I have written before about my friends Barry the Vegan Chef and Jennifer the Teacher and Amazing Organizer. In my post, Some of My Best Friends are Vegans, I mentioned their Kickstarter campaign to open a restaurant as an offshoot of their gluten-free and vegan catering business.
Tonight, I attended the soft opening of that restaurant — dubbed Sanctuary Bistro — and it is everything I had hoped and more. Even though they have vowed to keep a low environmental profile by recycling much of what was already in the space (formerly a beloved Berkeley sushi spot), the touches they have added make the new place elegant yet friendly. There was already a fun, community vibe going (with many well-behaved small children in attendance) and lots of local wines and beers being poured.
They brew and tap their own kombucha!
Of course the food is amazing — especially Barry’s killer desserts. I had the soup of the day, a mushroom chowder, followed by the fried soca cakes and then the pan-seared tofu with garlic roast potatoes.
Delicious.
Hurry up and make a reservation today, unless you want these adorable children on the left to starve (plus Jenn and Barry’s three rescue dogs and two rescue cats).
Doesn’t look as if they are on Open Table yet, but you can find all of their contact information here: http://www.sanctuarybistro.com/about/contact/.
Their official opening is this Friday, August 1st but I will consider the place really open when the ice cream freezer arrives and they start serving Bananas Foster.
bakingnotwriting 
Sounds nice, and KONBUCHA is a very comforting drink to be sure. Is that a Japanese place, or do they just happen to use KONBUCHA?
Dear Derek,
It actually WAS a sushi place for many years but I probably just spelled it wrong. Raging sore throat and fever starting the night I went. Not that that excuses a typo! I can’t find their beverages on their online menus so probably I just made a mistake — but very cool to know that my misspelled drink is an actual thing! (And for all I know, that’s what they make.) 🙂 Thanks for the heads up.