Tuesday Newsday: 5/24

Photo: Tasting Table

My head hurts, nay, kills, so I'm going to make this collection of links short and sweet, or as short and sweet as someone who loves long sentences can make it.

Porky: Hi! It's your good friend Daniel Patterson, again! This time it's not brunch or liquor licenses, but food carts. D Patts and Charlie Parker have parked a food cart outside of Plum, aptly naming it Porky after the only thing it serves: a porchetta sandwich. It runs at $9 and sounds delicious, but I'd probably eat anything served from a food cart with an adorable cartoon pig on the side (it's a wonder I survived "free candy" rape vans as a child). They'll be slanging sandies from 11am-2pm Mon-Fri, which means some lucky soul that works in the area will have to report back with news.
[orig: Tasting Table]
Broadway and West Grand, Oakland
follow on Twitter: PORKY25

Best Bars: Esquire announced their list of the Best Bars in America, and unsurprisingly, there's no mention of the East Bay on the list. San Francisco does earn a few shout outs, though, although I think I'd take Rickhouse over Bourbon & Branch (but then again I havent tried Wilson & Wilson yet).
[orig: Esquire]

Andronico's: There are some rumblings over at Berkeleyside that locally-based supermarket chain Andronico's may be have some trouble paying its bills and employees, which is never ever a good sign.  Best of luck to you, Andronico's, and may the boot of Whole Foods crush you painlessly.
[orig: Berkeleyside]

The Chronicle Goes to Livermore: In a rare venture out to the far reaches of the East Bay, the Chron reviews Indian Clay Oven, which author Nicholas Boer seems generally pleased about. His favorites are the vegetarian dishes, although he finds the tandoori nice and moist as well. His one main complaint? The menu having too many options for such a small town, to which I say well....yeah, I guess it's kinda small.
[orig: SFGate]

Update on Home of Chicken and Waffles: Called today, number is still disconnected, so everyone's going to have to get their fix over in Oakland.
homeofchickenandwaffles.com

And in unrelated news, blogger seems to be listening to apple commands now, so my headache only feels slightly less debilitating. Now I'm going to go try and involve myself in a big glass of wine, under the guise of contributing to Serious Eats' Amateur Wine Tasting.

Tuesday Newsday: 5/17

Off the Grid: Fort Mason Center (http://www.jchangy.net/)

Hawker Fare: You guys. People are losing their shit over the opening of Hawker Fare. I haven't seen this many SF blogs get excited over Oakland since Plum (which some even manage to bring up in their articles) started doing brunch, and now it's finally open. Although I'm seriously creeped out by the picture Grubstreet ran with their story, they have most of the deets about the Asian street food place, helmed by Commis chef-owner James Syhabout. There will be rice bowls, which frankly sound delicious, and everything will be priced for under $10, which sounds even better. They opened today for lunch/early dinner, but if you're like me and can't make it over there before 7pm you'll have to wait until the 26th, when they hope to start serving dinner.

2300 Webster, Oakland
(510) 832-8896
follow them on Twitter for updates


Off the Grid: In other, slightly less-hyped news, SF's Off the Grid has plans to roll over to North Berkeley on Wednesday in June. The wildly popular food-truck events have spawned eight different weekly events in SF, and organizer Matt Cohen is hoping to translate that success onto North Shattuck and Rose. East Bay Express has the full story. UPDATE: Berkeleyside has more! Including some news on the vendors to look for, like Cupkates and Liba Falafel (a personal fav since I've had to both interview and FC with Gail, the owner). Damn I'm hungry!

Off the Grid: facebook, website

Rock Wall Wine Company: And last but not least, Rock Wall Wine Company opened up their tasting room in Alameda this past weekend. The winery, located in a converted airplane hangar, gets its name from a nearby rockwall, and is conveniently situated near Hangar One vodka distillery, further necessitating the need for a ride when in the area.

2301 Monarch St., Alameda
(510) 522-5700
rockwallwines.com

Monday Linkage

Concord: You may want to avoid the Quick Check Cashing store on Clayton Road on Sunday nights, at least until they catch the "very tall black male adult in his 20s with a black beanie" who robbed the place at gun point. (Claycord)

Oakland: Plum is now open for brunch, Plum Bar coming sooner rather than later (look for it in August). (Tablehopper)

Berkeley: Phil's Sliders, which promises to be "more organic than In-N-Out, with a twist," is looking to open on Shattuck next month. I'm a big fan of people who love their dads and s'mores bars, so this news excites me. (Berkeleyside)

Oakland: Zagat names Lake Chalet one of the best bay area outdoor dining spots, to which I say "meh," but I appreciate them throwing some love in the East Bay direction. (Zagat)

Pleasant Hill: Tell CalTrans to get out of your handicapped spots. I know you have it in you, because an asian guy driving a gargantuan minivan once asked me to re-park in the garage by the movies because he couldn't get into his crooked car.
(Claycord)

Oakland: 7x7 tells people to actual try leaving the city, are also big fans of Lake Chalet. I'm more swayed by their case for Piedmont Springs.
(7x7)