch which was disappointing, it was more of a French pastry shell. Also the creamy center was missing that tang you get after the sweetness melts away. If they worked out the kinks I would eat more than one! Would it be too much to ask for a espresso machine too?

Go to The Butcher's Son and have one of the best sandwiches ever. From what I understand they are still working out hour-day kinks. Check online to see their current schedule and see what they are serving. They are located 1941 University Ave, Berkeley, Ca. 100% vegan and awesome!

Oakland VegFest Food

Last Saturday Matt and I headed to the East Bay for our anniversary. We decided since the weather was nice why not head over and check out VegFest at Lake Merritt.

First thing  I wanted to try was No Worries, I have wanted to try their food for years plus their truck was set up across the street away from the crowed.

Photo taken by Matt - I was to busy looking at food!

I was hoping they would have lumpia and they did! So I ordered us both a order (2 rolls per order). Nice and crunchy! I should have grabbed some Sriracha but I wanted to eat!

Once across the street we walked around and sampled food. There was food I wanted to try/buy but I was sticking to my budget so I passed on the $6 bar of chocolate and the $9 bottle of juice.

I am a sucker for good falafel.So when I saw the Flying Falafel tent I new I had to get a pita sandwich.

Packed full of veggies, falafel and sauce it was a hit. Everything tasted really fresh - not always the falafel case in my experience. I would totally buy falafel here again.

We sampled a few Miyoko's Kitchen cheeze - Matt really liked the 02 sundried tomato with garlic. At Whole Foods Berkeley I bought him a wedge to share with me (of course!). So good!

It was a nice event. The Jesus church folk did ruin it a bit, screaming about being saved, coming up and trying to proselytize. Ugh!

Bay Area Ladyfest - Zine Fest

Here is my table for the Bay Area Lady Fest Zine fest in Berkley last weekend. I brought all my issues of The Stay At Home Girlfriend including 11 that I printed and stapled the night before. I also had to bring some of my classics like the Easy Vegan to round out my table.My sign markers were construction paper kittens I spent some time cutting out!

We were on time and some may evenn say early! That's a first because I am constantly behind schedule. I set up my table and told Matt that I was going to scope out the coffee place out front. The coffee place was a big deal to me, I searched online beforehand for coffee places nearby but could find nothing.

Not only did Rasa Caffee have almond milk lates that tasted of rose petal and spice, they had vegan doughnuts from Peeples! I was happy to have a warm drink and something sweet to share with Matt to perk my tired bones up.I came to the even not feeling good, allergies and the effects of crappy sleep were effecting me.

I did have a good time staying until 4 when the crowed started to thin. I sold zines, traded zines, made friends and just talked to people - many who inspired me for future projects. I missed out on workshops but I was busy getting my zines out and chatting up people. I left feeling really happy!

 

I took home a phat stack of zines that have been my constant companion as I rest and catch up on sleep.

All in all a good day. I just wish (Matt said this as well) that more people came out. Throughout the day it was a rotating cast of about 20 people, same in, same out. I did make fliers for the event, passed them out - it worked. I also tried hitting up online spots and posting the event. I do not know if it was lack of promoting or lack of zine love. Whatever, again I had fun.

East Bay Eats & Stuff

The last few weekends Matt and I have been in the East Bay every weekend. Concerts, food, art galleries, food, film fests, food, passing out fliers....food! Yes, we love our food!

Eat Real Fest was awesome once again. We got to try S+M Vegan and I fell in love with their bbq slider.  We also snacked on Spicy Balovento chocolate, Seitan wingz from Souley Vegan and filled up our water bottle a few times from the water spot!

 

A bite of heaven: A Mollie Rose bun stuffed with bbq pulled seitan, aioli and slaw. 

Wingz!

My new fave chocolate from Barlovento Chocolates - went to the Grand Lake Farmer's Market the next weekend to buy more.

Hello Source Mini - sorry it took us so long to get on over to you. Now we cannot leave! We finally made our way over to Source Mini after missed meetings, not finding the location, hesitation - all lame excuses. After we both tried burgers we just fell in love. This Source outpost has the original beat tenfold, customer service and food improvement alone has me doing my best Fonz with two thumbs in the air.  The burgers are house made patties composed of beets so you get that lovely red tint to your bite. The fries are done to perfection and I love mine drenched in garlic aioli (I can drink the stuff). This is our new spot and we hit it up both days we were in town and already planning our next burger run.

