I was doubtful but now I am convinced aka Cafe Gratitude
Hey have you had any affirmation lately? At Cafe Gratitude you can pay for it. When my hippie dippy vegan friends recommended this place for dinner I was extremely doubtful. What? -A place that serves raw food (all vegetables) without any cooking? How can they possibly meet the Dept of Public Health standards for hygiene?
We started out with delicious water (reverse osmosis filtered apparently). The menu is covered in self-affirming statements, such that you have to start punning on the items. The attentive dreadlocked wait staff was cheerfully upbeat and tolerant of our bad jokes based on the menu (I'm sure they've heard them a million times before). I was elated to find something on the menu that sounded appealing- "I am elated" the enchilada special filled with a pate of chipotle pepper, sunflower seeds, sun dried tomatoes in a dried spinach "tortilla" topped with spicy salsa verde and cashew "sour cream served with a vinegary Mexican slaw and quinoa. A side of "extra generous" the guacamole rounded out the order. The tortilla was a little tough considering it was dried salted spinach leaves but tasty and green. Everything else was excellent, the chipotle providing a smoky burn to the enchilada.
My TS ordered the "I am accepting" which was shredded kale, nori, avocado, cucumber, sprouts, herbs and a spicy Asian miso dressing over red Bhutanese rice- delicious and tasted very much like Japanese breakfasts that we ate on our recent trip to Japan.
During our meal there were 2 episodes of "Happy Birthday" songs where all, (and I mean all) the staff including busboys rallied round to jump energetically up and down, clapping and singing the Beatles' "They say it's your Birthday"; Somewhat overwhelming, but in a good spirited kind of way.
I'm told (but have no experience) that the "bread/pizza" attempts are somewhat dubious and to be avoided. Likewise I am told that the soft serve ice cream is great but the machine was on the fritz when we visited.
Instead we split a milkshake "I am Grace" ---a frothy young coconut milk smoothie with almond butter, dates and vanilla- Ambrosia.
You can definitely tell the Berkeley "cunchy granola" types from the mainstream "trying something new" folks. I'd say try this once if just to get a good idea of how far raw food has come from the 70's when my mom was making her own coconut granola. It's also a great place to take people from out of town if you want to give them that Berzerkeley experience. Kind of pricey for food they claim not to cook... I mean hey if there's no cooking involved it should be cheaper right?"