Bocanova At Jack London Square

We went to Bocanova at Jack London Square for brunch on Easter Sunday. Our friends Alex and Suzanne have been raving about this restaurant since it has been opened. Now I know why.

Ambience. This place has got it up the ying yang. It's a beautiful open room with high ceilings, and gorgeous light fixtures, outside dinning looking out on the Alameda bay, and a big open kitchen. Even the bathrooms deserve a second look, beautiful. Stay long enough to go twice.

Our table, which we had reserved in advance, was ready upon our arrival. Bocanova did two calls to to confirm our reservations. Our water glasses were filled almost immediately. There was a fixed price for the brunch menu which was a duck confit, and some other mouth watering dishes.

I should mention that Bocanova is a tapas restaurant. The waiter asked us if this was our first time at Bocanova, and we replied that it was, he then said, "Just point at anything on the menu and it's good." A bold statement indeed, almost a challenge.

Our small entourage consisted of myself dressed in dirty blue jeans, running sneakers and a floppy Irish walking hat. I looked like a garden gnome. My sister-in-law Victoria & Geraldine looked lovely as usual. Our friend Guy was sporting a tie dyed shirt 3 sizes too big and no teeth, and our friend Michael, who because of his disabilities shuffles as he walks, looks like he's wearing blinders, and could resemble a zombie. It looked like nurse Geri Haslett and her assistant Vicky were talking the three of us out of the "Home" for the day.

I would have liked to try everything on the menu, but we started with a salad of pears, baby lettuce and goat cheese that had a rice wine vinegar and grape seed oil. It was delicious. There was no salt or pepper on the salad and none on the table, nor were we asked if we wanted either. A chef with real balls. I was hooked.

For my entree' I got the pork tamale and poached egg pictured below. The poached egg, the pork, and the verde sauce was as close to perfect as you can get. If you read this blog you know my position on perfection, often chased, seldom realized. In general, it doesn't exist, with rare exceptions. Once I made it through the pork I though for sure the masa would be soggy but it was still firm and full of flavor. I could have eaten two of these, no problem. The plate portions here are generous. I'm just a pig for pork.

I ordered a bloody Mary for my drink. I'm always leery about ordering bloody Mary's. I spent an entire summer one year in Branchville Connecticut perfecting, there'a that word again, the bloody Mary. One of these days I'll do a whole blog on the bloody Mary. This one came close, but it lacked a celery stalk or an asparagus spear. The waiter didn't ask me what Vodka I preferred, Kettle One, but these are minor details overall. This drink was just hot enough, but not too hot. I love a bloody Mary with a lot of horseradish, and this one hit the mark dead center. The waiter did bring me extra hot sauce just in case, made in-house which was dynamite.

I have to say it is the minor details that get you the points. The noise level at Bocanova was not excessive, but the music was turned down so low I couldn't hear or distinguish the songs at all. Instead of providing a mood it just added more noise to the room. It is going that extra yard that makes a restaurant stand above the other 5 thousand restaurants in a town like Oakland.

The waiter who brought my entree was not the waiter who took our order, yet she knew exactly where each entree went with each person. She never asked, "Who gets the tamale, who gets the harache?" Once again, I'm impressed. My only response when a wait person asks that question can be in the form of a question, "You took the order, you don't know?" I'll admit I can be unforgiving, even brutal, when it comes to wait staff. A good waiter in a good restaurant can pull down 100 K a year. That is a lot of money. A person can live quite well on that kind of dough.  It's a profession, not just something you do to get through art school or till the next audition for that coveted starring role comes along. It's about having good short term memory skills and training. Bad waiter, bad management, poor training. This house has has team spirit.

I could go on and on as I am known to do. I'm not on the Chronicle restaurant review staff. I don't get paid to do this so I'll quit while I'm ahead. Everyone enjoyed their meal tremendously. My sister-in-law who is an award winning baker, is no slouch in the kitchen or on the floor herself said to me yesterday, two days after we ate there, "How about that Bocanova."

I don't eat out that often for two reasons, #1- I can cook this food myself at home for a fraction of the cost, #2- I hate to be disappointed, and I am often disappointed even with restaurants that I have been going to for years.

A restaurant is like putting on a show every day. You have to deliver.  The staff should always be on edge. In a town with 5,000 restaurants, it's deliver or die. In a place like Bocanova that is even more poignant than ever. The overhead at this restaurant can kill you. But, Bocanova does deliver and for that reason I will go back, next time for dinner.

I give Bocanova the 2 1/2 joints for food, 2 1/2 joints for service, 3 for ambience. You gotta see the bathrooms.

Bocanova
55 Webster St. in jack London Square
Oakland, Ca 94607
510 444-1233

That's it.

Peace,

Make Food/Not War

Pork tamale & poached egg

Harache