Spicy Peper & Onions - My fave because of Sriracha!

 

 Grand Lake Farmer's Market picnic spread via Liba Fallafel. 

 

 Power snacks to power us  through a cemetery hike and magazine shopping via Timeless Coffee.

 

 While on Piedmont we hung out at a pumpkin patch and the hay made my butt itch.

 

We will be back shortly to the East Bay. More burgers, cemeteries and chocolate treats to come! We have some zine-film stuff in the works so I will be talking about that shortly so stay tuned!

East Bay Eats - Sanctuary Bistro & Cinnaholic

Went to the Bay Area last Saturday for food and shopping. Had a good time till after dinner when I believe I got food poisoning from  Loving Hut in Westfeild Mall in San Francisco grabbing a quick dinner before everyone was closing up shop.


Started the day off with Sanctuary Bistro's brunch menu. It is a new place, we found parking right away and got in even though the place was crowded! I had ingredient questions based on my food allergies, the server brought out the chef and after I explained my food allergies (since some of the menu items had those ingredients listed), he smirked rather rudely. Sorry dude I do not want to get sick. The service was odd, our server brought out condiments one at a time, instead of bringing things out all together on a tray saving 4 trips back to the kitchen. I asked for almond milk for my coffee and was told it would curdle, I asked for soy, again the same response. After telling her I do not like Silk Soy Creamer because it's to sweet I got plain soy milk finally! At home in my coffee and tea I only do almond milk - unsweetened. If I am out I ask for almond milk but will settle for soy, curdle be damned!

 

I ordered the chocolate chip waffle for $9. It is gluten free, comes with house made vegan butter and maple syrup.I was kinda disappointed that fresh fruit was not sliced on top, a few slices of fruit would really have made it look more satisfying. I put a bit of butter on it and a drizzle of syrup, tried to cut into it, gave up, tore a piece off and took a bite. It tasted like a waffle for the first bite, that butter caramelized waffle iron taste that makes you want more. However the taste quickly vanishes and there really was no taste left after that unless your bite has a few chocolate chips in it. The texture was really hard to chew, the syrup would not soak in and I ended up using more butter and syrup than I normally would and most of it being left on my plate. After eating the waffle my jaw was sore, seriously it ached, I longed for an aspirin.

Matt went for the ranchero with tofu scramble  for $10, as his pick (his other choice was scrambled polenta which sounds interesting but Matt is a tofu guy). It came with potatoes - nice crunch on them and greens. It was a good plate, basic but comforting. The only complaint is that they seem to use a base scramble for their items. The scramble had broccoli - something that kinda killed the whole ranchero vibe. 

We do plan on going back again, trying different things. I had a Kickstarter reward that I did not use. As with any new place, I know there are kinks that need to be worked out. I do think the both service and food could be improved upon and hope changes are made. 

Sanctuary Bistro is located at 1019 Camelia St., Berkeley, CA 94710. 

I had a Groupon about to expire to Cinnaholic, we always put that area off because parking is so hard to come by. This time we lucked out and had parking on our first try. I picked out the jelly doughnut roll and some brownies for us to share. I inquired about coffee, the server was vague about either not having it right then or trying to get some. So as Matt waited I went a few doors down to StarBucks for a cup of coffee (I need coffee with my sweets!). 

The cinnamon roll strait from the oven was heaven in a box. The sweetness of the icing, the tartness from the strawberry jelly and the earthy notes of cinnamon in the crumble just go together so well.  We took some brownies for our way home - knowing they could sit in the car for five hours without going bad. They were really good too. Super chocolatey and a taste that is very classic!

Cinnaholic is located at: 2132 Oxford St, Berkeley, CA 94704

Republic of the V (Berkeley, CA)

 

Bring your wallets and get ready to shop! When we stopped by Republic of the V last Saturday I wish I had won the lotto the week before. So much stuff that I wanted - things I did not even know were out on the vegan market.  So many vegan goodies from top shelf to counter - all arranged in a cool, clean space with plenty of breathing room.

Some Snacks to get you in the munching mood - from chips to jerky to loads of vegan chocolate they have all your snacking needs covered. 

Frozen food never looked so good! Pizza, burgers, taquitos and more are up in the case! 

So much stuff I could have run around and shopped for hours, but we had a BART to catch. I ended up with some new stuff to try out: Sriracha jerky, cola flavored kombucha, lip balm, chocolates, sweets, a new shopping bag. I cannot wait to head back and do more shopping.

