Cash Caris rose to chef stardom on a pink-lipped wave of pastrami as one half of Berkeley’s insanely popular smoked-meats outfit, Delirama (fellow San Jose native Anahita Cann was the other half). Now, like the plot of “The Bear” come to life, he’s leveraging the success of his ballyhooed pastrami sandwich into fine dining: Elsie’s, a seasonal Northern Californian restaurant inspired by the cooking of his titular grandma.
Caris has been through a lot recently. He and Cahn shuttered Delirama last month after a string of bad luck and self-admitted miscalculations – a power outage destroyed 2,000 pounds of pastrami in 2023, equivalent to about $100,000 in revenue, and a subsequent loan wound up eating 13 percent of the daily credit-card charges. As he told the San Francisco Chronicle: “I just felt like we were drowning.”
Now Caris is back, flying solo at a restaurant that’s both a familial labor of love and a chance at redemption. At the heart of Elsie’s is, well, Elsie – “this restaurant embodies her spirit & love for simple, delicious, & nourishing food to be shared with the ones you love,” the chef writes on Instagram. The menu changes weekly, the portions are hearty and the flavors soulful, and the entrees tend to follow the family-table formula of protein, vegetable and starch. But the chef’s inventive side is irrepressible, coming out in a wonderful salad of pomelo, sheep’s milk Valbreso and mango chutney and the most decadent perogies that’ll ever melt on your tongue.
Oh, and that pastrami sandwich? It’s as good as ever, though it comes in a form that might raise hackles among Delirami fans.
The vibe: Elsie’s has spruced up the former Delirama space with a warm blast of grandma vibes. It literally feels like you’re looking through rose-tinted glasses, thanks to all the pink Christmas lights. The striped tablecloths are vintage and pictures of mushrooms hang along the walls. It has echoes of another recently opened, buzzy restaurant paying tribute to ancestors, Oakland’s Burdell, with its 1970s earth tones and retro furniture. Is grandparent chic now a thing? (Yes, it is.)
The interior of Elsie’s restaurant before opening in Berkeley, Calif., on Friday, March 1, 2024. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
The food: On opening weekend in early March, everyone seemed to have ordered the house bread ($5) to admire as a table centerpiece. It’s a cushion-shaped pouf which you slather with a ball of rosemary-pepper honey butter. The two perogies ($18) are almost the size of small purses and stuffed with smoky, rich pastrami and buttery red potatoes. A topping of sauerkraut and creme fraiche ties it all together.
On the lighter side – and you’ll want a bit of lightness with this rib-sticking fare – is Elsie’s Soup ($14) with organic chicken broth, mild chiles and mirepoix, and that lovely fruit salad ($15) with its bursts of juicy citrus, fennel and Meyer lemon-olive oil.
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Delirama’s pastrami sandwich was a testament to New York tradition: smoked meat stacked high on rye with housemade yellow mustard. At Elsie’s, they’ve fancified it into Le Pastrami Sandwich. The bread is now grilled and slightly flattened, and filled with a mix of house-smoked pastrami, chives and krautslaw, Swiss cheese and paprika Dijonnaise. It’s more complex but thankfully remains the perfect formula for addictive overeating. An excellent side of fresh-cut potato chips makes it worth the $26.
The Chef’s Special on this particular evening is a skillet-fried quarter of a 48-hour brined organic chicken ($38) in an herby crust, like quality Shake ‘N Bake, with dauphinoise potatoes and a bed of creamed spinach that functions as a dipping sauce. It comes with a parsnip biscuit and a generous drizzle of Calabrian chile honey. The Sunday Roast ($36) of braised, grass-fed beef cuts like butter and is served atop Rancho Gordo polenta and a darkly mysterious pan sauce. Horseradish cream and an arugula-chicory salad provide freshness.
For vegetable-inclined diners, there are Gnocchi a la Plancha ($26) with kabocha pasta, brown butter and pistachios, and a Mushroom ‘Za ($19) with aged provolone and duxelles. The single dessert represented on the opening weekend menu was a Citrus Parfait ($12) with oat streusel, calamansi jelly and cognac cream.
A charcuterie plate is photographed at Elsie’s restaurant in Berkeley, Calif., on Friday, March 1, 2024. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
The drinks: The beverage menu is small but interesting, with a couple of local beers such as a Happy Camper Saison ($7) and Sleeping Car Giants Baltic Porter ($10). A half-dozen wines are served by the glass or bottle and all hail from California – notably, Sonoma and Berkeley – including a sparkling Tilted Mile ($19) and a Love Rose Valdiguie/Carignan ($14). Zero-proof options include a Phony Negroni ($11), herbal tea and a Chef’s Spirit ($6) of iced coffee and Mexican Coke.
Details: Open for lunch and dinner Wednesday-Sunday at 1746 Solano Ave., Berkeley; elsiesonsolano.com.