Opening: Origen

[photo from SFGate]

Openings:

Origen (Berkeley): Owners of the Fig Tree in Pleasant Hill have opened another outpost in Berkeley, called Origen. I spoke with owner/chefs Trace Leighton and Daniel Clayton a month or so ago when I was doing marketing work for Diablo. Origen, which means “from the source” in Catalan, will work with local farmers and farmers markets to produce a fresh, market-driven menu. Like their Pleasant Hill location, the menu will be seasonal and committed to certified-humane products. Expect wood-fired pizzas, a made from scratch paella, and a five-course menu (although items will be available a la carte).

2826 Telegraph Ave., Berkeley. OrigenBerkeley.com.

[source: Berkeleyside]

Reviews:

Fondue Fred (Berkeley)

Kacha Thai (Walnut Creek)

The Saddle Rack (Fremont) 

Snaps from Off the Grid Berkeley

Every Wednesday, Off the Grid crosses the bridge and sets up camp at Shattuck and Rose in Berkeley. I finally stopped by last week (cracked tooth and all) to check it out. I arrived to a pretty sizable crowd, consisting of a fair number of children milling about, high off the sugar from the Cupkates truck. Off the top of my head, I know 3-Sum Eats, Liba Falafel (amazing, but I'd already tried when writing an article on falafel), Ebbett's Good to Go, Cupkates, and KoJa Kitchen were there, along with a few others I can't remember....bringing the total somewhere near but not quite reaching ten.

Unfortunately, Fiveten Burger was nowhere to be found, but since I'm a senseless sheep of a person I just got in the longest line, figuring it must be pretty good. I was actually going to opt for a tofu taco from a different truck but it was $8 and I don't play that way...especially when I don't have cash and D is footing the bill (I paid him back!). I ended up waiting a good ten minutes for KoJa Kitchen, which had a nice screen set up with slideshow of their food so you could get a good sense for what you were ordering. KoJa's cuisine is Korean/Japanese fusion and damn was I a sucker for that screen.

I went with the kamikaze fries and the mochimisu, since I figured I'd have a tough time gnawing through a rice cake with my busted toof. The fries were an amazing combination of crinkle cut potatoes, Korean beef, kimchi, what I'm going to assume is some sort of hot sauce, and other goodness. I downed that shit in like...two minutes. That's totally fast for me.

But honestly, the real revelation here is the mochimisu. You love tiramisu? You love mochi? You and I should hang out because I am 100% on board with those things, and the mochimisu combined them. It tasted mainly like tiramisu, with a little hidden layer of mochi waiting to be discovered and promptly devoured. I started eating that ish while I was waiting for my fries because I was damn hungry and let me tell you...good call. Also, they apparently sold out after I lost a few years of my life waiting in line, so you gotta get on those suckers quick.

If my crappy description of the food and atmosphere at Off the Grid has you jonesing to get down there and try out some of the food trucks, stop by Shattuck and Rose every Wednesday, 5–9pm. Just remember to get there early if you want in on that mochimisu. 

Jupiter Olympus Pop-Up Inside Acme Bar

Schick and Quilty, my new favorite toilet paper brand [from SFWeekly]

There's a special gin night tonight in Berkeley, at a bar inside a bar, and I'm pissed I'm missing it because I'm subsisting on juice for three days (initial thoughts? It sucks). Tonight, Acme Bar hosts a special pop-up bar called Jupiter Olympus, helmed by Morgan Schick (Clock Bar, Nopa) and Eric Quilty (Adesso), featuring cocktails with names like The Dutch Horn, Henry Cavendish, and Bunson.

