A new take-out and eat-in shop called
Beautifull (3401 California at Laurel, 728-9080) opened last Thursday in Laurel Village. The space recently housed a Cuban coffeehouse (Cafe Lo Cubano), and before that a beloved neighborhood greasy spoon called Miz Brown's Feed Bag.
We dropped in to put the feed bag on during Beautiful's second day of business. It was crowded, both with hopeful buyers lined up along the glass display case and slightly rattled servers behind it. We caught a bit of contact anxiety: customers and servers were equally unfamiliar with the routine, one of the two cash registers was acting up, and the music was too loud.
Beautifull's menu describes it as "a revolutionary new store providing tasty, healthy, and convenient food that is fresh, natural, and whole."
Since "home meal replacement" (i.e., takeout food for those too busy or lacking the skills to cook their own) has been a hot trend in the food world for some time, and Beautifull itself has been in business for some time, preparing food for such places as
Blue Fog Market,
Berkeley Bowl, and
Real Food Company, the revolution seems to be that this is Emeryville-based Beautiful's first retail store, designed by
Cass Calder Smith. designer of the trendy San Francisco eateries
Lulu,
Terzo, and
Lar Mar Cebicheria.
So: Beautiful is quite sleek, featuring industrial touches of
shiny metal and glass, warm wood, green marble display counters for the
prepared foods, and lots of fresh flowers. Tucked away in a narrow back
hallway are open refrigerated cases that house already-packaged meals
ready to grab and go, some microwaveable, some ready-to-eat (salads and
sandwiches). Somewhat confusing illuminated signs overhead tell you
what's available that day, and how it's priced. We especially like the
large murals of spoons made up of fruits and vegetables. We're not
sure that Mr. Smith would approve of the bright blue-and-white plastic
"Now Open!" sign hung outside and flapping in the wind.
There's a line of wooden tables (with those familiar slat-back
aluminum chairs originally designed for the Navy) clinging to the
plate-glass window, and a matching row of tables mirroring them
outside, on the other side of the window wall.
We tried one of the "beautifull bowls," Thai chicken curry in a
green sauce served over your choice of brown rice or golden quinoa
-- we tried the quinoa -- for $11.99. And Moroccan chicken, which we
thought was also a "beautifull bowl," but turned out to be in another
category altogether, "select 1 entree and 2 sides, $11.99; select a
beef or seafood entree and 2 sides, $13.99". (You can also order the entrees and sides by the pound, to go.)
When we realized that the Moroccan chicken wasn't served over the
(slightly gummy) brown rice, we told the server we would have chosen
another side, if we'd known, and he treated us to a side of the single
best thing we had that day: the heirloom shelling bean ragout. We'd
return for it, even at $7.99/lb.
Both the curry and the chicken were pleasant, but somewhat
underflavored, compared to what you might taste in an authentic Indian
or Moroccan spot. The quinoa was nice and fluffy.
Finding drinks was a chore, since some of them are stored under
the display counter and others are in the case in the back, and the
choices seemed a little esoteric. We grabbed something labeled organic
apple and carrot, and it was only after we took an unsatisfying swig
that we learned it was something called "First Juice," designed for
toddlers, and containing 43% juice. Oops.
We took home a couple of expensive, beautiful slices of rare
roasted petite filet of beef (at $16.99/pound, it came to $7.25), with
tasty horseradish sauce -- one of us liked the tenderness, but the
other found the meat tasteless -- and half-a-pound of very
mayonnaisse-y, very tarragoned shredded chicken salad ($6, at
$11.99/pound).
We were also tempted by beautiful(l!) rare chunks of tea-smoked
salmon ($7.99/piece), and lots of the array of vegetable sides: roasted
garlic mashed potatoes ($6.99/pound), citrus salad with ginger and mint
($9.99/pound), golden beet salad with verjus and tarragon vinaigrette
($8.99/pound), which we tried as a side with the Moroccan chicken and
found tasty indeed.
The baked goods looked too healthy to appeal to my sweet tooth,
but the ginger-blueberry muffin I tried ($2.99, and on the small side)
was surprisingly delicious.
On the whole, we thought Beautifull was probably in the right
neighborhood to find takers for its somewhat pricey, health-conscious,
upscale prepared foods. One tip: the portions dished out from the
counter looked bigger for the same price than the pre-packaged
microwave meals. Stand in line an extra few minutes and reap the
benefits.
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