Marrow closes, Shakewell, Half Orange open

Openings, closings…

MARROW CLOSES Marrow, the lunch restaurant opened last year by Jon Kosorek (who gained a loyal following with his Jon’s Street Eats truck) has closed up shop. The last day for the meat-loving spot at 325 19th St. (at Harrison) in Oakland was July 2. Kosorek said the past year has been demanding for himself and his wife, Amy Porter Kosorek. A new baby and health concerns on both sides of the family prompted the decision, as well as the continuing hunt for a new, bigger location. Marrow sourced local, sustainably raised whole animals and then used different techniques to use the entire animal. Menu items might have included beef heart tartare along with more conventional offerings like a classic Reuben sandwich. But Kosorek had to deviate from his original concept, adding dishes like grilled cheese sandwiches and vegetarian options like tomato and avocado salads, because the market wasn’t there. “We dumbed down the menu to where it’s basically a burger joint,” he told the East Bay Express. Writing on Marrow’s Facebook page, Kosorek said he is going to work with a friend in Napa who runs “a really great open-fire catering business, and work on finding the ideal location for Marrow or the next incarnation of Marrow.”

SHAKEWELL OPENS TODAY Shakewell, the new Spanish-Mediterranean neighborhood restaurant from chef-owners Jen Biesty and Tim Nugent — both former contestants on the TV show Top Chef – opens today at 3407 Lakeshore Ave. (at Longridge). Here’s the opening menu, which includes bacalao croquetas with green garlic, deviled quail egg with pimentón and serrano ham, chili-chocolate braised short rib, chicken albondigas, calamari “bombas,” and, for dessert, churros with spiced chocolate sauce, saffron ice cream, and flan Catalan. Read all about the restaurant on Nosh. Eater SF has a photo gallery of the interiors, which were designed by The Bon Vivants Design+Build.

BASELINE GROCERY Looks like a new fresh produce market is coming to Emeryville at 47th St. and Adeline. Details are slim, but chatter on a local neighborhood list-serve suggests the store, possibly called Baseline Produce, will go into the Bakery Lofts building at 5000 Adeline that will also welcome new coffee shop Basic Café. The new produce market will also offer organic produce CSA boxes, it is said. We’ll keep you posted.

AUNT MARY’S CAFÉ Favorite Southern inspired comfort food brunch and lunch Temescal spot Aunt Mary’s Café — which also now serves dinner — is moving down the street, from its current spot at 4307 Telegraph to the former Clausen House Thrift Shop location at 4640 Telegraph, next door to the old Hooper’s Chocolates building. Co-owner Jack Stewart told East Bay Express the restaurant’s new home has a more prominent street presence and is located closer to the part of Temescal that gets the heaviest foot traffic. There’s also the possibility for a much larger walk-in fridge which will allow the restaurant to greatly expand its recently relaunched dinner menu, and to eventually offer dinner five nights a week. (Currently, dinner is Thursday through Saturday only, 5:30-9 p.m.) The newly relocated Aunt Mary’s should be ready for customers later this summer.

ENOTECA MOLINARI Enoteca Molinari, the Italian wine bar at 5474 College Ave. in Rockridge hopes to expand. Owner Joe Madison told Inside Scoop SF he has applied for a permit to expand into next-door space, currently a hair salon, which would double the size of the restaurant. There are also plans to offer a cocktail program. The development might be a way’s off, as permits and neighbors’ approval are still pending.

THE HALF ORANGE We told you about new sausage-and-beer joint The Half Orange from restaurateur and San Diego transplant Jay Porter back in May. Now the restaurant, at 3340 E. 12th St., #11 in the Fruitvale Public Market, has opened for lunch, reports Inside Scoop. The menu includes a grass-fed burger, a sausage-and-kimchi sandwich, and a street-food dish called salchipapas that combines French fries, sausage, chorizo, and kimchi. The Half Orange takes a similar approach to what Porter did at his San Diego-based restaurant The Linkery, which closed in July: “keeping things simple and focused on hand made sausage, grass-fed burgers and craft beer. Porter and his wife are still working to open Salsipuedes in North Oakland’s Longfellow neighborhood, at 4201 Market St., and see that business as “a complement” to The Half Orange where hours are weekdays from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.

What else is going on…

SAM’S LOG CABIN Sam’s popular Albany brunch spot (and real log cabin) Sam’s Log Cabin, at 945 San Pablo Ave., is hoping to expand its kitchen and backyard to include more outdoor seating, and to be able to hold community events and live music — and it has launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds to do it. Rhasaan Fernandez and Mike Daillak took over the cabin from the original Sam’s family four years ago and their goal is for the place to be a “cozy and warm place where the community can enjoy a great breakfast or lunch in an atmosphere that is as local and organic as the food, all while engaging with each other and the local arts scene.” Visit their Kickstarter page for details on how to support them.