Schick and Quilty (they sound like a fancy new toilet paper) will be introducing three new gins from St. George Spirits: Botanivore (herb-y), Dry Rye (rye-based), and Terroir Mt. Tam Edition (forest-y). In addition to the new gins, they'll be showcasing six specialty cocktails, crafted with lots of fancy techniques and ingredients such as hand-carved ice, vaporized tonic, and carrot soda. If you miss the event, like I'm forced to, you'll have a chance to try the new gins after their release early next month, and Jupiter Olympus is planned as a series, meaning there will be a few other opportunities to try your hand-carved vaporized carrot tonic water. Now back to my green juice...
[source: SFWeekly]

Monday, August 29 (tonight!)
9pm–2am, $10/cocktail
2115 San Pablo Ave., Berkeley

International Beer Day

from oddlovescompany.com

Hot on the heels of IPA Day, today is International Beer Day! Here are some people celebrating. I should be off work, so most of this is blatantly copy and pasted. For a list of participating bars near you, visit the International Beer Day website.


Lucky 13 (Alameda): Featured beers include Iron Springs' Alsatian Pale, Sierra's Ovila series Saison, Deschutes Hop In The Dark, Anchor Liberty, Lagunitas Lucky 13, Auburn Alehouse Abbey Ale, OBC Total Slacker, and there's a Cherry Stave sour on its way from Thirsty Bear...and that's in addition to their usual pours.
event info
website


Parkway Lounge (Oakland): They've got 17 beers on tap, although I'm not smart enough to figure out what they're doing for International Beer Day, only that they claim to be doing something.
website


Beta Lounge (Berkeley): Happy Hour 4-9pm. They'll be introducing 4 new draft beers as well as many new bottles and beer flights. Expect around 20 new beers.
event info
website

What to Do This Weekend: 8/5–8/7

Look at all this stuff (“isn’t it neat?)! It’s because I love you guys, and also between my job, this blog, and preparing for my interview today I’ve been working close to 11-hour days. Enjoy the fruits of my gradual slip into insanity. I also had coffee today, so there’s that…Oh, and I know that SFChefs is going on, but I can’t afford that shit and neither can you (probably), so go google it on your own time or buy me a ticket already.

Friday, August 5:

Dishcrawl during Art Murmur: Like every First Friday, the galleries in Oakland are open late and throngs of people shuffle in and out, pretending to admire the art. The Dishcrawl sold out, but you can be really creepy (they only give out the locations to people who buy tickets a day or two in advance) and follow around any group of people snapping pictures of food and throwing around the term “foodie” and mentioning how they “tucked in” to a dessert. They’re starting at Uptown Place Homes at 6pm and at least one stop includes steak sandwiches. If you just want to check out the art and try and get full off of wine and cheese, Art Murmur runs from 6-9pm and includes galleries from 22^nd to 26^th street and along the Broadway/Telegraph corridors.  

Dishcrawl

Art Murmur

from girl journalist's Flickr account

Saturday, August 6:

Urban Wine Xperience: You’re in luck! Due to some glitch, tickets that were supposed to have gone up to $60 on Monday are still $40 until tomorrow, when they’ll be $60 at the door. I already did a write-up for this for the job that pays me, so I’m blatantly copying and pasting that for you. 2-6pm

Website

Paddle and Picnic: Dragon boat rides, live music, and an ice sculptor. The boats are solely people-powered, so get ready to paddle and get along with your boat buddies, since getting the boat going is a group effort. Free. 12–4pm.

Website

[Source: Berkeleyside]

ImpactCon: Fantastic Comics (over in Berkeley) invites you to celebrate nerddom with them. You get a sneak peek at Impact Theatre’s upcoming production of Cameron McNary’s D&D (Dungeons & Dragons, yo) play “Of Dice and Men.” I know I’m getting really nerdy on you right now, but I know some of you are into this shit. And maybe into meeting some cosplay celebrities and winning vintage Star Wars and Star Trek shit. 8–11pm.

Facebook Event Page

Martinez Beaver Festival: Aside from the unfortunate connotations of the event name, this event sounds kinda really boring. Something about a civic uprising. There will be live music, wildlife festivities, and something called “paint your own tail” where you get to compete in a fashion show/contest. …I think if you’re a child. Anyway, if you’re into beavers (get it? Get it?), check it out.

