La Note
When we were in the Bay Area this weekend, Vicki and I made plans to have Sunday brunch with my son Matt, the recent Cal grad, who lives in Berkeley, just off Telegraph Ave. I thought we’d park by his house and walk up to a place on Telegraph, Cafe Milanese, that I’d seen online. But Matt said it was just a student place and suggested we go to Le Note, a little French bistro on Shattuck Avenue.
It was an excellent choice, and we were soon sitting on a sunlit patio behind the main restaurant, perusing a menu filled with so many interesting choices it was hard to choose. Matt chose Les Oeufs, fried eggs with potatoes and two spicy merguez sausage, which has roots in north Africa. Vicki’s Oeuf a la Coque, consisted of two perfectly cooked soft boiled eggs and outstanding chunks of sautéed new potatoes. It came with thinly sliced whole-wheat toast for dipping into the bright orange yolks of the eggs.
I had the Omelette de Pommes de Terre, a wonderful omelet layered with sliced new potatoes, carmelized onions, tomatoes, and emmenthal cheese, and accompanied by sweet grilled Provencales tomatoes—excellent!
The menu also featured pancakes, which we couldn’t pass up, so we shared a oatmeal pancake covered with a ribbon of raspberry coulis. The flavor was divine, the texture light and airy.
Matt was right on the money with this recommendation, I think it’s one of the best places in the East Bay to have breakfast. I can’t wait to return for dinner after browsing a menu that features fish, pasta, grilled meat, along with some vegetarian dishes.
La Note Restaurant Provencal.
2377 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley, CA
510.843.1535 info@lanoterestaurant.com
Lovely! Thanks for making this visual memory of our wonderful breakfast!