'The Bread Pudding is the Bomb!'

Update: July 6, corrected identification of Grub Street blog.

When the check comes, diners at the celebrated get a chance to do a little light reading along with a little light math to calculate a 15 or 20 percent gratuity.

In the restaurant biz, the cover that the check comes in is called "the book." In many cases, it's a little Naugahyde cover with a slot for the credit card. At Va de Vi on Mount Diablo Boulevard, the book is a book.

Co-owner Stan Raaen got the idea from another restaurant he was at. For Va de Vi, staff picks up books of the right dimensions at library book sales and the like.

"It's fun," said manager Meghan Carpenter. "They wear out real quickly." She said it's fun in that it gives diners a chance to make a note of an anniversary dinner or a special occasion. Some diners show off their calligraphy talent.

Your editor left his check after a recent lunch at Va de Vi within the covers of Games for the Superintelligent by James F. Fixx.

Va de Vi was celebrated most recently, named one of the Top 100 Bars in the Bay Area in the San Francisco Chronicle's new ranking and commented upon in the "Grub Street" blog. Va de Vi was in the Wine Bar category.

Va de Vi means "It's all about wine" in the Catalan language of Spain.

The book causes moments of confusion, as well. Sometimes someone at a neighboring table points out that people left their book behind, Carpenter said. No, that's not their book — it's the restaurant's book.