LA-BASED LEMONADE, A FAST-CASUAL RESTAURANT, TO FOURTH STREET The health-minded chain opened its first East Bay location in Walnut Creek this fall, and now Lemonade has its eyes set on the new Fourth Street development next to Spenger’s Fish Grotto in West Berkeley. It will likely open in spring 2017. Lemonade offers ready-made dishes like salads and sandwiches made with local, seasonal ingredients that are served cafeteria style. Menu items include roasted broccoli salad with ricotta and Champagne vinaigrette, seared ahi tuna with crushed orange-ginger ponzu, and fig and Tuscan kale salad with hazelnuts. According to Lemonade’s website, the chain’s mission is “to offer a delicious and health-conscious alternative to cheap food on the run eaten out of your car and a true sit-down meal without pretense. … We aspire to take the elitism out of conscious eating and put emphasis on convenience, flexibility, and affordability.” Chef Alan Jackson, along with his wife, Heidi Jackson, opened the first Lemonade location in West Hollywood in 2008. It now has close to 30 locations throughout California. Connect with Lemonade on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
THE ORGANIC COUP OPENED THIS WEEK ON TELEGRAPH The USDA certified organic fried chicken restaurant held its official Berkeley opening Dec. 21. The Organic Coup‘s menu is simple — fried chicken, served as a sandwich, wrap, or salad with a choice of four sauces. The chicken, sourced from Mary’s, is fried in coconut oil. It sources its bread from a 30-year baking veteran in Hayward and its produce through Bay City Produce in San Leandro. Co-owner Eric Welton and her partner Dennis Hoover formerly worked at Costco and used their experience there to envision a type of fast food that “disrupts” the current fast-food industry. In addition to shutting the door on GMO’s and chemicals, this vision incorporates fair labor ethics with wages at $15 per hour. “We are inspired about delivering great food at a fair price, and [about] creating all of these jobs and disrupting a fast-food market,” Welton told Nosh this fall. “We believe a change can happen.” The Organic Coup is at 2309 Telegraph Ave. (at Bancroft Avenue), Berkeley. Connect with the restaurant on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
THE GASTROPIG TO UPTOWN A new pork-centric breakfast sandwich restaurant is getting ready to open at 2123 Franklin St. in January. Called The Gastropig, it is co-owned by Oakland residents Loren Goodwin and Ann Thai, who have worked at Chez Panisse and Lake Chalet Bar & Grill, respectively, among other East Bay restaurants. Gastropig’s signature sandwich seems catered directly to the new Uptown crowd: it’s called #Baconslut, and it includes applewood smoked bacon, an over easy egg, cheddar cheese, and Aleppo chili aioli. Other sandwiches include a “Scrambled Sando,” which has a vegetarian option, and a sausage biscuit sandwich. Pastries (including that biscuit) will come from Firebrand Artisan Breads. Goodwin and Thai also have a lunch menu in the works, which will include an “Ode to Genova” Italian combo sandwich in honor of the long-running Temescal delicatessen that closed earlier this year. The restaurant’s opening date is currently set for Jan. 3. The Gastropig will be at 2123 Franklin St. (between 21st and 22nd streets), Oakland. Connect with the restaurant on Facebook and Instagram.
1951 COFFEE OPENING IN JANUARY Back in June, we brought you the story of 1951 Coffee, a non-profit coffee company that helps train refugees to become baristas. In addition to the training program, 1951 has also been working on building out its café space at 2410 Channing Way, in Berkeley’s First Presbyterian Church. Co-owners Doug Hewitt and Rachel Taber say the café will open sometime next month. The café will be a training ground for refugees enrolled in the training program, as well as an educational space for customers. The café will feature digital displays and a curved table on the flipside of the espresso machine, which will encourage baristas to chat with customers while making drinks. It will have a slower vibe than the typical coffee shop, and its layout will allow customers to flow past advocacy spaces and absorb the café’s story told through its design. 1951 will serve coffee from Verve, the Santa Cruz-based coffee roaster. 1951 Coffee will be at 2410 Channing Way (at Dana Street), Berkeley. Connect with the coffee shop on Facebook and Instagram.
POKE PARLOR TO OPEN IN FEBRUARY While it is one of several new poke restaurants for Berkeley, Telegraph Avenue’s Poke Parlor hopes to set itself out above the pack with a commitment to sustainability. Co-owner Walter Mak told Berkeleyside in an email that all of Poke Parlor’s main ingredients will be 100% sustainable. Translation? “If not farmed, the fish are caught with environmental-friendly fishing methods without harming any other wild species, still being sustainably sourced.” It will also make use of local organic produce and biodegradable bowls, cups and napkins. In addition to this focus on sustainable fish, Poke Parlor will also be experimenting with fusion as it creates its menu. Mak said the restaurant’s poke bowls will draw on Korean, Japanese, Latin and Hawaiian flavors, to “give our consumers a new perception of the poke fad.” Items of Latin inspiration include shrimp ceviche, a creamy chipotle sauce, and the use of nacho chips as a base for poke, according to co-owner Jeffery Wang. Mak and Wang plan to open Feb. 15. Poke Parlor will be at 2485 Telegraph Ave. (between Haste Street and Dwight Way), Berkeley. Connect with the restaurant on Facebook and Instagram.
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