Openings, closings
MR. DEWIES TO ALBANY The vegan ice cream company is opening its flagship scoop shop in the former Burger Depot location at 1116 Solano Ave. in Albany. Mr. Dewie’s has already posted signs on the windows and announced the pending opening on its Facebook page. The owners hope to open in January 2016. Mr. Dewie’s “Cashew Corner,” as they are calling the shop, will exclusively sell the company’s cashew-based ice cream and will “create a space where [it] can make small batches, have greater freedom to explore new flavors, produce innovative dessert options, and use more seasonal and local ingredients.” Mr. Dewie’s raised money for the shop through a successful Indiegogo campaign, on which we reported this spring. Mr. Dewie’s will be at 1116 Solano Ave. (at Kains Avenue), Albany. Connect with the company on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
KOBANI REMODELING UPDATE: We’ve heard back from Kobani owner Emin Tekin, and we learned that the restaurant is not closed. Rather, it is undergoing a remodel and should re-open in a couple of months. Original post: Berkeley’s Kobani Kurdish and Mediterranean Grill, which we profiled in July, has been closed, at least temporarily, without explanation. Its windows are covered in paper, and phone calls to the restaurant have gone unanswered. The restaurant opened in May, and had been receiving plenty of raves on Yelp and in the Berkeleyside office. We have reached out to owner Emin Tekin and will keep you posted if we learn more. Kobani is at 1901 University Ave. (at Martin Luther King Jr. Way), Berkeley. Connect with the restaurant on Facebook.
OAKLAND CRUSH SOFT OPENING NEXT WEEK We last brought you news about Oakland Crush, the forthcoming Jack London Square wine store, in August. Owner Erin Coburn has had a quick turnaround for the space, and she told NOSH that she is planning to softly open the store next Tuesday, Oct. 27. Oakland Crush will showcase wines from small-production, independent wineries, many of which (of course) are local to Northern California. The store will also include a tasting area where Coburn hopes to host wine tastings a couple days a week. Oakland Crush will be at 420 3rd St. (at Broadway), Oakland. Connect with the shop on Facebook and Instagram.
IRON PAN TRANSFORMS TO URBANO LATINO Temescal’s eight-month-old crepe restaurant, Iron Pan, has transformed into Urbano Latino, according to Inside Scoop. The new concept has a pan-Latin menu, and it offers dishes like steamed seafood in sangria, paella, taquitos and pollo con mole. Urbano Latino has the same owner, Waleed Jueiwnat, as Iron Pan; he told Inside Scoop that he decided to change things up once the restaurant received its full liquor license. Jueiwnat has added two happy hours, from 4-6:30 p.m. and from 9:30 p.m. onwards. The restaurant is now open for dinner on weeknights; brunch, lunch and dinner are available weekends. Urbano Latino is at 4307 Telegraph Ave. (between 43rd and 44th streets), Oakland. Connect with the restaurant on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
PREVIOUSLY IN SHOP TALK: MOUTAIN MIKE’S PIZZA After three years of winding its way through the city approval process and construction, Mountain Mike’s Pizza has finally opened at 1610 San Pablo Ave. near Cedar Street. Manager Raj Sidhu says the place opened on Sept. 11 and has been crowded with locals ever since. “They are so happy they have a pizza joint nearby where they can come,” said Sidhu. Yelp reviews have been positive as well. Mountain Mike’s offers 13 pizzas and 30 toppings which can be combined into custom pizzas. The restaurant offers discounts on its popular lunch buffet to Cal students, workers, and alumni as well as police officers and firefighters. Lunch buffet is from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. each weekday (although Sidhu says he often opens before that for early birders). There is also a Wednesday night buffet and online ordering. Patrons can eat on an outdoor patio. [by Frances Dinkelspiel] Mountain Mike’s Pizza is at 1610 San Pablo Ave (at Cedar Street), Berkeley. Connect with the restaurant on Facebook and Twitter.
