Rivoli

We had dinner at Rivoli, per Kathy's wishes.  It was on her list of places she still wanted to check out in Berkeley.  Located in the quaint Solano area, the restaurant had an excellent ambiance.  We were seated in the back room, which had a view of a beautiful, lit garden area.  I've never seen anything quite like it in any other restaurant.

Our server was very friendly, although she was adimttedly not the most knowledgeable.  Here is a sample conversation from our night:

Patron: (motioning towards salt served with bread and butter) "Excuse me, waitress, I was wondering if this salt was sea salt or kosher salt?  I can't quite place the texture and taste."

Waitress: "Yeah... it's just salt."  (Waitress walks away)

Patrons:  (Sitting dumbfounded)

I had scallop raviolis served on a lobster mousse.  An interesting combination that I've never seen somewhere else, the flavors worked quite well together, and the mousse was very tasty. 

We had a bottle of "Dragonstone" Riesling wine that was excellent.  When we asked our waitress why the bottle was named such, she replied that she didn't know.  However, later on that night she returned and gave us a a rather amusing explanation- legends say the area of Rheingaust where the wine was home to dragons, and some "crazy huns" once reported actually seeing the mythical beasts in the area.