Lately, I've been on this, I'll try anything once, kick. So I thought that it would be a really cool experience to go to Cafe Gratitude in Berkeley and try all the organic, yummy goodness it has to offer. Walking up to the cafe, the green awning posts a question "What Are you Grateful For?". Oohh! sounds promising. I'm grateful that we got there in a jiffy. I'm grateful that it was Sunday hence the parking lots were free. I'm grateful that I had on warm clothes because it was a bit cold. And I thought, in a little bit, I'll be oh so grateful for the food!
Walked in the restaurant to rows of retail goodness in a jar, tins, and recyclable plastic bags. They sold organic cheese, tofu, and beer. Here's the thing. I've had organic wine before and it was an awful experience so trying organic beer which happened to be the drink of my choice these days was out of the question. I want to keep my beer tasting normal, with all the yeast, calories and intoxicating goodness.
We were greeted by a nice, friendly face and she promised to seat us at an awesome spot. Sounds cool right? Well, her idea of "awesome spot" was to put us in a communal round table with 2 other male couples who looked like they could all use another shower. This one guy at the table had piercings all around his eyes. Ouch! The funniest part was that, Sahar thought the whole time that the guy had on eyeglasses, only to realize later on that he was not. Lol!
Looking over the menu was empowering. The names boasts of powerful self affirmations like "I am renewed" (organic wheatgrass shots), "I am bold" (spicy tomato, carrot, celery cocktail) and my personal favorite, "I am charismatic" (carrot, ginger and lemon). Sahar ordered the "I am luscious" (fresh hazel nut milk, figs, dates, raw cacao and vanilla). For lunch I ordered the "I am sensational" (pesto pizza -fresh hemp seed pesto sauce and olive tapenade) and Sahar ordered the "I am fabulous" (live lasagna - zucchini noodles with cashew ricotta, fresh tomatoes, hemp seed pesto, and marinara).
We sat next to the kitchen so I can clearly hear the guy behind the counter call out the finished orders like "I am plenty great" with "I am bonita" Pretty funny stuff! Our orders came out and I remember staring amusely at my plate. We stared for a little bit and busted a chuckle. Looking at each other incredulously, I took out my camera and took a picture of my pizza and Sahar's live lasagna.
Can you tell which is which? Yeah, neither can we. Ha ha ha!
The pizza tasted anything but a pizza. Food don't normally last more than 15 minutes when it comes to me but it took me close to an hour to finish my garden. The hemp seed crust was a challenge to chew on. The sprouts kept sticking to the back of my throat. I had to reach over the communal water caraffe and kept refilling my glass to push the food down. It was totally like the scene from the movie "How To Lose A Guy in 10 Days" when Kate Hudson took Matthew McConaughey to that organic restaurant! I found myself gargling down my food. Thank gosh for dental floss! The live lasagna was exactly that. It looked like it was still pulsating. Poor Sahar at least my pizza was slightly warm. $50 later, we finished our lunch and waited outside the cafe for our cab to come and take us to the concert. We took some pictures to capture the hysterical experience we had with live. organic. vegan food. I have a newfound respect for vegetarians, fruitarians, vegans and any other 'arians out there. I cannot do it. I didn't eat for the rest of the day. My stomach felt like it was cultivating its own flora and fauna :)
Where's the meat?
Where's the meat?
We got to the Greek and all is good. Found ourselves a sweet spot and planted ourselves to it for the rest of the evening. There were 2 openings acts. First act was a British band and it's their first US tour. At one point he asked the crowd if we were having a "Wicked, Bitchin Time". Everything sounds cooler with a British accent. They had the same style of music as Jason so we were having a "Bitchin" time in American. Second act, we could have done without! Her music was good except it's folksy and ultra mellow which was a complete departure from Jason's musical genre. So, being the master of self entertainment as we are, we amused ourselves with silly pictures...
Our view
Hmm...
Wake me up when she's done!
So bored!
Jason introducing the British band
Muggin
Finally at around 5:15ish the keyboard player came out and cued the music to play Jason's first song "Make it mine". All I remember after that was a stream of non-stop screaming, panty droppin, jumping up and down, calling out his name deliriously, good time. The concert lasted for 2 hours of pure bliss.
Before the concert
After the concert
jakey
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