Category Archives: Local business
Awards tap Berkeley taste makers for national contest
Berkeley’s food mavens will likely be out in force tonight at the Good Food Awards at San Francisco’s Ferry Building and many of the judges for this annual event — sponsored by Seedling Projects and now in its second year — hail from this city’s gourmand ranks. But only one Berkeley name may find a place on the winners’ podium.
The concept behind this socially and ethically responsible food contest is to highlight “best in show” from five regions of the country in various edible categories. This year, prizes will go to makers of beer, charcuterie, cheese, chocolate, coffee, pickles, preserves, and — a new area — spirits.
At last year’s soirée — with a keynote address by restaurateur and sustainable food champion Alice Waters — three Berkeley winners emerged in the beer, charcuterie, and pickles categories. … Continue reading »
The “big clean-up” of downtown Berkeley begins
A clean-up has begun in downtown Berkeley, part of a larger campaign to improve the area’s environment and boost economic development. It is being funded to the tune of $1.2 million by the Property Based Business Improvement District (PBID) that was passed by 71% of local property owners last June.
Last Friday, following three days of training, ten members of the new Downtown Berkeley Association (DBA) Cleaning Team in their neon yellow shirts hit the streets en masse. The first day was spent painting furniture and fixtures, and general litter removal and weeding. On Sunday, the team started pressure washing sidewalks on Shattuck north of University.
The intention is to deep-clean and beautify the entire 30-block area of Downtown Berkeley, and the work will include the removal of all graffiti and gum stains, painting all furniture and fixtures, and new landscaping, including new hanging flower baskets. Around $850,000 is being allocated to beautification services and improvements.
The DBA hired Louisville KY-based firm Block By Block to oversee the clean-up and ambassador services. The company has worked on similar projects in downtown Oakland, Santa Monica, and Pasadena, among others. Block By Block is also committed to hiring employees locally, as well as second-chance programs for hiring from social service agency partners. … Continue reading »
Shop Talk: The ins and outs of Berkeley businesses
DOWNTOWN LOCAVORE New, as of yesterday, to Center Street’s “restaurant row”: the Green Earth Café & Bakery, which offers a “Local Organic Vegan Ethical Sustainable (L.O.V.E.S.)” menu using the principles of macrobiotics. Owners Barbara Johnston-Brown and Ciren Zhuoga are serving salads, soups, sandwiches, wraps, unigiri, burritos, tacos, and desserts — including cookies, cakes, pies and puddings — with a focus on organic produce from local farmers and vendors. Johnston-Brown has run a catering company, teaches cooking classes for kids and adults, works as a private chef and has apprenticed as a pastry chef. Zhuoga, who is originally from Tibet, is cook and kitchen manager of Treasure Island Job Corps serving 1,100 meals three times per day. She has cooked at Manzanita Restaurant in Oakland where she specializes in weekend brunch menus. The café is at 2124 Center Street, next door to the Oasis Grill. … Continue reading »
Parking around Trader Joe’s sparks “vigilante” action
By Linda Hemmila
If you’ve received a parking ticket near Trader Joe’s on University Avenue in Berkeley, you’re in good company. So many people have been ticketed there over the past year and half it’s become a neighborhood cause, has provoked defiant action from a “parking vigilante”, and is up for renewed discussion at the next scheduled City Council meeting on January 17th.
The trouble stems from parking signs in the area, which, according to councilmember Jesse Arreguín, are “very confusing”. The city has acknowledged as much by dismissing most contested citations because, it says, the signage is not sufficiently clear to visitors.
It all started in June 2010 when, as part of the redevelopment of the downtown area — and with the June 11 opening of Trader Joe’s — the city altered parking signs in the neighborhood that designated one side of the street as resident-only parking and the other side two-hour parking. The signs on the residential side were adorned with red and white city-made stickers denoting “no parking” that were placed directly over the old sign which said “two- hour parking”. The streets in questions include Berkeley Way, Addison Street, Bonita Avenue and Grant Street. … Continue reading »
As Sequoia rubble removed, plans made for new structure
Two businesses on the site of the demolished Sequoia Building at Haste and Telegraph may re-open, and plans are under way to build a new structure on the site. City officials are hosting a meeting today to discuss the future of the site with its owners, who are known to have retained an architect for a potential new project there.
