Beast Blog

Great New Bakery

Sweet Adeline: 3350 Adeline Street, Berkeley

Sweet Adeline is a new (a mere 3 months old) bakery near the intersection of Adeline, Stanford & MLK. It's good!

i stopped in this AM for the first time & was pleased. they serve organic coffee, have raw sugar as an option, and the pastry? excellent!

those that know me well know that i'm a pastry snob (i moved to the bay area to be a pastry chef, and apprenticed at the Mark Hopkins in SF). so i can be very critical about basked goods. but sweet adeline delivers.

they offer savory pastries, sweet pastries, and breads. all was fresh and made with top quailty ingredients. a worker (possibly an owner) answered questions from the person ahead of me about what apples she uses in the turnovers. "right now, granny smith. in the fall we use graventstien, grown in sepastopol." good answer!

i'll be going back!

A Favorite Nabe: Euclid Street, North of Hearst

There are many classic neighborhood strips in the East Bay -- Telegraph near Campus, Shattuck in the Gourmet Ghetto, Piedmont Ave in Oakland, College going through Rockridge (I prefer south of BART).

But, when I get on my bike on the weekends, and want a restorative and engaging afternoon away from home, I typically head to Euclid Street, just north of Hearst.

Why Euclid? There are four reasons.

1. Brewed Awakening. A coffeehouse, though I never go for the coffee. I go for the smoothies, which are good, and cheaper than Jamba Juice. I also love the wide open interior:

And there's plenty of free wi-fi, and many outlets to plug in.

3. And then, when I want coffee, wander down the sidewalk to Caffe Nefeli, serving up the what's probably the best cappuccino in the East Bay. All I know is that when I get a double cap, I don't have to tell them to go light on the milk -- most places make what is essentially a latte. Nefeli has a few tables outside that provide a comfortable reading space for nice days.

4. Not photographed, and probably not widely appreciated, but Laval's Northside, the pizzeria, always has a pinball machine in pretty good working order. Today it took $2 from me as I tried to stave off an Attack From Mars.

Do you have a favorite neighborhood that's a bit off the path? Tell us in the comments...

Foodie Trip Report

On Chowhound, a poster provides a lengthy report of her eating over 8 days in the Bay Area, much of it in the East Bay.

Yali's Cafe - Free Wi-Fi (and much more room)

Yali's Cafe, at 1920 Oxford Street, has doubled (or so) their seating space, and threw in free wi-fi in the bargain. Menu's the same (sandwiches, salads, etc.).

Spasso Cafe - Free WiFi

Spasso Cafe, at 6021 College Avenue, now has free wi-fi. One catch... you have to purchase something, and then they'll give you the password. But it's awfully pleasant in their big, bright back room, and they have some power outlets under the benches. And fresh-made lemonade, and fresh-baked cookies!

Best Little Koffee Shop

Everyone has been posting restaurants that are exceptionally creative, unique, and fru-fru. While, I'll admit, I absolutely adore the Cheese Board as much as the next anthropomorphic mouse, there are times when new and unusual doesn't fit the bill. My entry into this particular meme is the Koffee Pot, a tiny hole in the wall of a business row between 25th and 26th on Telegraph Ave. in Oakland. This miniscule munchie haven is owned by Sam and his wife, who every morning make greasy spoon breakfasts that cost under $4.00. For lunch, they craft perfect sandwiches with exactly what you'd expect inside. And the prices cannot be beat, even 10 years ago. BLT? $2.60. Triple Decker Club? $3.60. It's got to be the only place in the East Bay where you can feed two people with fresh-cooked food for $6.00. Just be patient: there are only about 7 seats inside. It's a snug little spot, and Sam deserves much love!

Caffe Trieste coming to West Berkeley

San Francisco coffeehouse stalwart Caffe Trieste (think heart-of-North-Beach, beats, and Coppola), is making it's way across the Bay. It's good to see the retail strip along San Pablo evolve. I just hope it can continue to make its way south.

Mama Buzz Birthday Party - 1/31

From their website:

Come celebrate Mama Buzz's first year. We wouldn’t have been able to open this place without the help and support of our community of creative folks. It's been a year, and our walls our dirty, our floors need a new coat and we have big ol' plans for our backyard. Sounds like it's time for a working birthday party. Food and drinks available to workers. Contact jen@mamabuzzcafe.com to volunteer time, skills or equipment.

