Gather

If you’re expecting a small and cozy restaurant defined by traditional values, the first impression of Gather may throw you off. The natural wood elements seem lost beneath all the iron and concrete that looms above it. Housed at the base of an office building, Gather seems made for the lunchtime business crowd rather than being an intimate space for conversation with friends.

Then the charcuterie platter arrives with a selection of five gorgeous (and meatless) delicacies, and you wonder if this palette of color and texture could taste as good as it looks. It tastes better.

The roasted beets with cashew crème fraiche and pistachio green garlic pesto simply melt in your mouth. Every element of the chickpea pannelle complements the other, and the freshness of the grilled mushrooms and asparagus are never lost beneath their delicious “tonnato” sauces and saffron tomato sumac “mayonnaise.” You wash this down with the bright, Bee Sting cocktail and wonder what your taste buds will experience next.

As you enjoy the artisan-inspired mussels and pulled pork duet, something inside you has begun to click the way it does not at every other restaurant. You begin to understand that the chefs behind this establishment are up to something wonderful – “using only the freshest, local food” is more than just a catch phrase, it’s something you appreciate in the snap of your vegetables and the perfect tenderness of your pork. While Gather’s dishes are presented like artwork, their real value is not in good looks, but the careful combination of ingredients that define what a love for eating really means.

Nothing here will taste the way you’ve had it elsewhere. The mushroom bruschetta is miles from your typical cheesy, tomato combo, but a sweet, leek “fondue” creation with generous helpings. The vegetarian, herb ricotta gnocchi doesn’t have the creaminess you are used to – but the simple flavors are hearty and healthy, with wilted pea and fava leaves sprinkled in. Original dessert options like house-made sorbets and the almond cake with crème fraiche and marmalade are a real treat, even if you have the choosiest sweet tooth.

Looking deeper into the “office-building” set-up, you learn that the David Brower Center is in fact one of the greenest in Berkeley, housing social action non-profits and environmental activists. Impressively made from mostly recycled materials, the building is a match for Gather’s salvaged wood and reclaimed leather set-up. And judging from its approach on organic food that satisfies vegans, locavores, and omnivores alike, Gather couldn’t have found a more appropriate home than among the stewards of Berkeley's political and environmental landscape.

- by Renee M. Rutledge, San Francisco Reporter for HelloMetro  (Click to leave a message)

Renee M. Rutledge

Renee M. Rutledge currently writes articles on local travel and culture for Red Tricycle, Parents' Press, Oakland Magazine, and Alameda Magazine.