GETTING MEATY Green Papaya, the Thai vegetarian restaurant at 2016 Shattuck in downtown, is switching it up. It’s changing its name to Thanu’s Kitchen and is adding meat to the menu. A notice on the door says that the new spot will open soon. “Although we’re changing things up a bit here, we will still offer vegetarians our selective menu and, no worries, our utilities such as pots, pans, and ingredients for vegetarian will most definitely be separated from non-vegetarian,” write the owners, who say the change is due to “a low volume of vegan/vegetarian consumers”.
SPORTY OPENING Berkeleyans who are still missing Blakes, which closed its doors last year after 71 years, can now patronize Pappy’s on Telegraph, which opened a couple of weeks ago in the old Blake’s space at 2367 Telegraph Avenue. According to the East Bay Express, there is “a giant TV screen, plenty of sips, pitchers and noshes, and enough blue and gold to satisfy any Oski devotee”. The name is a nod to former football coach Pappy Waldorf.
WIGGLY LAUNCH Urban Adamah, the one-acre faith-based farm which opened last June in Berkeley, is set to open a spin-off composting business any day now. As founder Adam Berman told Berkeleyside’s food writer Sarah Henry, “We’re moving into the worm business.”
NEW COFFEE SPOT Tablehopper reports that Berkeley boasts a new “teeny-tiny coop café” at 3140 Martin Luther King Jr. Way. Alchemy Collective is the grown-up version of the coffee cart that the owners used to operate in the parking lot of BioFuel Oasis. The café is all about third-wave coffee and serves Verve on a La Marzocco machine.
SHARP CUTS “Oh please, you have to write something about the new Platform Barbers. These guys are the coolest!” writes reader Kristin Leimkuhler. The new African American owned and operated barbershop at 1715 University (between Mcgee and Grant) does both designer and kids cuts for $8. “They are so welcoming of all people — they even told me they will do dogs by appointment on Sundays!” says Leimkuhler, who signs off “Mother of a sharp looking boy”. Platform Barbers are on (510) 504-6953.
BANH MI ON WHEELS Healthy Heavenly Foods, which left the Bear’s Lair Food Court two years ago, is back on campus with a trendy food truck. Owner Ann Vu’s Vietnamese sandwiches (Banh Mi) proved so popular on her first day she sold out. The sandwiches features Acme bread, which, according to those in the know, is “the closest thing to Vietnamese baguettes in the western hemisphere.” Find the truck in front of ASUC near Bancroft and Telegraph.
Shop Talk is our regular column in which we post updates on Berkeley businesses — openings, closings, new directions, relaunches, relocations. If you’re a Berkeley business with news, or a Berkeleysider who has spotted a change in your neighborhood or on your travels, shoot us an email with the details. Read previous Shop Talk columns here.
Berkeleyside publishes many articles every day. To see all our stories in chronological order, and read ones you may have missed, check out All the News.
