C’era Una Volta - 1332 Park Street in Alameda, CA 94501 (510) 769-4828

February 16, 2013 – Today we went to C’era Una Volta (which means “once upon a time” in Italian), an authentic Tuscan restaurant in Redwood Square (next to the post office). C’era Una Volta is featured in Miss Alameda’s “Recycle Woman” movie, so we knew that they were good at recycling and composting. They also have great food.

We had:

• Bread with olive oil and mustard – When Jen (V&G’s mom) was in Florence, the local bakery called this “Scacciata.” In this country, we mostly call it “Focaccia.” Anyway, it was really good and we all liked it.

• Caprese Californiana - a tower of fresh mozzarella, tomato & avocado. Yum!

• Pizzetta - chewy cheese pizza from the kid’s menu. Vera says, “The crust was very thin (like pastry). I like it because it was very cheesy.”

• Penne ai Funghi  - penne pasta in a robust shiitake mushroom cream sauce. Linnea says, “It was very excellent. I give it five out of five stars. The mushrooms were really good.”

• Risotto ai Funghi  - a savory rice dish with shiitake mushrooms. Greta says, “I really enjoyed the food because it tastes very delicious. The Shitake mushrooms were very soft like a pillow.” Linnea says, “The sauce is very creamy and balanced out the strong flavor of the mushrooms.”

• Petti di Pollo alla Milanese - chicken breast, breaded and pan sautéed, finished with lemon & capers. The chicken was moist and crispy and tasted a bit like schnitzel. Fred pointed out that Milan is in northern Italy not to far from German-influenced areas.

Compost Report – We asked our server about how the compost program was going and she said that it was going great. They have all the bins and training that they need and she was surprised about how easy it is to recycle and compost. We met the proprietor when we went on the MASC Crawl (kind of like a pub crawl Jessica sponsored last year) and we knew that she supported the MASC program. C’era Una Volta was also instrumental in getting recycling and composting service for all of Redwood Square (since they share collection service). So, next time you visit C’era Una Volta tell them how much you appreciate their environmental leadership (and have some really good Tuscan food)!

Elephant Bar Restaurant - 5601 Bay St Emeryville, CA 94608 - (510) 601-1001

February 9, 2013 – Today we are guest blogging outside of Alameda because we needed to go to Emeryville. Greta turns 10 tomorrow, so she got to get her ears pierced! We went to Claire’s at the Bay Street Mall in Emeryville and afterwards we went to Elephant Bar.

 

After Earpiercing



Before Earpiercing



 



Elephant Bar is a chain restaurant mostly based in California. It has a safari theme and a Pan Asian menu. Bay Street was an early adopter on the compost program, so we were interested in checking out their compost situation. We had six in our party – and only room for five in the car – so Fred biked from Alameda to Emeryville.

In Front of the Elephant at Elephant Bar

We had:

• Parmesan-Encrusted Green Beans
• Quick-Seared Ahi Tuna – Greta says, “The ahi tuna tastes wonderful and every bite was sweet and juicy. I would give it 5 out of 5 stars.”
• Quick-Fried Soy-Ginger Calamari – Greta says, “The calamari was nice and soft which is good because I just got my braces tightened.”

• Three Cheese Macaroni – Greta says, “The three-cheese macaroni was good, but there was a type of cheese in it that wasn’t exactly my favorite. I would give it 4 out of 5 stars.”

• Kona BBQ Combo Platter – Fred says, “It was good, especially the ribs – 4 out of 5 stars.”
• Citrus Side Salad – Refreshing and delicious (some of us ordered it without gorgonzola).
• Caesar Side Salad – A fine example of Caesar salad.
• Jr. Explorer Chicken Crispers – Vera says, “The chicken was very crispy and it came with apples – 20 out of 5 stars.”

By the way, the bunny's name is Eggy

• Ice cream sundae – Vera got a sundae with her kid’s meal and Greta got one on the house with a candle because it is her birthday tomorrow. Vera says, “The sundae had a cherry on top and cream on top. Inside was vanilla ice cream with a little crispy cup. 10 out of 5 stars.”

Bicycle Report – Fred says, “It takes 45 minutes to bike from Alameda to Emeryville and it is a nice pleasant ride along Mandela Parkway. The only part that is bad is going through the horrible Posey tube which is crowded, smelly, loud and dangerous. And I had to squeeze my way past three kids who were spitting on passing cars. Emeryville has great biking. It has great bike boulevards and bikes routes, but you can’t get anywhere because of the freeway and the train tracks. I had to carry my bike up two flights of stairs to get over the railroad track.”

Compost Report – We asked the maître d' whether the restaurant recycles and composts. He didn’t know so he called for the manager. It was the manager’s second day on the job and he knew that they recycle, but wasn’t sure about composting. So we had to do our own investigation. After lunch, we went around back to the recycling area and saw that they had a big compactor for trash, a dumpster for recycling and a dumpster for food scraps. Yay! We looked inside and there were food scraps and a few plastic oil bottles. We think we might need to contact Miss Emeryville to retrain the restaurant staff. Actually, we don’t know if Miss Emeryville has recycling and composting in her platform. So we will just call Peter (who we know on the Emeryville City staff).

