food sketches – Jana Bouc, Artist

Sketching at Saul’s Restaurant and Deli, Berkeley

My sketchcrawl buddies and I met at Saul’s Restaurant to sketch tonight. Saul’s was really nice about letting us hang out for 3 hours and the food was delicious. It takes such discipline to draw it before eating it! The owner of the restaurant does wonderful drawings herself, as can be seen on their menus and website.

Pickles, Ink & watercolorPickles, Ink & watercolor

Except for breakfast, a meal at Saul’s always starts with their dill pickles.

I had a plate of grilled trout with a bright green sauces and very colorful veges: kale and purple cauliflower.

Then I got into a fight with a macaroon. I drew it, painted it, messed it up, and started over. Cathy and Sonia were ready to leave, having both done some really nice sketches, but I wanted to keep fighting with the macaroon, feeling like a flop. So I asked for a take-out container and brought the macaroon home. After drawing it several more times at home I finally won the battle with the macaroon which I’ll post next time.

Tuesday Sushi Sketchcrawl at Miyaki Japanese Restaurant

Miso Soup & Washcloths, ink and watercolor

Tuesday night sketchcrawl met at Miyuki Japanese Restaurant on Solano and it was a feast for the eyes and the stomach. It took tremendous willpower to sketch and paint each morsel before eating them. I started with the miso soup, delivered with steamy wash cloths to clean our hands before dining.

They brought edamame to our table while we looked at the menu. I sketched and ate them after the delicious miso soup. We sat at the sushi bar and had fun watching the sushi chef. He seemed to enjoyed watching us sketch,e specially Cathy’s sketch of him.

Next was the maguro sushi on a wooden plank. Spectacularly fresh and delicious. Then it was time for the star of the show, the Country Roll, stuffed with perfectly crisp asparagus and covered in spicy and slightly sweet seaweed salad.

Country Roll Sushi (seaweed salad & asparagus); Ink and watercolor

For “dessert” I ordered Unagi (grilled eel with a teriyaki-like sauce.

Unagi sushi (grilled eel), ink and watercolor

The waitress couldn’t quite make sense of us but since the restaurant wasn’t too crowded they didn’t mind us sitting there for two hours sketching and eating. And we left a big tip.

Miyuki Japanese Restaurant, Berkeley, ink and watercolor

All of these were sketched and painted on site except for this last one, which was sketched in the dark from across the street when I first arrived. I took notes about the colors and added color when I got home. I highly recommend Miyaki. The food is always fresh and beautifully prepared, the staff friendly, efficient and helpful and the prices very reasonable. It’s spacious so there’s never a wait and it’s not too noisy. And it’s a great place to sketch on a Tuesday night!