11am–4pm.

Website

[Source: Claycord]

Saturday, August 6–Sunday, August 7:

Fenestra Winery 35^th Anniversary: Out in Livermore, Fenestra Winery is throwing a celebration in honor of their 35^th anniversary. They got ghosts! Or “an appearance by ‘the ghost’ of Mrs. True.” If that isn’t enticing (who are you?) they’ll also have live music, tri-tip sandwiches, and a special release of the 2006 Conjugation, which I’m hoping is a wine and not a sex tape. 12–5pm.

Website 

[Source: The Merc]

Sunday, August 7:

Cinnaholic One-Year Anniversary: You guys, Shannon is like, the most adorable thing ever and runs a kick-ass cinnamon roll shop over in Berkeley. They’re celebrating their one-year anniversary (with one of the best flyers I’ve seen in a long time) by offering up $1 Old Skool Rolls from 12–4pm. Get at it! I need to get at it, since she kindly gifted my work (bartending gig) with some rolls and someone (YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE) left them out in our hot sweaty bar, rendering them inedible. You’re lucky I love you, mystery destroyer of delicious goodies.

Website 

Reviews:

Foodhoe, in addition to running a much classier East Bay blog [foodhoe.com] that probably doesn’t include words like “spunk” and “buttload,” went and checked out the new Home of Chicken and Waffles in Walnut Creek. Check out her review here. I’m going to try and get there this weekend, hopefully around 3am when I get off work and can see the finest specimens Walnut Creek has to offer as they’re released from the bars.

Opening:

The Fig Tree (Pleasant Hill): the website isn’t very helpful, so here’s The Merc’s thoughts. 

Closed:

SR-24 (Oakland). According to Tablehopper (via Chowhound and the restaurant’s Facebook page), they closed last Saturday for good.

Misc.:

Judging from a rundown of local police reports, more people are getting arrested downtown for drunk in publics, and the po po even nabbed a guy on a bike for a BUI. While I don’t think the police are going all Isla Vista Foot Patrol on us, it’s long been assumed that the WCPD are bored and looking for excuses to bring in easy money, so do as I say and not as I do and either checkity check yo selves or call a cab.

What To Do This Weekend: 7/8–7/10

I've got some city stuff in here, but it sounds pretty neato so don't hate me. Plus, it was too damn hot out here last weekend.


Saturday, July 9:
Firehouse Art Collective Bazaar: Do you miss the recently shuttered SF Underground Market? I do (sorry Mike!) mainly because I never got a chance to go, letting excuses like "I need to vacuum the cat hair off my couch" get in the way. Firehouse Art Collective is hoping to fill the void Underground Market's forced closure left, and provide a venue across the Bay for many of those vendors. In addition to unique food, they'll have jewelry, fine art, and "health products". The bazaar will be up and be running every Saturday in July and expanding to Sundays in August. Fingers crossed for no problems from the Health Department, especially because they been getting mad coverage in the local blogosphere (I'm not help, and blogosphere is a terrible word). 10am–6pm.
3192 Adeline St., Berkeley
website

Omnivore Books Cake Contest: I just saw this yesterday, and got a little sad because I'm busy on Saturday and don't have an excuse to make a cake. But you can! Or at least go and appreciate the hard work of others. You can enter a cake for free, or pay $5 to sample as many cakes as you can in an hour in an effort to crown one baker the winner of most inventive cake. For some reason I keep wanting to call this a cake walk, which would be sweet, but $5 for as much cake as you can sample ain't bad either. 4–5pm.
3885a Cesar Chavez St., SF
website


Saturday, July 9–Sunday, July 10:
Renegade Craft Fair: The event, which is free to get in, features 200 artists showcasing all kinds of art, crafts, and jewelry. For you crafty types (or anyone prone to saying "psh, I could totally make that with my eyes closed"), they'll have interactive workshops, including the MakeArt station from The Museum of Craft and Design. Learn how to make accordion-style journals, the art of quilling 3D paper flowers, or make art and accessories from repurposed toys, all of which sound like necessary skills for starting that Etsy store you keep putting off. 11am–7pm.
Fort Mason Center, SF.
website

Also: Stop by Stanford's for the launch of BYOBMB (Build Your Own Bloody Mary Bar). Or you could go check out Disco Volante, which must have kicked up it's uber slow service when the Merc visited.

