Author: jean komatsu
Last saved by: Owner

Communité Table
4171 MacArthur @Maybelle St., Oakland, CA
http://www.Communité-table.com/to-go-menu.html 
Review date: March 31, 2015

This pop-up-turned-restaurant describes itself as "...a neighborhood restaurant featuring seasonal American comfort food."  Owner Michele LePron began as a pop-up at the Laurel's excellent Food Mill healthstore. The community has responded enthusiastically, and when the Mexican restaurant La Palma Taqueria closed up in this small office building, she took over the space.

The long, narrow space hasn't changed much, but it's gone from bare-bones budget to a casual scrubbed-clean charm that appeals to the neighborhood's mix of singles, retirees, and families. It is mostly take-out, but there is a simpler menu of sandwiches, salads and soups available for eating-in. 

The signage, as often happens in these small budding businesses, leaves something to be desired. "Vegetable frittata", for example, isn't very descriptive; and "Shepherd's Pie" proved an unwelcome surprise.

We're recovering from the flu – slowly, in my case – so we picked up enough for both lunch and dinner. It was a mixed bag, as follows:

Lunch: deli items

Vegetable frittata. Ms. LePron must be penpals, or friends with, the A16 Rockridge chef. It not only looked, but tasted similar to, what was the most abominable example of egg torture I've encountered. Ms. LePron's version, however, was at least edible; not only was it not oversalted (none of the food seems to be, we're pleased to report), it hadn't been overcooked for so long. 

But those were the only good attributes. These versions of frittata seem to think it's interchangeable with quiche...which it is not. Also, overwhipping eggs and then roasting it at high heat creates a bubble-like texture instead of the creamy cooked egg smoothness it should have. A frittata also should not be 3" inches high, as it's based on softly scrambled eggs that are finished quickly (very quickly) in the oven. 

Like A16's frittata, Communité Table's version had starchy halved white potatoes taking up space in the frittata, while a few roasted asparagus batons fought to make a presence. There was an unpleasant hint of grassiness from red bell peppers, and no cheese – another negative. 

Carlos got a freshly-made ham and Gruyere sandwich, but said it was just okay. He said the filling was good quality and there was enough of it, but he only likes Gruyere melted, not cold. He also thought the baguette used was either stale or too hard-crusted. Communité uses mustard, mayo, and includes mixed leafy green lettuces in the sandwich, of which he approved.

Lamb meatballs with preserved lemon garnish. Three good-sized meatballs on a skewer were undermined by bad conception. The lamb was very good quality, slightly gamy so that you could tell it was lamb, but not so much so that the average American would object to it. There were toasted pinenuts in the meatballs, which disconcerted Carlos as he wasn't expecting a slightly crunchy texture. 

But what he really objected to were the preserved lemons. And indeed, there was too much of them used – not just in the garnish on top, but mixed into the ground lamb itself. Meyers are a wonderful fruit, but too much preserved lemon gave these meatballs a medicinal, almost '4-in-1 synthetic oil' taste.

Nothing was inedible, but everything was a slight miss. Quality is good, execution is standard; but the flavors were not quite to our liking.

Dinner: frozen pre-packed take-out 

Chicken pot pie. There is a large size and a small; I opted for the small. Once baked, the pastry top gets a nice browning and there's plenty of mild chicken gravy. The fresh herbs - I could see parsley and dill - are kept subtle which was appreciated. Mine had breast meat only, no dark meat. But the celery was still a little crunchy, and there were a few carrots but no other vegetables. I smashed the pastry crust into the pie gravy, and after a few mouthfuls told Carlos it was good but not quite up to the versions sold at Market Hall Rockridge or Bakesale Betty, with their superior butter pastry crust. It is, in fact, like a homemade version of Swanson's, or at least how Swanson's used to be. This was the best of what Communité offered to us, and we would definitely purchase this again. Like all frozen pot pies, it takes about an hour to cook in the oven.

Shepherd's Pie. This was not what we thought it would be. We are accustomed to Shepherd's Pie being ground meat, gravy, with a mashed white potato topping. Instead, it turned out to have a runny sweet potato topping that upon baking, oozed into the gravy to become a sweet potato filling with meat. 

On the good side, they used chunks of beef instead of ground beef. Carlos approved of this and liked the simple, straightforward gravy flavor. What he didn't like was the addition of halved white potatoes – "too many" was his remark – in addition. Also, he isn't as fond of sweet potatoes as his mother Inez was, and because he wasn't expecting them in a Shepherd's Pie, he was inclined to be resentful about the poor signage. He said he wouldn't have purchased this if he'd known they used sweet potatoes for the topping (as these were all purchased frozen, it was already sealed in foil baking containers).

Beet borscht. Carlos took one spoonful and declared it inedible. Too much vinegar and no meat; he's picky about borscht and this one didn't please him. Because of my flu, I had no taste buds and so didn't try it.

Summary:
Communité Table is well-liked in the Laurel. They use good quality ingredients and keep the salt down. The cooking seems straightforward and tasty, without being overly complex. They have a wide variety of soups that sound interesting, and several deli salads which we'll return to try. They also offer roast chickens in halves, which is convenient.

The Laurel has more food options than it did when we first moved in, but the pickings are still relatively slim. Unless you want cheap Chinese or mild Cambodian, your only other options for dinner, outside of Communité, are pizza, a chain KFC, bad BBQ, or Senegalese curries. 

With the average workday hitting the nine- or ten-hour mark, creating even a simple frittata can feel comparable to making Ris de veau a la Reine from scratch. Few people get home in time on weekdays to prep and roast a whole chicken - when I was working, roasts were strictly weekend dishes and stews had to be made in steps over several after-dinner evenings! 

The simple, honest cooking at Communité Table might be right up your alley. It has enough variety to please a group, making it a sensible choice for a value-priced dinner that's a time- and energy-saver for its customers.

For us Communité offers the convenience of propinquity – it's less than a mile from our house. We admit to preferring the cooking at Market Hall, as well as the superior variety, albeit their food is priced higher. Although Communité's versions of some dishes didn't work for us, we did like the chicken pot pie, and the variety of soups was intriguing. We'll definitely return to try more of the menu, especially as Ms. LePron rotates her selections.

Two people, lunch and dinner, with enough leftovers for one person to have another meal: two meat skewers, one sandwich, three entrées, one soup, with $10 tip was a modest $75.