Food scrap bin in Emeryville

Central Vegetarian Cuisine – 1613 Park Street, Alameda, CA 94501 – (510) 522-3745

February 3, 2013 – Central Vegetarian Cuisine serves all types of Asian-style vegetarian and vegan dishes. The food is very fresh and light and expertly prepared. Greta says, “I like Central Vegetarian Cuisine, not only because I am a vegetarian, but because it tastes good and I don’t always have to make excuses for not eating meat.” We visited on Superbowl Sunday, so we didn’t have too much competition for tables. The restaurant is very good at making faux meats.

Here is what is substituted for the animals:

Chicken/Beef: soy protein, wheat gluten, starch

Lamb: root of shitake mushroom

Shrimp: yam and yam flour

Shrimp (breaded): soy protein, wheat gluten, corn starch, flour

Salmon/Fish: soy, wheat, starch seaweed

Bean curd fish: bean curd, seaweed

We were originally a bit apprehensive, but left the restaurant very impressed.

We had:

• Pot stickers – Greta says, “The pot stickers have an exquisite taste.” They were crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Instead of pork, there was ground tofu and seasonings. Very delicious.

• Won ton soup – Very fresh and delicious with a basil-flavored broth. Lots of vegetables, and very good won tons. Vera says, “It was very good. I liked the broth.”

Sesame eggplant tofu

• Sesame eggplant tofu – Greta and Vera were a little suspicious of the eggplant. But they tried it and found it to be good. Others in our party loved it.

  

  Before trying eggplant

  

  

  After trying eggplant

  

Before trying eggplant

After trying eggplant

  

• Vegetables in black bean sauce – Fred says, “Nice and fresh, light tasting, didn’t coat your palate like lard.”

• Cashew nuts with vegetarian shrimp – Jen says, “I loved this dish and the faux meat was extremely convincing. The sauce was deliciously sweet and full of some great vegetables.”

Vegetarian shrimp

Vegetables in black bean sauce

    

• White rice and brown rice - Vera says, “I really liked the white rice and Thai Iced Tea.”
• Thai iced tea and Vietnamese iced coffee – You can order the vegan or non-vegan. We ordered the non-vegan and they were delicious.
• Coconut juice – Greta says, “The coconut juice came in a real young coconut so you can also have the coconut meat from the inside. It was good. 5 out of 5.”

• Banana wontons and carrot cake – We were treated to some vegan desserts. Vera says, “I really liked the dessert at the end because it was free.”

Compost Report – Central Vegetarian Cuisine is on the MASC program and recycles and composts. We told them that we were friends of Jessica’s and asked if they needed any more training or equipment. Our waiter told us that everything was going very well. They have reduced their trash volumes (and reduced costs) and it just takes a little extra effort to keep materials separated.

So, please go to Central Vegetarian Cuisine and try the delicious, fresh vegetarian and vegan dishes. You will really like it. And don’t forget to thank them for composting!

Calafia Taqueria – 1445 Webster St Alameda, CA 94501 – (510) 522-2996

March 10, 2013 -- UPDATE! Calafia Taqueria has streamlined its recycling and composting program and added reusable containers for salsa for customers that eat in. Yay! Jen, Kev, Greta & Vera visited recently and found out that the staff are now bussing the tables and recycling and composting (instead of relying on the customers to sort properly). Customers that eat in can use reusable metal containers instead of disposable plastic. Thank you Calafia Taqueria!!

January 19, 2013 – We have always loved Calafia Taqueria. Although we call it “Shae’s Taqueria” because it’s near where Linnea’s childhood friend Shae used to live (before she moved to Portland). When we are in the mood for burritos we will either go here or to Ramiro & Sons across town. Today we went early because it was Mavericks and the girls had to hit the beach.

We had:

§  Veggie burrito – Pintos, rice, cheese, lettuce, sour cream, guacamole and tomatoes. Jen says, “I always get the veggie burrito here, chock full of stuff and worth the price. I am not sure if the tortilla is homemade, but it tastes just like it – nice and flaky.”

§  Chile relleño – You can always judge a Mexican restaurant by its chile relleño and Calafia does a great job. The chile is roasted and the sauce is yummy.

§  Bean, cheese & rice burritos – Greta says, “I think they are very good. Just that they were really easy to collapse (so you need a plate).” Vera says, “It was awesome and had a lot of cheese in it.”



We liked the brown paper napkins instead of bleached white



Yummy and cheesy




§  Salsa bar – We love the salsa bar – all kinds of salsas, vegetables (marinated carrots, radishes), limes – we would really like it if they had reusable containers for salsa (like the metal ones at Viva Mexico). Maybe we can scope that out for them.

Compost Report – We love it that Calafia Taqueria is an early adopter on the compost program. They recycle and compost in the back of the house AND they have their customers recycle and compost in the front of the house. If you eat in and bus your own dishes, be sure to put only compostables (food and paper napkins) in the compost bins, recycle your cans and bottles, and place everything else (dishes, cups, plastic tubs, aluminum foil, cutlery) in the gray bus trays. Folks tend to throw trash in the compost, so we might need to help Calafia with better, more explicit signage

Help Calafia sort! Compost goes in the bottom, bottles and cans in the recycling bin,
and everything else in the bus tub.

We love Calafia and you will too. Please go there and enjoy the fine Mexican food and thank them for composting!