I’ll just get right to it – Sliver Pizzeria is Cheeseboard 2.0. My roommate and I were famished after our Tahoe snowboarding trip, so after returning to Berkeley, we were planning to get a quick dinner near the downtown Shattuck area. We were strolling on Center just before Shattuck, and imagine our surprise when we spotted a new pizzeria, with the exact same signboard as Cheeseboard’s (one type of pizza, $2.50/slice, salads, and soft drinks).
We entered the restaurant and the sound of a jazz band immediately filled the air. Momentarily confused, I walked to the register, placed an order for some pizza, and noticed the very nice (and modern) interior design, along with a full bar with the latest NBA game playing. Wow, this place was impressively classy, and I was just about sold.
Then the pizza came out, and that sealed the deal.
And there’s no other way to put it – it’s Cheeseboard pizza! That day the pizza toppings were cremini mushrooms, yellow onions, french goat cheese, mozzarella, and fresh herbs. The pizza even came with the extra slice on top – the sliver. Suddenly things began to make a lot more sense.
As I walked back to the front to grab the green chili sauce (another Cheeseboard mainstay – it’s delicious), I asked the lady at the register just what was going on. She promptly explained everything, how three “alumni” at Cheeseboard decided to “start their own thing,” and how they pledged to work with anti-slavery groups to fight against human trafficking around the world with their new restaurant. Bingo.
One can speculate on the reasons for the split, but regardless of the circumstances, I think this is a win-win for Berkeley students, residents, and food lovers. Now we have two places that serve amazing vegetarian thin-crust pizza, in a nice relaxing setting with good service.
I went back the next day for lunch and they even had new topping combinations (Roma tomatoes with avocado sauce). Glad to see they’re experimenting. We’ll see how things turn out with Sliver, but one thing’s for certain – it’ll get much bigger with the start of school.
Cheeseboard 2.0 at www.thefoodspotlight.com.
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