Opening: Japanese, Bread, Mexican, and Cupcakes

I haven't exactly made it a secret that I have a full-time job, and I can't blog at work so I do all of this in my off time and schedule things to publish the next day. When I hear about a restaurant opening, I just save the link and when I've had a busy week things tend to pile up QUICK. So here's everything that's opened while you've been working, or nursing your hangover, or doing whatever unemployed people do (not to imply you all are unemployed, but to be inclusive).

Already Open:

photo from SuperCarnitas

Kiraku: Their website is terribly unhelpful, but it looks like they opened July 1 near the UC Berkeley Campus and some early Yelpers have the scoop. The food is described as "Japanese-influenced with a twist," and includes dishes like ramen, roasted pork belly, and something called okonomiyaki. There's also word of a sake menu and Asahi on tap.
[source: Tablehopper]
2655 Telegraph Ave at Parker, Berkeley
website

B-Dama: It's looking like, from early reports on Chowhound, that the upcoming izakaya from the people over at Geta is less "coming soon" and more "newly opened." Right now, it's sounding like a lot of grilled chicken skin and beef tongue, but anyone nearby who wants to go check it out will be my hero, Enrique Iglesias-style.

[source: Chowhound]

4301 Piedmont Ave., Oakland

Panera Bread: They opened another Walnut Creek location back at the end of June, and I just haven't cared enough to write anything. But hey, they have free wi-fi, and are open until 9pm on most days! They also have a drive-thru window, which actually increases my level of caring from none to mildly interested. Check it out in the Countrywood shopping center.
[source: Walnut Creek Patch]

Opening Today: 
Cosecha Cafe: located in Swan's market in Old Oakland. Expect dishes like pork belly tacos, pozole, and torta ahogada. They'll also have a two dollar menu for their opening.
[source: Tablehopper]
907 Washington St., Oakland
website

Coming Soon:

french toast and maple bacon cupcake

James & the Giant Cupcake: Opening next to Actual Cafe this Monday (pending final inspections), this cupcake joint (formerly a delivery-only venture) is starting off with basic cupcakes and will venture into more creative flavors once the shop gets established. They also offer one vegan cupcake and one gluten-free option.

6326 San Pablo Ave., Oakland

website

[source: WTF]

What to Do This Weekend: 7/1–7/4

Holy crap, you guys. It's July. ALREADY. What a sneaky sneaky month. I get that most of you have fantastic weekend plans already, but I didn't plan anything because a) I didn't realize it was almost the 4th until like...Wednesday and b) I assumed I would actually remember my work meeting and be scheduled to work this Saturday. Keeping checking back, as I'm going to try and update with bars doing something, anything, for the holiday (Spoontonic will be closed on Monday. Don't come!).

bart tree from Oaklandish

Friday, June 1:

Oaklandish Grand Opening Party: According to Oakland Local, Oaklandish is opening its first retail store and community space tonight. They'll be celebrating with beer from local brewers Linden Street Brewery and street food from Fiveten Burger truck and El Taco Bike. Pick up one of their popular hoodies or tees while DJs Spinnerty and Junior, followed by DJ Platurn, liven up the space.

