Check out the Oakland Indie Awards at the Crucible this Friday! We're a finalist in the Greenie category and will be serving up free coffee at the event! See the ad on page 15 of the East Bay Express.
Diablo Dish - March '09 Oakland restaurant scene still not slowing down; and more.
BY JULIE MILLER DOWLING
What? The economy is bad? Seems the Oakland food scene hasn't heard that yet.
New restaurants are popping up faster than mushrooms and doing it in style. Sumo wrestlers and taiko drummers dazzled at Ozumo's opening, and the procession of royal restaurateurs planning openings in the new Jack London Square project continues undeterred. "A lot of the talent in San Francisco actually live in the Oakland area, and they want to be a part of the expanding dining scene here,” says Will Miller, vice president of leasing for developer Ellis Partners. "Despite the economy, the fundamental demographics are strong, and they’re looking at Oakland's long-term sustainable dining scene."
Rockridge's A'Cote is opening a new small plates restaurant in, you guessed it, Oakland. Although the Park Boulevard opening is months away, the concept is Pan-Latin, highlighting Mexican and Central and South American cuisine.
Meanwhile, Lake Chalet Seafood Bar and Grill plans a June opening on the top floor of the renovated, century-old Lake Merritt Boat House, where it will serve modern American cuisine. Also coming to Lake Merritt is Sidebar, a new gastropub serving upscale pub food, microbrews, and classic cocktails, which opened in early February. Also in February, Piedmont Avenue was slated to get Adesso, which will serve grilled panini and house-made salumi just two blocks from owner Jon Smulewitz's other eatery, Dopo. The downtown Oakland lunch crowd recently got Banyan 14, Thai and Vietnamese "street food" with a healthy California twist. The owners aim for a 100-percent green eatery, with a progressive recycling program, compostable packaging, natural meats, sustainable seafood, and organic veggies. Also emphasizing green business is Awaken Cafe on 14th, which will soon expand into a 3,500-square-foot lounge, with an organic wine and beer bar, coffee and teahouse, performance space, and expansive art gallery. Whew!
I hope you will enjoy this video, and feel free to post it to your own website or e-newsletter:
Also, there are just TWO days left to "Make the Pledge" to divert at least $100 of your holiday spending from out-of-town chains to local, indie businesses and artists. If all of our Express readers did so, it would have a $58.8 million dollar impact on our community, an estimated $8.75 million more than if that money went to chain stores. So, this holiday season, avoid the malls, avoid the crowds, and avoid being a part of Generica! Email "I Pledge" to eLerts@EastBayExpress.com, and you'll be automatically entered to win $1000 in local/indie gift certificates by the East Bay Express.
Since you're already online, here are some helpful links:
"When the Golden Bull bar closed shop last year, denizens of Oakland's club scene gasped a collective beer breathed WTF!?! But when Awaken Cafe opened in the space a couple months ago, the promise of a cool new downtown business district continues to emerge. And besides, now there's somewhere to nurse hangovers on those Saturday mornings after Art Murmur. Run by Burning Man veterans Cortt Dunlap and Kari Christensen, Awaken serves up fair trade java, healthy snacks and organic tea and wine with a Burner's flair in a funky cool atmosphere. For the moment only the small upfront coffee bar is open to the public, but the coming months promise a late night lounge/art gallery/performance space out back featuring a rotating cast of your favorite Oaktown artists and rabble rousers."
"The Obama party has started early by the time I arrive on the block of 14th Street between Broadway and Franklin, which sports that sure sign of gentrification, an art gallery. Next door is the Museum of African-American Technology; next, in an historic building with a restored Art Deco verdigris facade, is the Awaken Cafe, neighbor to the old but sturdy Central Building, new home to the Obama California Campaign. Campaign workers, the hip-hop guys from Blackalicious, who will perform later in the afternoon, and the merely curious wander in and out of the old office building, elevatoring up and down from the third floor campaign suite, not quite finished, hastily painted in red, white and blue. Out on the street, Obama volunteers, some of whom I know from my previous forays into Obama territory, mingle with friends and the press. Cameramen record the scene, even though not much is happening yet, unless you count the shake and shimmy of the kids' inflatable jump hut."
$100 CREATOR CARDS and 25% Extra on All Denominations
We're pleased to announce we've added $100 CAFE CREATOR Cards and we're giving you 25% extra on all denominations! It's a great value for you and a great way to be a part of the community of people bringing the cafe into the world!
We're out to spread the word about the Awaken Cafe and get the Bay Area excited for our opening! I was reading a new magazine and saw an advertisement for a Yelp-like service for sustainable businesses called Sustainelane.com! I created a listing and we'd love for you to review us and let 'em know you're looking forward to the Awaken Cafe!
We've created a bumper sticker that we plan to pass out in downtown Oakland. We wanted to spread the word to our future customers, but we didn't want to hand out just another flyer. So we came up with the idea of combining an advertisement with a gift!
We've created a flyer to speak to the vast community of Bay Area Burners. Kari and I have both been attending Burning Man for many years and in many ways this project was inspired by the community and creative aspects of that event.
The flyer asks people to compare Center Camp at Burning Man, and what they like about it, to the Awaken Cafe. People interested in participating in building the Awaken Cafe are directed to log on to a special web page.
Check out the flyer and the web page and let us know what you think!
"Yelp is the fun and easy way to find, review and talk about what's great (and not so great) in your world. You already know that asking friends is the best way to find restaurants, dentists, hairstylists, and anything local. Yelp makes it fast and easy by collecting and organizing your friends' recommendations in one convenient place."
Add your review of the Awaken Cafe on YELP. Let's tell the world what that we're looking forward to the Awaken Cafe before it is even here!
