Cha Ya Last week A came over after work to go help me buy a new car. She helped me buy my first one nearly 15 years ago. Her sharp negotiating and contract reading skills saved me from being ripped off. I’ve had my eye on the new Honda Fit and been obsessively reading and looking at it on-line. As she informed me while napping in my bed, the Fit was so new that it wasn’t actually out yet. So, we just hung out and waited until we could go pick up Vida and go out for dinner. We had planned to go to Thai Express for Vida’s favorite fried rice.

When we went to pick up Miss V she was busily wiggling her second loose tooth. The after-school teacher told me it had been bleeding all day. Like the first, it had turned gray and disgusting. Now better trained in the subject of loose teeth I immediately sent her to teacher J. She ran off and by the time we had followed her to the other side of the school she had returned with the bloody stub. This one bled. We thanked J and left.

A has been trying to get me to Cha Ya, the vegan Japanese restaurant in Berkeley for years. She raves about it regularly. When she reminded me that Cha Ya had opened a branch on Valencia we quickly changed our plans. It had only been open a week so no liquor license or credit cards accepted. It was early and the place was nearly empty. As we sat there perusing the menu people off the street kept coming in and asking if this was a branch of the apparently famous Cha Ya in Berkeley. There seems to be a cult surrounding it based on the fervor of its supplicants. The lack of restaurants vegans and vegetarians can visit and order anything off the menu without a thought has created the Church of Cha Ya. I base part of this train of thought on the asceticism of the dining room with its pristine white walls, bamboo floors, small light colored wood tables and almost no other decoration.

I was a little taken aback at the prices—its difficult to pay $4.50 for an avocado roll when Vida can eat at least three of them. Lucky for us Vida wasn’t that hungry and just wanted two. We ordered miso soup, a delicious fried tofu in broth and some sushi rolls. I could have eaten about twice the amount we ordered but we were already racking up the bill. It was delicious but I was still hungry. We left before Vida decided she wanted another roll. I was pretty sure a bowl of cereal was going to be needed soon after we got home.

Restaurant Total: 204  ¶ 6:43 AM