1444 Broadway, Oakland

website

Saturday, July 2:

Breastfest: Do you like boobies? And beer? Get down to Breastfest and help the community by drinking one and raising money for the other. On a rare serious note, many people I know have family members who have been diagnosed with breast cancer, and this is a great opportunity to help raise money for women diagnosed with breast cancer who can't afford treatment. Marin Brewing Co. and Moylan's are sponsoring the event, which will feature pours from local breweries Ale Industries (yay Concord!) and Trumer, as well as Russian River, Stone, Moonlight, Drake's, Allagash, Big Sky, and Maui Brewing Company (and a ton others). 80s hair metal cover band Metal Shop will provide the entertainment. $45 advance/$50 at the door, which includes a complimentary tasting glass and food. 5–9pm, unless you buy VIP ($10 mas) for an hour head start.

Fort Mason, SF

website

from ventvox.com

Sunday, June 3:

Free concert! Neko Case and The Dodos at Stern Grove Festival. I love both these artists/groups and I am ridiculously excited because it's free. FREE. I missed The Dodos playing a free concert over in Berkeley, so I will trek it out to the city. Let me clarify, the boons of the city. THE SUNSET. I said I'd never go back there after I moved out of the fog monster, so that's how badly I want a free concert. Things kick off at 2pm. The Stern Grove Festival has free concerts running through August 21, so if you can't make it this Sunday, check out their website for a list of other performances.

Sigmund Stern Grove Park

in between 19th Avenue and Sloat Blvd., San Francisco

event website

Crusherfest at the Stork Club: Come see 12 bands crush you? I assume that's what crusherfest means. Starting at 3pm, you can see Paul Collins Beat, Nikki Corvette, Grass Widow, Scumby . These band names mean nothing to me because I listen to sleepytime tea indie music, but they may mean something to you.

2330 Telegraph Ave, Oakland

website

Monday, July 4:
Remember Tipsy Tow?: I mentioned it back for Cinco de Mayo, but I think it bears repeating. Call 800-AAA-HELP and tell the operator you need a "tipsy tow." AAA offers a free ten-mile tow home for drivers and their vehicles. You don’t even have to be a member. Tipsy tow starts at 6pm tonight and lasts until 6am. Or call a cab! click for: Walnut Creek, Danville, Lafayette, San Ramon.

Looking for fireworks? The only place you can get 'em is in Dublin and the only legal places to set them off are in Dublin, at Alamo Creek Park, Emerald Glen Park, and Dublin Sports Grounds. The rest of Alameda County and Co Co County frown on all fireworks, including "safe" fireworks like sparklers, but I know you want to do hoodrat stuff with your friends so for God's sake be discreet and don't be an asshole and burn yourself with a GD sparkler.

from sf.funcheap.com

4th of July at Berkeley Marina: If you're not into drinking (like, maybe two people I know), head over to the Berkeley Marina for jugglers, clowns (GROSS), food booths, a dunk tank, massages, free dragon boat rowing, and pony rides (if you can convince them you're small enough to ride).

Berkeley Marina

201 University, Berkeley

website

All You Can Eat Ribs: At Stanfords, $25 will get you all-you-can-eat ribs, plus your choice of two sides, ranging from cole slaw to sweet baked beans to fries or creamy potato salad. I really can't imagine staying inside on the 4th, but the deal is good all weekend so if you feel like being lazy and making someone else do the dishes, have at it.
1300 S. Main St., Walnut Creek
website

4th of July in Moraga: This event has a real name, that I saw while staring at a flyer in Panama Coffee this morning, but I forgot it and the city website doesn't have it, so screw it. There's a dog parade, for those people who like to dress up their dogs (I prefer shoving dog sized costumes on my cat), car show, "jumpies" (wtf?), and David Martin's house party. I don't know what kind of party that is, but this all sounds very family friendly so probably not a very fun one. But hey, there are fireworks around 9:20...

Event starts at 8am with some runs, but I wouldn't bother getting there until the dog parade at 9am.