CANCÚN CLOSED FOR REPAIRS UPDATE: Cancún has re-opened, according to a post on its Facebook page Oct. 22: “Great news! Cancun will be back open tomorrow thank you for all of your patience [sic]. We will see you tomorrow!” Original post: Downtown Berkeley’s Cancún restaurant has been closed since Oct. 8, ostensibly for repairs. A sign on the restaurant’s door and a post on the restaurant’s Facebook page both state that Cancún plans to “re-open soon.” We were unable to reach the restaurant by phone, and when we stopped by, the space appeared empty and not under construction. We will keep you posted if we learn more. Cancún is at 2134 Allston Way (at Oxford Street), Berkeley. Connect with the restaurant on Facebook.
What else is going on…
SYHABOUT NEWS: COMMIS GETS ANOTHER MICHELIN STAR, HAWKER FARE BOOK Michelin’s star list dropped earlier this week, and while no new East Bay restaurants made the cut, James Syhabout‘s Commis gained another star. The Piedmont Avenue prix fixe restaurant now holds two stars, a ranking that the Michelin guide reserves for restaurants with “excellent cuisine, worth a detour.” Commis joins Acquerello, Atelier Crenn, Baumé, Campton Place, Coi and Quince (all in San Francisco) with this status. Syhabout also announced this week that he will be penning a cookbook of recipes from Hawker Fare, his Southeast Asian street food restaurant with locations in both Oakland and San Francisco. According to Inside Scoop, Syhabout will write the book in conjunction with Oakland-based food writer John Birdsall. The book will be published by ECCO’s Anthony Bourdain line of books sometime in fall 2017. Commis is at 3859 Piedmont Ave. (between Rio Vista Avenue and Montell Street), Oakland. Connect with the restaurant on Facebook. Hawker Fare is at 2300 Webster St. (at 23rd Street), Oakland. Connect with the restaurant on Facebook and Twitter.
CRUSH & CRAFT FESTIVAL The Crush & Craft Festival, on Sunday Oct. 25, 2-5 p.m., at the DoubleTree by Hilton Berkeley Marina, promises to be great fun. Many local craft breweries and restaurants will be there — Sierra Nevada, Trumer Pils, T-Rex and Skates to name a few. Expect also live music, a beer garden, wine room, food tasting, a silent auction, lots of networking opportunities… not forgetting sunset views of the bay. Info and tickets at Berkeley Chamber’s website.
JUHU BEACH CLUB ADDS TASTING MENU In other Bourdain-related news, Temescal’s Juhu Beach Club has added a tasting menu of all of the dishes enjoyed by the New York-based television personality on his recent visit for the Bay Area episode of Parts Unknown. On the $70 two-person menu is bhel salad, Manchurian cauliflower or chili paneer, methi chicken leg and lamb kofta. Juhu recommends Linden Street‘s black lager for drinking. The show aired earlier this week, and also included visits to Emeryville’s Trader Vic’s and Old Oakland’s Miss Ollie’s, plus a few locations in San Francisco. We’re not sure how long the menu deal will stick around, so stop in soon if you’d like to eat like a television star. Juhu Beach Club is at 5179 Telegraph Ave. (at 51st Street), Oakland. Connect with the restaurant on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
EAT DRINK FILM FEST INCLUDES POLLAN MOVIE SCREENING The one-day food-focused film festival will take place Saturday Oct. 24 in San Francisco, and it will be showing “In Defense of Food,” an “entertaining exploration of the themes from Michael Pollan‘s best-selling book,” at 4 p.m. at the Roxie Theater. The film’s director, Michael Schwartz (who also directed the film adaptation of Pollan’s “The Botany of Desire”) will speak with Dean Schillinger of the UCSF Hospital and Diabetes Center after the screening. Vegetarian bites will be available beforehand. The Eat Drink Film Fest is a co-production of Eat Drink Films and FoodDay.org. Other films on the roster include “El Somni,” “The Ways of Wine,” and “Babette’s Feast.” Find more information here. Purchase tickets here.
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[Editor’s Note: The headline of this post was updated after publication after we learned Kobani is remodeling, not closing.]