Republic of V is located at 1624 University Avenue in Glorious Berkeley, CA. Just a few blocks from Pizza Moda! Wow! 

Pizza Moda - Berkeley, CA

Matt and I (especially me!) were craving pizza! As many know - a good pizza makes both of us happy. After doing a bit of searching I came across Pizza Moda and it fit the bill and then some. I was looking for a cozy place with a good amount of seating, a few vegan pizza options plus a salad and good feedback.

Pizza Moda has a private parking lot! Yes!!! No driving around for a half hour trying to find a place to park, then walking five blocks to find the restaurant is booked for two hours. Upon arriving the atmosphere is nice, vintage Italian movie posters on the wall, spacious seating, a warm cozy fire, a clean bathroom.
Service is prompt, we were seated right next to the fire, I got nice and toasty. We were served olives and wine glasses of water. We settled on the vegan kale Caesar and the Calabrian Chili pizza with vegan cheeze (Daiya) and vegan sausage.

The kale salad came out first and it was awesome! The dressing was creamy, the kale was soft and all the flavors balanced it out well. The crunchy topping was yeasty and cheezey. I told myself to save it to go with the pizza - I could not stop grabbing bites of it though!

Shortly after the pizza came out. We dug in right away. The crust was good - even though we both like a thicker crust - we liked this one. It held it's shape and did not get soggy or fall apart.  The chili added a nice kick to the pizza (I even added red pepper flakes because I like it hot). The toppings were nice - the perfect amount.

The staff checked on us numerous times, refilled our water glasses and were super nice. We had the option of two types of vegan cake at the end but passed, we had to get over to Whole Foods to do shopping. We will be going back for sure! Maybe this weekend! 

East Bay Vegan Sweets

Some yummy treats were had in Berkeley last weekend besides the cupcakes from the RPSC event.

We finally made it to Cinnaholic before meeting up with friends at Saturn Cafe to score a cinnamon roll. We just went for fast and picked a already made brownie chunk combo. The treat was made within ten minutes and was perfectly warm in my hands, I wanted to dig in right then but was saving the treat till we were on our way home later in the night.
The cinnamon roll was super good even after sitting in the car for a few hours. My favorite part was the frosting - I can see why people do frosting shots of this stuff! Next time I am going to get seperate rolls for Matt and I - that way I can go crazy with flavors and he can play it safe!

After dinner we decided to go grab a cup of coffee, as we rounded the corner everyone stopped at Cakes and Purls window, Matt was like "they have vegan stuff"...I ran in, plunked down $3 for a vegan banana cream cupcake and took a card to go. The shop was cute, the owner/person behind the counter was nice and it had me thinking I really need to get out my knitting needles!
The cupcake got a lil squished by the next day, but it was still tasty. I liked the cake part, Mar did too. Nice real banana flavor and moist. I am not a frosting person (unless it is like a cinnamon roll drizzle or something cream cheeze based) so my "meh" on the frosting is not important, but Matt said it was good.

Rock Paper Scissors Collective 5th Annual Vegan Cupcake Challenge

On Saturday we headed to the good ol' East Bay. First stop was Rock Paper Scissors Collective to take part in their 5th annual vegan cupcake challenge. I arrived wanting cupcakes and needing a sugar boost. We paid our 5 dollars each to get in and started sampling away!

 

The crowed wants cupcakes!!!

 

First up in the line of cupcake sampling was the Dark and Stormy by Mollie Rose Baking Company. I actually sampled this one last - though it was first in line. It was my favorite - the one I voted for and the winner! It had a salty sweet taste going on and the lime shooter slice at the end was a tasty whimsical touch.  

Matt voted for the strawberry cheesecake - he is a sucker for cheesecake! 

Pumpkin Pecan Passion Cupcakes in the mix made me think of fall!

 

Coconut cupcakes - I liked these, though Matt passed them up due to his coconut-hate (more like dislike, hate is such a strong word!).  Tropically-tasty indeed! 

After sampling cupcakes they did a drawing and Matt won a prize! He seems to win prizes at vegan events pretty easily! Lucky him. He won a a pass to the Pacific Pinball Museum! Right up his alley! Yay!

A super fun start to our day in the East Bay! I love vegan events! So fun! I even got some inspiration and kind words! Thanks Matt for braving the cupcake crazed crowd and scoring me some photos!