Openings, closings…
SAUSAGE GRILL TO TEMESCAL Rosamunde Sausage Grill is set to open in the old Good Bellies Café space at 4659 Telegraph Ave. It’s the second East Bay location for the sausage and craft beer purveyor, which is also at Swan’s Marketplace in Old Oakland. Inside Scoop SF reports that owner Josh Margolis thinks Temescal’s restaurant row, with all its buzz, is “a great place to be.” It’s the fifth Rosamunde location — others are in San Francisco and Brooklyn. Rosamunde Sausage Grill will be at 4659 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. Connect with Rosamunde on Facebook and Twitter.
UME IS NO MORE It’s only been the blink of an eye, but Oakland’s Ume, next door to Plum Bar, both part of the Daniel Patterson Group empire, has been shuttered. It will re-open as an expanded Plum Bar & Restaurant, according to the Bay Area News Group. Plum became Japanese-centric Ume — Japanese for “plum” — just four months ago, while Plum Bar next door continued as was. The newly configured spot will offer a seasonal menu of “Americana flavors,” including biscuit sandwiches, Plum Bar burgers, and soft-serve desserts from the Malted, a hit at San Francisco’s Alta CA, another Patterson eatery. A Patterson Group rep told Inside Scoop SF that Ume was “always meant to be a pop-up to see if that format/style worked for the neighborhood,” and that ultimately it was decided “that expanding Plum Bar made the most sense for the community.” Plum Bar is at 2216 Broadway (near 22nd Street) in Oakland. Connect with Plum Bar on Facebook and Twitter.
OORI ON SOLANO We hear from our friends on Chow that the old Sophia Café — which closed in May — is now Oori Rice Triangles. For those unfamiliar with them, rice triangles are a popular snack in Japan, and are made by wrapping rice and a variety of proteins in roasted seaweed. Oori features its grilled salmon, chicken teriyaki, Korean barbecue and spicy shrimp on its website. The restaurant says it avoids the use of artificial preservatives, MSG and high fructose corn syrup. Albany Patch has posted a short overview. See the restaurant menu here. Oori is located at 1247 Solano Ave. in Albany. Its hours are posted online.
SMASHBURGER TO EMERYVILLE We got the news last December, from the San Francisco Business Times, that chain burger and beer restaurant Smashburger is coming to the East Bay, beginning with a restaurant in Emeryville. The company is planning nine new locations in the area. The fast-casual restaurant says its “handcrafted burgers are smashed, seared and seasoned to order, using our fresh, premium beef.” Smashburger already has more than 200 restaurants in 30 states; as of December, another 400 were in the pipeline. Nosh learned this week, via the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, that the new Emeryville location is slated to open at 1199 40th St., Suite B, between Emery Street and San Pablo Avenue. Emon and Ladonna Toliver are heading up the effort under the moniker Nor Cal Restaurant Group. The license application to sell beer and wine is pending. Connect with the business on the company website, Facebook and Twitter.
WOODS BAR & BREWERY OPEN IN UPTOWN A new bar and brewery has “soft-opened” on Telegraph Avenue (at 17th Street). Jim Woods, owner of two beer bars in San Francisco, has also done a fine renovation job of the circa 1927 building at 1701 Telegraph which, Inside Scoop SF reports, encompasses a patio highlighted by a walk-around fireplace and a 20-foot restored antique mahogany bar, along with the in-house brewery. Food includes empanadas made by San Francisco’s El Porteño and there’ll be more on menu as the place beds in. A grand opening is set for Oct. 11. Woods Bar & Brewery is at 1701 Telegraph Ave., at 17th, Oakland.
HOT ITALIAN/PASSIONE PIZZA News out of Hot Italian, the pizza mecca in Emeryville’s Public Market: according to E’ville Eye, the restaurant has become the first pizzeria in the nation to be REAL certified by the U.S. Healthful Food Council. REAL certification is achieved through a voluntary audit and its designation means the restaurant’s practices use healthy ingredients and preparation methods, healthy children’s options and portions, and sustainable sourcing practices. Hot Italian owner Fabrizio Cercatore also says he has also opened an organic pizza production company in Berkeley called Passione Pizza, at 2326 Fifth St. The company crafts pizza dough mix for homemakers and will offer pizza-making workshops. For more info, visit PizzaPassione.com or connect on Facebook and Twitter. Find Hot Italian at 5959 Shellmound St. in Emeryville, and on Facebook and Twitter.
