Gather - Berkeley - Any news?

Have some vegetarian relatives coming into town and was thinking of going to Gather. I haven’t been in a couple of years and have heard downhill reports. Anything recent? Also, anyone ever see kids there? I am going to bring a 4 and 6 y.o., figuring they will probably be okay for an early reservation.

The original chef Sean Baker left last January, I believe because his partners wanted to serve more mainstream comfort food. They hired a new chef in October. I haven’t been recently. I’ve seen kids there. In Berkeley, it’s more of a challenge finding a place without them.

http://insidescoopsf.sfgate.com/blog/2015/10/07/gather-gets-new-chef-in-berkeley/

You might consider Encuentro or Millennium.

Second on Encuentro. That’s where I would take a visiting vegetarian.

Went to Gather for the first time in a while. The menu seems more vegetarian and more gluten-free than I remembered it but there are still appealing non-vegetarian dishes.

The “pork belly, lentils braised with pancetta, pickled cucumber yogurt” ($16) was a great combination of flavors and textures, I think the best dish I’ve had there. We split it three ways as an appetizer and almost got a second order.

“Farm egg with forbidden rice, confit carrots, bok choy, mắm, scallions, and ginger” ($19) was really good. The fish sauce gave it an extra depth of flavor that really made the dish.

“Chickpea panelle, sunchoke, radish, brussels leaves, tomato brodo, pistachio” ($21) seemed bland at first until I realized that I needed to get some tomato sauce (definitely not a broth) in every bite. Clever combination.

Good to know. I ended up canceling our reservation when the consensus changed to having Slicer pies at home.