ALPHA DESIGN A new custom upholstery store has opened at 2001 San Pablo Ave., on the corner of University Avenue). Alpha Design has over 250 frame styles for chairs and sofas and over 1,000 types of fabric. Typical frame jobs take about two to three weeks on average, with a company in Los Angeles handling the actual upholstery. The product styles range from traditional and modern to more unusual frames, like a seven-foot tall “Dr. Seuss” chair. Owner Hans Reinhardt said Alpha Design will be launching a new website in the next two weeks.
NOURISH Healing arts collective Nourish moved into a three-room suite this May at 1285 Gilman St., above Berkeley Bagels. The owner, Heather Lind, runs another Nourish location in San Francisco that offers therapeutic massage and skin care services. Lind said Nourish has four licensed practitioners, including herself, who provide services including holistic massages, facials, eye lash extensions, yoga, birth services, and nutrition. By appointment only, no walk-ins.
SPORTS BASEMENT Construction of the new Sports Basement at 2727 Milvia St., in the space previously occupied by Berkeley’s popular IceLand ice rink, has completed its first phase, said project manager David Rumberg. This phase included soft demolition of bleachers and the ice rink and other nonstructural aspects of the interior. The next phase will be to acquire shoring and excavation permits from the City of Berkeley for doing investigative work on the structure of the building. Rumberg said the city has been very responsive and that the store is still on schedule to open sometime in Spring 2014.
SPATS A tip from a reader indicates that Spats Restaurant at 1974 Shattuck Ave. is once again showing signs of a possible re-opening. Part-owners Cynthia and Phillip Taw received a liquor license in 2012 that expires in August 2014, and there is apparently work going on inside the bar. The restaurant and bar that once featured plush chairs, abundant taxidermy, microwaved tater tots, and a bizarre but beloved drink menu has been vacant since 2009. We’ll keep you posted on further updates.
ARTICHOKE BASILLE’S PIZZA In case you missed the food news in our Bites column last week, New York style pizza slices are coming to Berkeley’s Telegraph Avenue neighborhood with the opening — before Halloween it is hoped — of Artichoke Basille’s Pizza at 2590 Durant Ave., on the corner of Bowditch. Jim Trevor, who is helping open the new pizzeria, says it’s the first West Coast location for the group which has several New York branches. None other than Keith Richards and Momofuku’s David Chang are fans of Artichoke Basille’s pizza it is said!
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.
-By Eli Wolfe