Crews have been working since last week on removing the many tons of debris and rubble that were left on the site of the Sequoia Building at 2441 Haste Street following its demolition in December prompted by a devastating fire on November 18th last year.
An investigation into the potential toxicity of the building’s debris revealed evidence of lead, but not of asbestos as had been rumored (see update at foot of story with more details). The removal of the rubble is expected to continue into next week. … Continue reading »
Pacific Steel accused of labor violations in lawsuit
A former worker for Pacific Steel filed a $31 million lawsuit against the foundry on Friday, accusing management of breaking labor laws by not giving workers a break after six hours of work.
Timothy P. Rumberger, a Berkeley attorney, filed the class action lawsuit in Alameda County Superior Court on behalf of Roberto Rodriguez and 1,000 other workers. Rodriguez had worked at Pacific Steel for 45 years.
At a news conference in front of the foundry on Friday, Rumberger said California labor law requires companies to give employees a 30-minute break after working for six hours. Pacific Steel had negotiated a break at 11:30 am for workers who arrived at 5 am — which is longer than the law permits, said Rumberger.
When Rodriguez would complain, his managers would tell him he could always leave, he said on Friday. … Continue reading »
Shop Talk: The ins and outs of Berkeley businesses
SMOKY NO MORE Ken Looney has closed his Looney’s Southern Bar -B-Que at 2190 Bancroft Avenue after five years of operation. He closed it Dec. 11 because he could not come to acceptable terms with the landlord when his lease expired, according to an employee at one of Looney’s Oakland locations.
PHARMACY SHUFFLE – No official word yet but informed sources say Walgreen’s will be moving from its location on Shattuck and Allston Way across the street into the … Continue reading »
200 undocumented Pacific Steel workers lose their jobs
This is not going to be a Merry Christmas for many of the workers at Pacific Steel.
After a recent crackdown by the Department of Homeland Security, 200 workers who could not provide a valid social security number are being laid off.
Those let go from the third largest foundry in the United States include many highly skilled workers who have been at the company for decades.
“It’s very sad,” said spokeswoman Elisabeth Jewel from the firm Aroner, Jewel & Ellis Partners. “The employees who are being terminated now have the most seniority. Many have been there 20 to 30 years. They have kids in the public school. They pay taxes. They are fully invested in American life. It’s been a really wrenching situation – obviously for the workers – but also for the company.”
In February, Pacific Steel, which was founded in Berkeley in 1934 by the Genger family and is still family-owned, got a request by ICE, the US Immigration and Customs Authority, an agency within Homeland Security, to examine I-9 documents, said Jewel. The department came back and reported that the social security numbers of 200 of the company’s 600 workers didn’t match up.
The employees were given a chance to provide new documentation to prove they were legally working in the US. Only a few were able to do that, said Jewel. … Continue reading »
Farmers’ market favorite Phoenix Pastificio
It’s one thing to run a successful food business. But to have two edible start-ups do well, even in a food-friendly town, is quite an accomplishment in an industry known for slim profits and fickle customers.
That’s the case for couple Eric and Carole Sartenaer, who started off with a little bakery in Kensington called Semifreddi’s — ring any bells? — sold that for a tidy sum three years later, then departed to Oregon for seven years to run their own bakery before returning to the Bay Area in 1993.
Eric worked for Fat Apple’s in El Cerrito for two years, but he was eager to start another food business. So, in 1995, he set up shop, and later a restaurant, on Shattuck Avenue turning out fresh pasta at The Phoenix Pastifico. The company also makes a line of baked goods — cookies, macaroons, and biscotti — as well as its signature olive bread and pasta sauces. … Continue reading »
Bates: City needs another grocery store, not pharmacy
City officials are lobbying the owners of the soon-to-be-vacated Andronico’s on Telegraph to rent the building to another grocery chain rather than a pharmacy.
Mayor Tom Bates sent a letter on Dec. 1 to the Conference Claimants Endowment Board, the fund that owns the property at 2655 Telegraph, urging its administrator to find a tenant that will “serve the Berkeley community.”
The endowment board had been ready to sign a lease with CVS pharmacy, but agreed to consider an offer from a grocery chain, said Bates.
“I indicated to them it would be wonderful to have a grocery store there,” said Bates. “They indicated to me they had concerns about the viability of a grocery store in that location because of the competition from Berkeley Bowl and Whole Foods. They … told me they would consider it.” … Continue reading »
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