Henry's - Berkeley - taken over by Tartine & Chris Kronner

This is fantastic news.

The place appears to be closed, windows papered over, ladders inside, license transfer notice in the window.

Huh, I guess I forgot to post about my previous meal here. I’ll have to look in my archive and see if I’ve got photos. It was good.

There was a party for Kronner’s cookbook, “A Burger to Believe In,” so this was a KronnerBurger pop-up at Henry’s, not the usual menu.

Classic. So good.

Best burger I’ve had from Kronner with the possible exception of some outdoor pop-ups. He said they brought in binchotan for the occasion, usually they don’t have a charcoal grill at Henry’s. Really deep aged-beef flavor. The burger is smaller than your typical upscale burger, though not as small as the photo might suggest, maybe 4-1/2 or 5 inches. I like the size, it makes sense for something so rich and intense.

Had a Kickstand for dessert. I’m not a big cocktail drinker but this was lovely, a refreshing, only slightly sweet chaser to a rich meal.

He’s doing another pop-up at Scribe in Sonoma this weekend, Thursday through Memorial Day Monday.

Henry’s current dinner menu:

Dinner last month:

Really crunchy, great hot sauce.

Ham, good but I kind of prefer it plain or with accoutrements on the side.

Pork sausage, really good, one of the reasons I was disappointed in Kenji’s Wursthause.

Lamb neck, great dish, kind of splitting the difference between Italy and Korea?

Charred arrowhead cabbage Kronner-style, the man has a way with vegetables.

I’d have been there at least one more time if it were easier to park.

Current hours per Opentable:

Breakfast 7am-10am daily
Brunch 11am-2pm Friday-Sunday
Happy hour 3pm-6pm daily
Dinner 6pm-10pm daily
Late night happy hour 10pm-1am daily

I gather it’s the usual “circle around the block a couple of times” for street parking? Sigh.

With the students mostly gone for the summer it’s probably easier to park, especially at night, but I’d be tempted to walk from BART and take a Lyft home.

Not what I expect musk melon to be, but this was really good.

Crudo, also very good.

Neglected to take a picture of the gnocchi with sugo, great dish but so filling I didn’t have room for an Eton Mess, so I just got the bartender’s favorite variation on The Last Word. I forget the name, but it was a sort of fizz.

I missed this the first time around. Even the ‘bread’ with the bone marrow looked incredibly good.

sad to report that Henry’s menu has completely changed to a very bland American diner style. anyone know what happened? change of management?

I ended up asking— Chris Kronner is out as of a month or two ago. Unclear if it was acrimonious or if he was just needed elsewhere, but the menu and quality is a pretty complete 180, so my guess is the former.

Well, damn. That’s the way of almost all hotel restaurants. Second time it’s happened there.

Seems like Kronner’s still looking for his next major project.