Moraga Commons Park

1799 Saint Marys Rd., Moraga

website

San Ramon's Star Spangled Spectacular: I almost left this out, but you've gotta rep where you came from, even if it used to mean drinking watermelon vodka out of water bottles and stumbling around drunk on the Iron Horse trail trying to make it to the fireworks. Ah, suburbia. There's a kids area in the parking lot adjacent to Bollinger Canyon Road that features hamster balls! Why can't I fit in a giant hamster ball? The fireworks kick off at 9:30pm in Central Park, synchronized to music on KKIQ Radio 101.7. Don't bother trying to find parking, and instead march from miles away on the Iron Horse and relive those high school years. Your liver may say no, but I say it doth protest too much.
Central Park
12501 Alcosta Blvd., San Ramon
website

BBQ Blues and Brews in Berkeley on Thursday

That's a whole lot of "B"s! FIVE restaurant in Berkeley has launched a special Thursday night event. For $25, you get a full plate of Chef Bank's home-style BBQ brisket and ribs, sides, a nice cold beer, and live blues music. Also, I was obsessed with their basil gimlet at the martini competition. OBSESSED. I used two of my drink tickets on the same drink just so I could have it again. They also took third, so I wasn't the only one to think so. So if beer isn't your thing, suffer through a glass (but really, who are you?) and get a tasty gimlet from their adept bartenders.

2086 Allston Way (inside Hotel Shattuck), Berkeley
website

Tuesday Newsday 6/28

Yes, once again, a late post, but I am battling the demons living in my throat and apparently breathing fire when I'm not looking. I'm the worst. Read this stuff instead and feel sorry for me.

Over in SF: Interested on where to find the best bloody mary in San Francisco? Donuts in the city? Best summer brunches across the bay? The Bold Italic, Serious Eats, and Tasting Table have your answers. Now who wants to go on a bloody mary taste test in the East Bay? And if you have major skrilla, go crash SF Mag's Best of the Bay Area party this Thursday. It will only set you back $100. Better yet, buy my ticket for me please and I will pump myself full of cold meds just so I can shake hands with important people as Drake's "Fancy" plays in my head.

In super old news...: Patxi's opened a Lafayette location. If you don't know...now you know. Go check it out at 3577 Mt. Diablo Blvd. I fell in love with Pizza Antica last night, so I'll be hard pressed to be swayed. Actually, who am I kidding, I'm fickle. Let's go eat pizza!

Smack some ladies: The Tri-Valley Roller Girls are recruiting! If you live in the Tri-Valley area (aka Dublin, Pleasanton, Livermore, or San Ramon) you can make like Rollergirl or Ellen Page in Whip It (depending on your reference) you can contact them over at trivalleyrollergirls@yahoo.com for more information about joining the team. I'm jealous.
[Source: Pleasanton Weekly]

Breakfast for dinner: Nick's Wheeley Good Breakfast Truck, owned by 22-year old Nick Bernard who's managing to make the rest of us twenty-somethings look even lazier, is serving up some serious looking noms in the East Bay. Cheddar buttermilk biscuit sandwich and Cuban breakfast sandwiches are always okay in my book. Check out the menu online or follow him on twitter to figure out where he'll be popping up, like Acme and Bites on Broadway.
[source: EBX: What the Fork]

New taqueria on Shattuck: Casa Bernal Taqueria opened at 2122 Shattuck Avenue last Tuesday. That's all I've got. Someone report back, since I almost never want Mexican unless I've been drinking.
[Source: Berkeleyside]

Late night service: The Broadway shuttle in Oakland will be running until 1am on Fridays and Saturdays starting in early July.
[source: Twitter]

Alright, that's it for now. Finally, right? I'm going to go dream of Bloody Mary's in a Niquil haze.

