By far the most controversial story of the week surrounded Rogue Café, a pop-up brunch spot in south Berkeley. With its crisp waffles, which its chef Eric Thoreson spent weeks perfecting, and its funky back-door décor, the story seemed a perfect example of this region’s do-it-yourself locavore movement. But readers wanted to know more: did Rogue have a permit? Was the food safe? How could the owners operate a commercial business in a residential district? There were 167 comments on the story, expressing concerns that wavered between the operation’s legality and Berkeley’s rush to regulate. The commentators also criticized us for not asking the tough questions in the first place. By the end of Monday, the Health Department had contacted Thoreson about his operations and Rogue Café officially became a private, by invitation, brunch.
Kriss Worthington’s decision to jump into the Berkeley mayoral race prompted discussion of Berkeley’s political future and whether Worthington, Tom Bates, or someone else would be the city’s best steward.
With the Berkeley City Council poised to adopt a resolution next week asking that the U.S. Postal service not sell the main post office at 2000 Allston Way, the future of this historic building has suddenly become central to the future of downtown. But, given the lack of success of other communities around the country, the likelihood of stopping the sale is slim. Still, Berkeleyans are not going to sit idly by. They held a rally outside the building on Tuesday, and are talking about forming a national coalition to fight the sales of historic post offices.
And for something just plain fun, check out John Rieger and Nancy Rubin’s podcast/slide show of proud chicken owners. Berkeley backyard farmers take pride in their chicks.
Do you like staying informed about local news? Would you miss Berkeleyside if we were gone? Then please consider helping to sustain this independently owned, locally grown news site by supporting us with a subscription of as little as $5 a month.
