Openings, closings…
TAKE 5 A new café and art space is coming to 3132 Sacramento St. in Berkeley. Details are sketchy, but it looks like local roasters Bicycle Coffee will be served, as there is a sign at the site indicating as much. The space, which is currently being built-out, is just north of the new Moxy Beer Garden, which we told you about in March. Take 5’s owners are due to check in with us so we’ll bring you an update in a future Bites column. (Hat-tip: Dan Lennon)
PUCQUIO PERUVIAN RESTAURANT Formerly a pop-up in the area, Peruvian street food eatery Pucquio has found a permanent home. According to Tablehopper, the restaurant has set up shop in the space formerly occupied by a rotating series of local chefs through the Guest Chef venture. Guest Chef wrapped up operations last week. At Pucquio, a tentative menu of authentic Peruvian street food — with special attention to seafood — is now being served up for dinner, but the restaurant plans to add lunch soon. Pucquio is open starting at 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday at 5337 College Ave. in Oakland.
BARREL ROOM WINE BAR Just down the street from Pucquio, the San Francisco-based Barrel Room will open up an East Bay expansion at 5330 College Ave. come September. It will take over the space from Multiple Threads. The Barrel Room ventures to explore rare worldly wines, overturning its tasting menu every six weeks to focus on a new region of the world. Although the wine menu will be identical at both locations, the new East Bay space will be larger and offer a fuller menu of entrees.
MRS. MUNCHIES Late-night cookie delivery service Mrs. Munchies will deliver its final batch of cookies Friday, July 19, before it closes for the summer (orders can be placed until 8 p.m.). Mrs. Munchies told Berkeleyside in an email that the business is “planning to reopen in September with a different way of cookie-mongering.” We’re not sure exactly what that means, but a new website gives us sneak peek into the new platform.
MAYA MERCADO AND DELI The owner of West Coast Pizza, Benny Hurta, is opening Maya Mercado and Deli at 1704 University Ave. at McGee Avenue in Berkeley, directly next door to the pizza place. (The storefront used to house Pla2 Thai Market, which reopened under a new owner in summer 2011 but closed not long after.) According to the building’s owner, Edwin Warner, Maya Mercado will serve burritos and salads for takeout, along with Mexican sodas and similar market offerings. Construction is complete, but Hurta is waiting on a final inspection, and should be ready to open in a few weeks.
PACIFIC COOKIE COMPANY Well-established in the university scene, the Santa Cruz-based bakery Pacific Cookie Company is set to open a new retail spot on Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley this fall. The family-based venture started in 1980 and, according to its website, “quickly developed a loyal cookie following.” The business later expanded to offer delivery around the San Francisco and Monterey areas. Berkeleyside will have details on the company’s plans for the new location soon.
NAN YANG Burmese restaurant Nan Yang, which opened in 1992 and is said to have been the first of its kind in the Bay Area, has closed its doors at 6048 College Ave. in Oakland. Owner and chef Philip Chu, who came to the United States in 1969, is now 80 years old and said he feels it’s finally time to retire. He has sold the space to a new owner, and rumor has it that it will be replaced by a Chinese restaurant. Read Inside Scoop’s in-depth narrative of Chu’s immigration and entrepreneurial adventure with Nan Yang.
PEARL OF SIAM A few blocks from Nan Yang, at 5498 College Ave., Oakland Thai food spot Pearl of Siam has also closed. However, Diablo Dish tells us that another Thai restaurant — Sukho Thai — has applied for a liquor license in that spot and may be moving in.
What else is going on…
MONSTERS OF GREECE According to wine merchant Vintage Berkeley, “there’s more to Greek wine than Retsina,” and these aficionados want to prove it. The merchant’s two Berkeley locations, at 2113 Vine St. and 2949 College Ave., will each hold a Greek wine tasting event Friday, July 19, with two time slots: 5:30-6:30 and 7-8 p.m. The cost is $10 per person, but those who can correctly answer the Greek wine trivia question on their event page can sample the 10 featured wines — from handpicked vines in Santorini, Naoussa and Cephalonia, to name a few — for free.
DISHCRAWL: PIEDMONT AVENUE Dishcrawl is saying farewell to July with a crawl down Piedmont Avenue on Wednesday, July 31, at 7 p.m. The restaurant list is currently a secret, but Dishcrawl says it will post hints on Twitter and Facebook for those who keep an eye out. Buy tickets here.
Recent Nosh stories (in case you missed them):
Eat the Street: Elmwood Café defines community
Amadeus brings dash of style to Berkeley
Emilia’s pizza in Berkeley: is it really worth all the fuss?
Six stand-out East Bay restaurant wine lists
Off The Grid brings food trucks to El Cerrito
Bites is Nosh’s round-up of restaurant openings, happenings and closings in the East Bay. Some of these items will have first appeared in Berkeleyside’s Shop Talk column. Got a tip or scoop? Send it our way to nosh@berkeleyside.com.
-By Camille Baptista
