Roughage NOM! Â I went with Shimi the other day to Cafe Gratitude – the one in Berkeley, though I find out now that there are others in SF. Â If you couldn’t tell, I’ve been celebrating my move by bingeing on foodstuffs like liver and custard and bubbly of all sorts so a big bowl of grass sounded awesome to me.
As did self-reflection? Â Man, this place is SOOO Berkeley-ed out. Â When we placed our order, the server (with the requisite bizarre hairstyle and septum piercing) said, “The question of the day is: What are you grateful for?” Â Shimi said health; I said my job. Â I actually haven’t started my job, which is the best kind of job you could have – a job that you don’t have to go to.
There is also some sort of board game, but the instructions were missing and we sent another server on a rules hunt which failed so we didn’t really play properly. Â All Shimi could recall of the rules was that there were no losers, natch (“only winners?” I guessed correctly), and the cards had hippie dippie questions and directives like the ones below:
I love things that rhyme so I love #1. Â [Semi-related side story – do people already say “Neato mosquito!” or did I just invent that today? Â I think I invented it. Â Maybe?]
I ordered the I Am Effervescent, which was the house gingerale with ginger, lemon, agave & naturally sparkling water on ice. Â I took a sip and tried not to make a face. Â Shimi tried it and, in her diplomatic Shimi way, said, “That…doesn’t really suit my palate.” Â lol. Â A squeeze of lemon helped immensely, but basically the drink lay untouched for the rest of the meal.
The food, though – the FOOD!  We both ordered the I Am Thankful coconut curry soup with avocado, tomato, cucumber, shiitake mushrooms & cilantro.  It was cool and silky and the mushrooms injected this awesome earthy punch that was mellowed out by the avocado.  I should have ordered three larges of this and been done with it.
Shimi also got the I Am Abundant, which was a sampler combo of their I Am: Happy, Giving, Exciting, Honoring, Opulent, Relishing, Insightful, and Thriving, which included sprouted almond hummus, Asian kale-sea vegetable salad, hempseed pesto crostini, spicy cashew nacho cheese w/ flax chips, olive tapenade, buckwheat crackers, spring roll, and mini house soup.  Of the things I tried, I loved the almond hummus and my spoonful of the house soup, which was yellow and white (all I can remember).
I had my eyes on a bigger prize – whatever would give me maximum poo-age.  I settled on an I Am Accepting grain bowl with steamed Bhutanese red rice tossed w/ raw kale, avocado, cucumber, nori, scallions, & herbs in sesame-ginger sauce. It went down my gullet green and fibery (pictured top) and came out pretty much the same way, complete with sesame seeds.  My server very astutely recommended that I get black beans on the side, and each spoonful of green stuff with a dollop of beans on top made for a surprisingly hearty, complex, and truly delicious mouthful.
Next time, I will top my meal with a nut milk ice cream. Â Nut milk. Â Haha.
Cafe Gratitude
2400 Harrison St
San Francisco, CA 94110
415.824.4652
[…] Shimi and I went to Cafe Gratitude, she gave me a tour of the Gourmet Ghetto; i.e. Shattuck Ave in Berkeley. Â We ooohed and aaahed at […]