Tarocco, A New All-Day Cafe With Catalan Roots, to Open in Berkeley | Eater SF

"Beginning as a meal-delivery service run from the Sequoia Diner kitchen, Tarocco will open as a permanent daytime cafe in West Berkeley in late February at 2570 Ninth Street, two blocks from Third Culture Bakery and Standard Fare in a space that previously housed Westside Bakery and Cafe and a short-lived Nepalese restaurant. I learned the cafe will serve lunch and, eventually, breakfast, plus wine and beer with counter service and drinks on tap including rosé, Champagne, and kombucha. The menu, inspired by Del Hoyo’s Catalan roots, will offer meze and composed salads with a Californian–Mediterranean flair—plant-forward with a side of protein—examples include turkey feta meatballs with tzatziki, roasted salmon, a tahini Caesar with crispy chickpeas, French lentils with confit leeks and broccolini, and chicories and beets with Castelvetrano olives and dates. Del Hoyo designed a “a bit more feminine” space meant to evoke a Barcelona vacation while remaining hyper-local and affordable, and she’s largely running Tarocco as a one-woman show, calling it a massive undertaking." - Flora Tsapovsky