Get Out On a Wednesday

just insert some drunk people here and you'll get the picture

Spring Wine Walk: Tonight is Walnut Creek's Wine Walk, which is helpful to know so you aren't confused about all of the middle-aged people stumbling along downtown with wine glasses in their hands. I was all jazzed on going to this event until I spent all my money on a cab ride and extra cocktail tickets at the martini competition this week and realized it was $30/$35 dollars at the door. For those of you who don't blow your money on trivial things, you can try around 45 different wines, which sounded like a dubious claim until I realized Residual Sugar was included. There are an absolute ton of businesses participating as well as live music from local people, so check out their website for the full list as well as starting place (either Residual or Stanfords, depending on how you got your ticket). I'm actually a little sad I'm not going. 6-9pm.
website 

Off the Grid: Despite some minor snafu's concerning some drastic underestimation on the number of people who were going to attend last week, Off the Grid is back in the Gourmet Ghetto, long lines and food shortages be damned. This week both the carts and the organizers should be more prepared. Check out our original coverage here for an idea of some of the carts to expect.
5-9pm
Shattuck and Rose St., Berkeley
website

Ike's May be Coming to Berkeley

from betweenthebreadblog.com

Be still my heart. I'm hungover after attending the Best Martini of the East Bay competition last night (big shout out to People's Choice winner Moresi's) but this almost makes everything better. Apparently, Ike's owner Ike Shehadeh was scouting locations near the Berkeley campus. Near the Bear's Lair. Meaning you could possibly get drunk and eat an Eli Manning in the future, in Berkeley. And he might open it with the Soup Nazi, which I'm okay with as long as Ike doesn't let Al Yeganeh influence him into scrimping on the dirty sauce.

For those of you poor souls who haven't tried Ike's, imagine the best sandwich you ever ate. Now cover that whole thing in an amazing secret sauce and maybe slap some mozzarella sticks into it. It reminds me of the good ol' days of Mr. Pickles down in Isla Vista, only a zillion times better. They also have a bunch of awesome vegan sandwiches like the vegan Tom Brady, which is pretty much the only way I can stand him. You have to sit in a line longer than Morucci's during weekday lunch rush, but it is so so worth it. "If you love it so much why don't you marry it?" I would. And we would have sweet sweet sandwich babies, which I would eat. Mmmm sandwich baby. Until this Berkeley dream of mine comes to fruition, you can grab an Ike's sandwich next time you're in the city and thank me later.

10am-7pm
3489 16th St., San Francisco
ilikeikesplace.com

Phil's Sliders (Berkeley) Opens Today

Phil's sliders, which I mentioned back in the beginning of May, is hopefully opening today, barring any setbacks from their last two inspections. I'm an optimist (I swear!), so expect them to open around 3pm today. If the inspectors hate burgers, and by extension us, Phil's opening may be delayed another few days. 


Owner Hugh Groman named the place after his Dad, Phil, which is almost as sweet as $2.00 sliders made with Marin Sun Farms grass-fed beef and organic lettuce, served with tater tots and sesame coleslaw. And the s'mores bars! I cannot get off of these bars, guys. I'm sorry. Except I'm not. Also, look at this amazing story about Hugh's dad that was posted in the window of the restaurant during construction:

A Story About Phil
I was 12 years old and my parents Phil and Hadele were hosting one of their many parties; our big but never big enough formal dining room table crowded knee-to-knee with adults. I was sitting next to my dad, and sitting next to me was a foreign exchange student who had been brought to the party by one of my parents’ friends. She was maybe 21, the only other “kid” at the table besides me, and barely spoke a word of English. In fact, she was so quiet, looking down at her plate the whole time, it seemed like she was trying to disappear altogether. Midway through the meal, as she was reaching for a bread roll, she accidentally knocked over her glass of red wine onto the white tablecloth, the stain quickly spreading across the fabric. Everyone froze, except my father. Barely pausing between bites, my dad casually backhanded his own wine glass onto the table. Laughter filled the room and I could tell that the exchange student was relieved. I’ve never forgotten that moment… [source: Berkeleyside]

Makes my black shriveled heart almost reach normal size, all Grinch-like. And just in time for Father's Day....

