Rating:
I'm scared of Gregoire. Why? Because I'm scared I'm going to eat 5000 little potato puffs before I get out the door and explode. It actually happened once, and it could happen again. You have to be careful with those little balls of heaven - they're addicting. I heard they started making a potato puff patch, the PPP, that you can stick on your arm for those who can't control themselves and need something to help them curve their cravings.
Anyway, I'm a big fan of Gregoire and was a recurring customer for the 4 years I was at Berkeley. It's a great concept - fancy french takeout. Perfect for that lazy college boy who wants to pretend he cooked an amazing, romantic dinner, but definitely just ordered out. However, if I'm going to get nice French food for dinner, I prefer to have the atmosphere as well - not a 4 seat bar next to a closet-sized kitchen. The dinner menu, although delicious, can get a bit pricey for the idea of take-out.
My advice - go for lunch. You can get a really fantastic, totally satisfying sandwich for 8 bucks that is far more sophisticated than Subway (doesn't a flank steak sandwich with St. André cheese & truffle on sweet roll sound better than a meatball sub?). They change their menu frequently, and after having tried many a sandwhich, I have to say I've never been disappointed and they kept me going back year after year.
Outdoor seating is very limited, they only really have 1 1/2 tables. But, on a nice day you can sit on a small grassy strip in the middle of Shattuck (don't worry, people do it all the time) and enjoy your meal.
Just watch out for those potato puffs!
Gregoire
2109 Cedar Street
Berkeley, CA 94709-1567
(510) 883-1893
http://www.gregoirerestaurant.com/
Sounds like you figured out the secret of the fat body is to ingest it in copius amounts, and I know this because of which I am president of that club.
I used to go to a small place near Sacramento CA called "Don LaFoe" that featured a lot of nice fatty menu items but alas the owners moved on to better things I guess.
Did yoiu ever happen to get up there?
Don LaFoe was delicious! I mainly went there for brunch, but it was solid every time.