The Drunken Boat Has The Wireless Free

Reports have come in that La Bateau Ivre, on 2629 Telegraph Avenue, has the free wi-fi. (Thanks, Leslie!)

Nomad Cafe - $7.50 for a Sandwich?

So, I went back to the Nomad Cafe last week for lunch, and saw that the sandwich that once cost $5.50 now cost $7.50. That seemed rather steep for lunch (I can't see paying more than $5.50 for a sandwich, really), and so I wrote to the Nomad folks to voice my displeasure. The proprietor wrote back. It's a thoughtful response, addressing some community issues, so I asked if I could post it to the Beast Blog, and he said yes.

Peter, I really appreciate you making the effort to share your feelings about our price increase (as well as your previous mention of our business on the beastblog listserv). If it troubles you to see our prices increase, imagine how I must feel. The whole purpose of me leaving my $150,000-per-year Hollywood film industry job and going into the cafe business (!) was to invest in my local community; to bring my earth-friendly, arts-and-community-oriented aesthetic down from my global cyber-community to a local scale, in real time and space, in my own neighborhood.

We brought a facelift, a kickstart, to this neighborhood. We created a top-end presentation where nobody would feel alienated. We have kids, old people, people of all ethnicities and orientations, some who have been neighbors for years, interacting with each other for the first time! We have internet, live music, art. Last night our installed artist, Caleb Kenna, gave a narrated slideshow presentation based on his photojournalistic experiences in Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Morocco, Thailand, Cuba. Weekly, several writers' groups gather to discuss their latest projects. This Sunday, we are catering in-house to a group of 30 supporters of the Kucinich for President campaign. Next month, hip-hop animators from West Oakland will be installed at the cafe and making multimedia presentations. We are a crucial, vibrant community crossroads. Today I spent three hours with the Coordinator of Oakland's Facade Improvement Program, canvassing the neighborhood, attempting to get City monies dedicated to Nomad Cafe's neighbors for the improvement of their businesses.

Last week, we were officially certified by the City of Oakland's Green Business program as a green business. We are implementing measures to conserve energy, water, and materials and to cut pollution. We use safe cleaning products that are mixed using an enclosed system which protects employees from spills and splashes and cuts the chances of a spill to the City's storm drain system. 95% of the waste produced at the cafe is compostable, and is recycled through a local food waste recycling program, or directly to our customers. ALL of our coffees are 100% Fair Trade, Organic. Our teas are certified organic. All of our dairy, and the majority of our produce, are organic and sustainably-produced. Our smoothies are made with fresh-squeezed juices and organic fruits. Our food, in particular our sandwiches, are EXTRAORDINARILY high-quality, delicious meals, and are served with a side of roasted potatoes and a fresh, organic fruit garnish. They and all of our foods are labor-intensive to the point of being insupportable even at the higher cost. We are in fact in the planning stages of a move toward more "grab-and-go" foods that can be prepared in advance (on premises) without compromising quality, while allowing our customers, many of whom have busy lives, to get in and out quickly.

The Earth-friendly aesthetic applies to my employment practices as well. My full-time employees are very well-paid for coffeehouse employees; they are fully benefited with medical, dental, vision and paid vacation, as well as large yearly bonuses. I provide special work opportunities for local, socially-disadvantaged teens. We donate all of our leftover pastries to the nearby Women's Refuge. All of these sustainable and arts-and-community-based business practices come at a very high cost. I am not an independently wealthy man. If I do not pass on enough costs to make this a break-even business (we are still nowhere close), the business will be gone within months, and your question will be moot.

... [omitted by request of author]

Given these considerations -- and not intending to sound patronizing -- how do you justify NOT paying that much money for a sandwich at the Nomad Cafe? We know we can't please everyone, nor fit everyone's budget; all we can do is try to survive, and try to remind people like you of all the reasons to support a business like ours. We really would like to have your business, even if you have to limit it to special occasions. God knows the economy has most of us in that position these days.

Thanks again for your patronage. I hope we can see you back at the cafe often.

Christopher Waters