Jojo's Mojo

When you're looking for a place to meet a stressed-out young family member for dinner, I can highly recommend Jojo's on Piedmont Avenue in Oakland. The friendly, cheerful atmosphere starts the unwinding process as soon as you come through the door, the quiet jazz sets a relaxed tone, the rose' wine we ordered soothed her jangled nerves, and the food just continued the gentling of a hard-knocks kind of day.

We started by sharing the country pate', two generous triangles of pink and green goodness studded with pistachios and garnished with a nice, fiery mustard, tiny puckery cornichons, salty olives and sharp radish slices. We all nodded enthusiastically and rolled our eyes as it hit the taste buds.

As we ordered our main courses and the conversation flowed, she turned from the aggravations of the moment and started talking about the hefty raise and the kudos she had earned at work.

See what I mean?

We like Jojo's mojo even when we are in a good mood but it's particularly nice for lifting low spirits!