A top-notch restaurant in Oakland

Saturday night we went with some friends to Camino in Oakland, a restaurant we had heard much about but not yet tried.  The result was superb - wonderful food, wonderful atmosphere.  Everything about this dinner was good, from watching the bartenders making elegant, classy drinks, to sitting close to the open kitchen with its roaring wood fire, to the perfect Acme bread with delicious butter and a little bowl of salt.


The menu changes daily - here is Saturday's:

We tried a lot of dishes from this menu and everything was delicious.  I had the grapefuit and radish salad to start - yum.  And then I went with the grilled sausage and pork loin, with savoy cabbage, Jerusalem artichokes and lentils.  Amazingly good.  We had similar results with all our other choices.


Yet the food is only half the success.  The ambience and the service were just right.  By the time we got to coffee and dessert, we were so pleased, we all decided that a return trip was well warranted.


It is no surprise that Camino is in the top 100 Bay area restaurants (just selected again for 2010).