Since Mission: Heirloom Café opened its doors a few months ago, Yelpers of the Paleo persuasion rave about its healthy, clean, non-allergenic, non-inflammatory, grain-, gluten-, and toxin-free food. Finally, they say, here's a place they can go where they can eat almost anything on the menu. But the question is, does Mission: Heirloom Café serve food for the rest of us who couldn't care less what our ancestors ate, have no particular dietary restrictions, and just want tasty food?
A non-Paleo friend and I went to see what the newest place in North Berkeley's famed Gourmet Ghetto was all about.
Upon first inspection, it's lovely, especially the covered back patio, decorated with succulents and heat lamps.
A plate of the house was brought to the table, "yuca crunch," a cracker made from yuca, or cassava root, to replace bread. It was served with whipped coconut oil and truffle salt. Our response was neutral.
Diners choose from an assortment of "bowls," which are predominantly a meat-heavy affair. We ordered its one vegan option, cauliflower three ways: minced, curry, and puree. It was garnished with a few kale chips, pumpkin seeds, and mulberries. The dish was bland and underwhelming.
We also chose a "taco salad" which featured ground beef, this time well-seasoned with chilies and spices, a cabbage slaw, pickled radishes, and avocado puree, with a bit of yuca crunch to replace the tortilla chips.
The restaurant prides itself on how it cooks meat; there's a special oven that heats it at 100-percent humidity so as not to release any toxins, which the owners believe can happen with more traditional cooking methods. Their meat and meatballs use all parts of the animal to give it more nutrients, so the texture is denser than ground beef.
While we thought the flavor was good, even splitting the two entrees, it was a lot of meat for us; we both would have preferred more veggies or other traditional items usually found in a taco salad that would be verboten in the Paleo diet, or are at least not to be found here.
Except for an octopus dish, other options were just as meat heavy, like chicken three ways: hash, mousse, and chicharrone. A lot of thought goes into plating, with many entrees garnished with edible flowers.
Food made with such care doesn't come cheap. Entrée bowls run between $14 and $16, and by the time we added in a turmeric or hibiscus tonic (both highly recommended, the turmeric tonic, served hot, was the best thing I tried) it was around $20 a person.
With the Paleo evangelism that's going around, there's no doubt that Mission: Heirloom will find its audience; it's also selling its food on the home delivery service Good Eggs. But will it become a hit among the rest of us? That remains to be seen.
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