CHANGES AT DUENDE BODEGA Beginning Sept. 13, Duende’s Bodega — the Uptown Oakland restaurant’s wine store cum coffee shop — will no longer be open regularly during the day. The Bodega will be open for dinner service, beginning at 5:30 p.m., and bottles of wine can still be bought there during evening hours. In a letter to customers explaining the move, owner/chef Paul Canales and his team wrote: “Instead of spreading our resources out over the course of the week, we are focusing our efforts on what we believe is our strongest asset: paella!” The Bodega’s Paella Fridays will continue for lunch Friday afternoons (beginning Sept. 19), from 11:45 a.m. until 2:30 p.m., with paella, ensalada de col and a few other seasonally inspired items. Duende is at 468 19th St. Connect with Duende on Facebook and Twitter.
INSTACART AND FARMSREACH Instacart, the service that can deliver groceries from multiple local stores within an hour, has partnered with FarmsReach, a network of small- and medium-sized farms, to deliver groceries from farmers markets in Berkeley and Oakland. Instacart uses “personal shoppers” who shop for and deliver grocery orders using their own transportation in as little as one hour. For more details of the markets being served and how to open an account, visit the Instacart website.
What else is going on…
GIRLS INC. FUNDRAISER An impressive line-up of local female chefs are banding together to host the first Taste event Saturday, Sept. 13, to raise money for Girls Inc. of Alameda County, a nonprofit dedicated to inspiring all girls “to be strong, smart, and bold.” Expect delicious food and drink offered by Amy Murray of Revival and Venus, Andie Ferman of St. George Spirits, Celeste Scott of Brown Sugar Kitchen, Dionne Knox of Zella’s Soulful Kitchen, Dominica Rice-Cisneros of Cosecha, Francesca Romeo of Cathedral Bar, Jenny Schwarz of Hopscotch, Katherine Toy of Flora, Kim Alter of the Daniel Patterson Group, Lacey Sher of encuentro, Michelle Lee of Duende, Preeti Mistry of Juhu Beach Club, Rebekah Wood and Yang Peng of Wood Tavern, Sarah Kirnon of Miss Ollie’s, Shelley Lindgren of A16 Rockridge, Sophina Uong of Picán, and Tracey Belock of Lungomare. The event begins at 5 p.m. with a “Cocktail Soiree” at the new Girls Inc. Simpson Center for Girls, followed by a four-course seated dinner at the Rotunda at 300 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza, Oakland. There’s also a live auction. Tickets start at $250 and can be reserved through Eventbrite. For more information on Girls Inc., or to reserve tickets, call 510-357-5515, ext. 213, or visit Girls Inc. online.
NEW BROWN SUGAR KITCHEN BOOK On Saturday, Sept. 13, from 2-4 p.m., Tanya Holland, owner of Oakland’s Brown Sugar Kitchen and B-Side BBQ, will be at The Pasta Shop in Rockridge to talk about and sign her new book, “Brown Sugar Kitchen: New Style, Down Home Recipes from Sweet West Oakland.” The event will also feature tastings, and recipes from the book will be featured on The Pasta Shop’s weekend to-go menu, including creole gazpacho, mango-ginger limeade, pickled vegetables and andouille gougères. The Pasta Shop in Rockridge Market Hall is at 5655 College Ave., Oakland. Connect with The Pasta Shop on Facebook and Twitter. [Tanya Holland will also be at Uncharted: The Berkeley Festival of Ideas, on Oct. 24-25.]
TALK SERIES ON SODA Given the heated discussions going on about Measure D, the so-called “soda tax” that will be on the Berkeley ballot in November, “Soda: the Series,” six talks organized by the Ecology Center, is timely. The series offers conversations about sugary drinks and their impact on the health of people, the community and the environment. Experts will discuss the science of sugary drinks, tactics of the soda industry, and disease prevention efforts. The series is sponsored by the Berkeley Healthy Child Coalition, the Ecology Center, Berkeley’s Public Health Institute, Oakland’s Prevention Institute and Oakland’s Small Planet Institute. The next talk, Soda & Kids: A Predatory Relationship & How We Can Fight Back, is Saturday, Sept. 13, at 4:30 p.m. at the Ed Roberts Campus in Berkeley.
Check out these other recent Nosh stories:
Robert Reich op-ed: In its Big Soda battle, Berkeley may make history
Op-ed: Soda kills: Why we must vote yes on Measure D
Judge changes Berkeley soda tax ballot language
Alcohol-alternative bar slated for Berkeley (say what?)
Nosh on the Town: Townie in Berkeley
100 yummy recipes from a gluten-free omnivore
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