Tag Archives: Alchemy Collective Cafe
New beer garden, burger spot for South Berkeley
Moxy Beer Garden, a new craft beer garden and burger restaurant is set to open as early as next month in south Berkeley, at Sacramento and 66th streets, in the old Casa Vino space.
Long-time Berkeley residents and restaurateurs, Mike and Amy Voisenat, who run The Hobnob restaurant on Park Street in Alameda, say they are excited to be bringing their new venture into the area, not least because they live just four blocks away. Also, they describe the Lorin district as a community “poised to blossom like Temescal.”
Moxy plans to have 14 craft beers on tap and a choice of bottled beers, as well as wine by the glass. The menu will include grass-fed beef and Moroccan lamb burgers, Greek veggie burger, blackened turkey burger, vegan “Buffalo Wings” with cauliflower and vegan “buttermilk” dressing, housemade fries and salads. There will also be gluten-free bun options.
… Continue reading »
New street banners give Berkeley neighborhoods identity
A number of colorful new street banners have appeared in Berkeley’s Adeline-Ashby and Sacramento Street neighborhoods. They are the result of a city-funded effort to help discrete commercial districts brand themselves and promote what they see as their distinct attributes.
The initiative involved UC Berkeley students interviewing local merchants and Berkeley marketing company Radiant Brands working with property owners in the two areas to help crystalize ideas around the branding and the design for the banners.
“We engaged with stakeholders and held a series of meetings,” said Michael Caplan, Economic Development Manager for the City of Berkeley. … Continue reading »
Alchemy: Co-op café brightens Berkeley strip in transition
Six baristas, who want to be their own bosses and hire no employees, have set up a slip of a shop at the intersection of Adeline Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Way in south Berkeley, adding some much needed quality coffee — along with a warm, groovy vibe — to a neighborhood in transition.
Welcome to the Alchemy Collective Café, which opened its doors in February. The co-operative is located in a small storefront next to the Firehouse Art Collaborative in the Lorin District, home to the new Tuesday farmers’ market, the Black Repertory Theater, Sweet Adeline Bakeshop, and other artisan and artsy haunts.
The owner-workers have already attracted a stream of regulars: serious caffeine aficionados who stop by for a rotating menu of single-origin drip offerings and espresso drinks via Verve Coffee Roasters, and signature house blends courtesy of an in-house roaster. The co-op is manned by Chris Myers, Payam Imani, Eric Thoreson, James Parrish, and Rob Wertheimer; the sixth member, Caleb Wolfson-Seeley, mainly handles the finances. … Continue reading »
Cool Berkeley coffee joints to get your caffeine on
As home to the first Peet’s, opened in 1966, Berkeley has always been a coffee lovers’ town. Espresso, Americano, soy lattes — you can find almost any variation on brewed coffee in almost any neighborhood in Berkeley.
Some call the recent resurgence in coffee connoisseurship the Third Wave of coffee. First came Peet’s. Then came Starbucks. And now there are a host of independent coffee roasters – Blue Bottle, Four Barrel, Ritual, Ecco, Sightglass, and Barefoot among them.
Refinery29, an online fashion and lifestyle magazine, recently ran a feature titled “13 Cool East Bay Coffee Joints To Get Your Caffeine On,” detailing some of the great coffee shops in the region. Four were from Berkeley.
Here’s an excerpt from Angela Tafayo’s piece:
Guerilla Café
Guerilla Café is an earthy café nestled in the heart of Berkeley’s Gourmet Ghetto. Pouring Blue Bottle coffee and boasting a wide range of preparations (from European to Latin American), this spot oozes the worldly vibe that coffee enthusiasts crave. Its noms are nothing to sneeze at either — fresh, healthy ingredients, and a clear view of the kitchen means great food in a warm and cozy environment, marked by a stunning bright-blue mural.
Guerilla Café, 1620 Shattuck Avenue (between Lincoln and Cedar streets), Berkeley; 510-845-2233. … Continue reading »
Shop Talk: The ins and outs of Berkeley businesses
GETTING MEATY Green Papaya, the Thai vegetarian restaurant at 2016 Shattuck in downtown, is switching it up. It’s changing its name to Thanu’s Kitchen and is adding meat to the menu. A notice on the door says that the new spot will open soon. “Although we’re changing things up a bit here, we will still offer vegetarians our selective menu and, no worries, our utilities such as pots, pans, and ingredients for vegetarian will most definitely be separated from non-vegetarian,” write the owners, who say the change is due to ”a low volume of vegan/vegetarian consumers”.
SPORTY OPENING Berkeleyans who are still missing Blakes, which closed its doors last year after 71 years, can now patronize Pappy’s on Telegraph, which opened a couple of weeks ago in the old Blake’s space at 2367 Telegraph Avenue. According to the East Bay Express, there is “a giant TV screen, plenty of sips, pitchers and noshes, and enough blue and gold to satisfy any Oski devotee”. The name is a nod to former football coach Pappy Waldorf. … Continue reading »