2024 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley
(510) 647-5165
philssliders.com

What to Do This Weekend: 6/3–6/5

Is anyone else still hurting from Memorial Day Weekend? I feel like I took years from my life and doing nothing sounds amazing, but I have an uber packed next few days, so I'm making you feel my pain by sharing all of the events that'll make you feel obligated to drag your sorry butt off the couch and into the world.

Saturday, June 4th:

3rd Annual California Extra Virgin Olive Oil Festival: While plain ol' olive oil may sound boring, more than a dozen of the state's best olive oil producers preparing tastings and food pairings spices things up a bit. There will also be samples fo' free and snacks for sale, including olive oil challah, orange olive oil cake, and an ice cream/olive oil hybrid, which you know you have to try to say you did it.

The Pasta Shop on 4th St. 

1786 Fourth St., Berkeley

website

Ash Cicada by Tera Levin

Chocolate & Chalk Art Festival: You can watch people create chalk art without any of that guilt the whole "them wanting money for it" gives you, because witnessing chalkwork is free during this day of chalky and chocolatey goodness. If you want to get in on that chocolate action, throwing down ten bones will get you a packet of tickets you can spend on chocolate ganache cupcakes, savory chocolate ricotta pizza, or a chocolate foot massage, if you're into that (you weirdo). There will also be music, but they are advertising CLOWN LAUGHTER filling the air so you can count me out. Braver souls may venture and I wish you godspeed.

North Shattuck Ave., Berkeley

website
POSTPONED TO JUNE 11TH DUE TO RAIN

Saturday, June 4th–Sunday, June 5th:

from Walnut Creek Chamber

Walnut Creek Art & Wine Festival: The festival is Mardi Gras themed this year, and I could tell you all about the 200 artists and their pottery, paintings, photography, sculpture, and jewelry, but I know most of you are cheap bastards (rightfully so). Instead, go to enjoy free music and try your hand at smushing out your aggression at the Grape Stomp Competition, where you may be able to rub shoulders or purple feet with a celebrity guest (which is a relative term in Walnut Creek). 

11 a.m. to 7 p.m. (6 p.m. Sunday)

Heather Farms Park

website

from event website

Art & Music in the Gardens: This reads and looks like an event your memaw or pepaw would love, if you were a good grandchild, but it looks like a snoozefest to me due to the lack of booze or people under 40. Check it out if you like bonsai clippings and straw hats. To be fair, the gardens do look really beautiful and romantic, so I'll give them that. 10am-6pm.
Gardens at Lake Merritt and Lakeside Park Garden Center
666 Bellevue Ave., Oakland 
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Under Review: C.R.E.A.M.

Stopped by C.R.E.A.M. (Cookies Rule Everything Around Me) the other night, despite a friend's insistence that the line was "always out the door." I mean, I guess, but that's because the inside is like a shoebox, if shoes smelled delicious and doled out goodness sandwiched in more goodness. The concept behind C.R.E.A.M. is ice cream sandwiches. That's it. You pick your ice cream, you pick your cookies, and depending on what server you get they either make it with tender loving care or slap it together haphazardly because they hate you, as you can see to the left. Mine (top left): Two oven-warmed chocolate cookies gently but snugly hugging cookie dough ice cream. D's (bottom right): A scoop of chocolate roughly forced into two hard peanut butter cookies. My sandwich was delicious and gooey, albeit extremely difficult to eat since the ice cream keeps pooping out the back of your sandie. They've got quite a list of amazing sounding ice creams and cookies, making combinations like old fashioned cherry vanilla with butter sugar or mint chocolate with oatmeal (I don't judge!) possible. Also, the sandwiches are uber cheap at $2, so you can try as many traditional or fucked-up versions as you want.

Side note: Do not try and take pictures in there. They will glare at you, as evidenced by the picture below. She was not a happy individual. 

C.R.E.A.M.

2399 Telegraph Ave., Berkeley

http://creamnation.com/