Openings, closings
THE DOCK TO CLOSE, REOPEN AS BREWPUB IN 2017 The big news out of Oakland this week is that James Syhabout’s West Oakland restaurant The Dock will have its last night of service in its current iteration on Saturday. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Syhabout will reopen the restaurant early next year with a new partner, Adam Lamoreaux, who co-founded the next-door Linden Street Brewery in 2009, but left the company in 2014. Linden Street Brewery will leave the building by the end of the year, and will move to an as-yet-unnamed new location. Once Linden Street leaves, the new restaurant project will take over the space, with Lamoreaux heading the brewing portion of the venture. He told the Chron that he will continue to brew classic beer styles, similar to his approach at Linden Street. Syhabout will reimagine the food menu to have a more casual approach than The Dock, with a focus on beer-friendly food like sausages, burgers and sandwiches. The new restaurant is not yet named. It seems that the change was spurred by the sale of the building that houses both the brewery and restaurant to Pandion Investments and Cyrus Etemad (Los Angeles’s Highland Park Bowling Alley in Los Angeles and Portland’s Hawthorne Theatre). It will be renamed the Standard Underground Building. Meanwhile, the adjoining The Beer Shed tasting room will remain open throughout construction. The Dock is at 95 Linden St. (near 3rd Street), Oakland. Connect with the restaurant on Twitter and Instagram.
AGRODOLCE SETS OPENING DATE We won’t have to wait much longer for the new Sicilian restaurant Agrodolce to open in the former Café Gratitude space. Co-owner Angelo D’Alo told Nosh that he has set an opening date for Sept. 15. Agrodolce will be a natural extension of the D’Alo family’s Elmwood restaurant, Trattoria La Siciliana. While the trattoria serves a classic Italian menu peppered with Sicilian specialties, Agrodolce will focus exclusively on food from Sicily, where Angelo’s mother, Rosa, was raised. Much of the menu will be vegetarian and seafood-based, and Agrodolce will offer a 100% Italian wine list, in addition to beer. Cocktails will be added in the coming months. Agrodolce will be at 1730 Shattuck Ave. (at Francisco Street), Berkeley. Connect with the restaurant on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
DUCHESS OAKLAND TO REPLACE CAFÉ RUSTICA A new all-day neighborhood pub is set to open this fall on College Avenue in the former location of Café Rustica, which closed in 2015. Called Duchess Oakland, the new restaurant will serve “California-inspired pub fare,” such as a sausage and egg “Duch-Muffin” at breakfast, takeaway meals like sandwiches and burgers at lunch, and fish and chips at dinner. Kid-friendly options like chicken nuggets and grilled cheese will be served all day long, and beverages will include cocktails, craft beer and “unpretentious” wine. The restaurant is a project of chef Candice Caris (who cooked for Steve Jobs, among others), pastry chef Caroline Conner (Nopa and Sprouts Cooking Club) and winemaker Chris Strieter (Sonoma County’s Senses Wines). “We wanted to reconsider what a pub is and the culture that goes along with it,” said Conner in a press release. “Think comfort food with people you love. Fresh, seasonal, creative and simple for sharing with your friends and family.” Opening is currently set for late September. Duchess Oakland will be at 5422 College Ave. (at Kales Avenue), Oakland. Connect with the restaurant on Twitter and Instagram.
CHIPOTLE HEADED TO DOWNTOWN BERKELEY In case El Burro Picante, Fresco and Cancún weren’t enough to satisfy a burrito craving next to the Downtown Berkeley BART station, there will soon be another option: Chipotle, which will open its third Berkeley location at 2225 Shattuck Ave. in the near future. The fast-casual burrito chain will open in the former location of Alko Office Supply, and it plans to serve beer in addition to the rest of its menu. Chipotle will be at 2225 Shattuck Ave. (at Kittredge Street), Berkeley. Connect with the restaurant on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
TAVA KITCHEN TO ALAMEDA In other fast-casual news, Palo Alto-based Tava Kitchen is making plans to open its third location in the Alameda Landing shopping center this fall. Tava Kitchen serves build-your-own bowls, plates and “Burrotis” with proteins and toppings steeped in both South Asian and California culinary traditions. In other words, Tava’s got dishes from India, Pakistan, Burma, Nepal and Malaysia, all made with local ingredients. (There is, of course, a twist on a kale salad on the menu.) As the founders write on the restaurant’s website: “These two cuisines normally clash in flavor and style. With South Asian cuisine, food tastes like the spices you season it with. The food itself is just a vector for the spice flavors to get into your mouth. In California cuisine, on the other hand, the ingredients are the stars of the show. The goal is to use cooking techniques to bring out the underlying brilliance of each component.” Tava Kitchen will be at 2640 5th St. (at Singleton Avenue), Alameda. Connect with the restaurant on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Dinners and events
EAT PASTA FOR EARTHQUAKE RELIEF We were a little slow to report on these fundraising efforts, but there are several East Bay restaurants currently raising money for relief funds for earthquake-hit Amatrice, Italy by offering donations from sales of the region’s signature pasta all’amatriciana. In Berkeley, Riva Cucina is donating all proceeds from the sale of the dish through this evening to a fund set up by the region of Emilia-Romagna solely for earthquake relief. In Oakland, A16 Rockridge is donating $3 from every plate of pasta all’amatriciana sold through this evening, Desco is donating $5 and Lake Chalet is donating $2 per plate through Sept. 4, and Pizzaiolo may still be donating a portion proceeds as well. In Alameda, Trabacco will be donating $3 of every plate of pasta all’amatriciana through Sept. 6, plus 10% of all food sales on Sept. 6. Riva Cucina is at 800 Heinz Ave. (near Seventh Street), Berkeley. Connect with the restaurant on Facebook. A16 Rockridge is at 5356 College Ave. (near Manila Street), Oakland. Connect with the restaurant on Facebook and Twitter. Desco is at 499 Ninth St. (at Washington Street), Oakland. Connect with the restaurant on Facebook and Twitter. Lake Chalet Seafood Bar and Grill is at 1520 Lakeside Dr. (near 14th Street), Oakland. Connect with the restaurant on Facebook. Pizzaiolo is at 5008 Telegraph Ave. (at 51st Street), Oakland. Connect with the restaurant on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Trabocco is at 2213 South Shore Center, Alameda. Connect with the restaurant on Facebook.
MAKER’S COMMON HAPPY HOUR Maker’s Common, the new charcuterie, cheese and wine spot headed to 1945 University Ave., is holding a second happy hour in its new space Sept. 7 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. The happy hour is an opportunity to learn about the project’s Direct Public Offering fundraising model, to see 3D renderings of the buildout, and to sample some of the food and drink that will be on offer when Maker’s Common opens early next year. Like June’s happy hour, the event is open to anyone interested in learning more, but RSVPs are required. Maker’s Common will be at 1954 University Ave. (at Bonita Avenue), Berkeley. Connect with the restaurant on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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