Allen Matthews, who seems to be mostly on the East Bay beat for the Chron these days, files the paper’s first review of eVe in Berkeley, fifteen months into the restaurant’s life. He seems mostly impressed with the work of chef Chris Laramie and his pastry chef wife Veronica. Callouts go to the sous vide egg with bacon, black garlic, and yam which he likens to “an East-meets-West version of salade Lyonnaise”; the squid ink risotto (“A lot going on, but flavors were balanced.”); the sturgeon with horseradish and yogurt sauce; and a dessert called “Cheddar” which is actually a pairing of Canadian white cheddar with “a petite apple turnover and Madeira-soaked passion fruit.” He notes a few flubs with service, but “the blemishes are minor.” All said and done: two and a half stars. [Chron]
And to our surprise once again, Mr. Bauer circles back to Heirloom Café for an update review less than a year after it opened — much the way he did recently with Gather — only this time it’s with more negative results. Despite some recent national mag love from Bon Appétit and Food & Wine, the restaurant isn’t impressing Bauer as much as when he did his first three visits last summer. “On this visit,” he writes, “both the service and the cooking seemed somewhat amateurish.” There’s some “limp” bread on a brandade bruschetta, some “liver-like” duck, and some stale-seeming cake in a lemon chiffon dessert. Also, he knocks two of the three wine pairings from the prix-fixe menu — which he notes is no longer quite the value it was, with the price having been raised from $50 with two pairings, to $75 with three, “one of which is a small pour of dessert wine.” He takes the place down from almost three stars to two, but it’s not likely to hurt the restaurant much as it’s already got a loyal neighborhood following and not many seats to spare most nights. [Chron]
