Address: | 2377 Shattuck Ave, Berkeley, CA 94704, USA |
Phone: | +1 510-843-1525 |
Site: | lanoterestaurant.com |
Rating: | 4.2 |
Working: | 8AM–2:30PM 8AM–2:30PM 8AM–2:30PM 8AM–2:30PM 8AM–2:30PM 8AM–3PM 8AM–3PM |
JK
JKay GreenStarsProject
You live in Berkeley and you’ve never been to La Note?! (4/5 green stars also) It seems kind of unnecessary to review La Note. The crowd gathered outside the door during brunch hours speaks for itself. It may take a while to get seated (especially if you want to sit on their beautiful patio out back) but they make the wait fairly painless by taking your phone number and contacting you when it’s your time. So you can nip into Pegasus and look at cookbooks to whet your appetite while you wait. I think a good combination for two people trying to decide on sweet versus savory is to share one of each. Lemon gingerbread pancakes topped with poached pears ($11 for a short stack – still very substantial) and the Cote Ouest (three egg omelette with ratatouille, served with homefries and choice of toast, $15.50) would be good choices. Their coffee is also good but unfortunately our waiter was unavailable when I wanted a refill – he was busy posing for photos with some ladies at a nearby table. Other than that, service was good – particularly the hostess, who was very welcoming and unsnobby. I’m also giving them 4/5 “green stars” for social and environmental impact, based on these reasons: • On their home page they have a tiny logo indicating that they are a Bay Area Green Business (since 2009). • The restaurants owner Dorothée Mitrani-Bell, a graduate from UC Berkeleys Environment design program, won an award in excellence in 1998 for "outstanding storefront improvements" and rehabilitation of their 1875 building. • Community: La Note was one of 8 restaurants to donate at least 15% of their April 20th sales to a Berkeley school gardens program. • They have a new policy on tips – a 20% service charge that’s distributed to everyone in the restaurant. I didn’t know about CA law forbidding sharing of tips to kitchen staff – the special service charge seems like a reasonable solution. • Pretty good selection of vegetarian options (for a French restaurant!) – vegans will be a bit limited but I recommend the ratatouille on couscous. • They serve free range eggs from Glaum farms. • They also list sources for some items (e.g. Niman ranch grass-fed beef) • Not sure if they source organic veggies though (or flour, etc.). • Coffee, as far as I can remember, is from McLaughlin in Emeryville. • Simple cardboard boxes for food to-go. Interested in writing green star reviews? If so, contact me!
SE
Sean Schluntz
Ive been here a few times in the last couple of months when Ive had to work an early shift at the office. Getting there between 8 and 8:30 in the morning on a week day means I havent had to deal with the lines. Ive only been there for breakfast so I cant give feedback on their other food items. First, the coffee, its good. Its not top shelf, but at the same time its better than Starbucks down the street (both regular and decaf). This is really important for me in a breakfast place, and too many of them service the cheap stuff but not here. Ive had their Oatmeal Rasberry Pancakes (my favorite), the Lemon Gingerbread Pancakes with Poached Pairs, the Brioche Pain Perdue, and the Omelette De Pommes De Terre as well as various pastries. Both the oatmeal and gingerbread pancakes are outstanding. Fluffy but full of flavor (how many places do you go where the pancake is a tasteless lump whos only job it to provide you with butter and syrup? not here!). I always go with a two pancake platter (you can get 1, 2, or 3 pancakes in your order) and it does well for me. I think three would be a bit much, but if I was going to skip or have a really late lunch Id consider it. I was also happy with the cinnamon french toast (Brioche Pain Perdue). They have an excellent batter and the slices arrive moist but not soggy and with a bit of spring. The batter is all the way through the bread so you dont end up with the dry layer in the middle. The omelet was a disappointment. I found it under seasoned, over fluffy, and plain. When I eat out I want something thats better than what I can do for myself at home and this wasnt it. Surprisingly its more expensive than my usual pancake order, not worth the cost in my view. There are other places in the area that serve a much better egg but this is where I go for pancakes or french toast.
JE
Jeannette Norris
Theres nothing really stand-out about La Note, which is contrary to what I was expecting considering the rave reviews and INSANELY LONG WAITS TO GET IN. I came with a friend of mine and sat in the cute outdoor patio. Our order was taken pretty quickly: we started with OJ, a mocha, and a tartine with butter and jam. All good. Unfortunately they forgot to put in the order for our mains, so we ended up waiting around 30-40 minutes for them. People who had arrived after us received their food before we did which was a tad annoying. Thank goodness we had the tartine to hold us over but man were we starving! The mains were fine. I had the Oeuf a la Coque which is soft boiled eggs served in their shell, with thinly sliced toast for dipping. It was fun to dip the bread in the eggs, but it got kind of awkward to eat because the holes were smaller than the bread slices and egg shells kept breaking off into the yolk. The best part of the dish were the roasted tomato slices splattered with herbs de provence - yum! My friend got Les Oeufs Maison: eggs overeasy with sausage, homefries and toast. She liked it. I dont think Id go back unless a friend really wanted to go AND there was a guaranteed wait time of less than 10 minutes.
AM
Amanda So
Cozy and cute brunch place with a tasty menu. Ask for the baguette and eat it with raspberry jam, you wont regret it. I came for breakfast and really enjoyed it: Brioche pain perdu - I think thats what the french toast was called. Delicious and not too sweet. I really enjoyed the cinnamon flavors I got from this. Omelette fromage et jambon - Tasty ham and cheese omelette. Comes with home fries which are chunks of potato fried with roasted garlic and herbs. You have the choice of 2 breads, but you can also request a baguette which our waitress gave us raspberry jam for. This whole dish was my favorite of my visit. Cote ouest - This was an omelette covered with ratatouille. It wasnt bad but it was underwhelming. Also came with home fries and choice of 2 breads. This restaurant is on the pricier side with our bill coming to about $70 just for eggs and french toast. I also had to wait around 30 minutes to be seated and my whole party had to be present to be seated which knocks a star off for me. I think you can make a reservation, and Ill have to try that next time I feel the need to have a fancy brunch. Oh and if you speak French, the owner does too!
A
A Private User
I was thoroughly disappointed with the experience my family had for brunch at La Note. My mom arrived at 10:50 am and put her name on the list. She was told that there would be a 20 minute wait. We were finally seated two hours later. My mom was ravenous and asked for some bread. We waited, and waited. No bread. Then my dad asked for bread and a few minutes later it arrived. The restaurant had apparently run out of utensils and so they informed us that they would bring us knives. They never did. I was also disheartened to notice that the "syrup" that comes with the $12 pancakes is not maple syrup. Maple syrup costs extra. The "butter" that comes with bread tastes like whipped margarine. I believe that the problem may be a structural one. Id like to suggest to the owner that they buy the right amount of silverware, and train their staff to provide more realistic wait times to people in line. In addition, it might be useful to have an additional server or maitre d on the floor.