Tag Archives: Build Pizzeria
Sneak peek: Build, Berkeley’s ambitious new pizzeria
It’s called Build because you will build your own pizzas there. It was nearly called A90 because that’s the name of the freeway that encircles Italy’s capital, and Roman pizza is what’s on the menu. The ambitious new restaurant that will open next weekend on Shattuck Avenue on the corner of Bancroft Way, is, like Gather and Comal before it, taking a chance that downtown Berkeley has an appetite for a buzzy, big-city eatery.
And the restaurant is just the start. Later this year, Build’s owners, Lisa Holt and David Shapiro, whose background is in hotel development, are planning to transform the property’s 8,000 sq ft basement — formerly Shattuck Down Low – into a happening underground culture club serving up drinks and food along with the comedy and music acts. … Continue reading »
Bites: What’s new in East Bay food, XVI
Bites is Berkeleyside Nosh’s round-up of restaurant, bar and food-related news in the East Bay. To stay up-to-speed with all that’s going on locally, read our daily Nosh Wire, and check out previous editions of Bites. We always love receiving food-related tips at nosh@berkeleyside.com.
PIZZA DEBUT Mark your calendars: Build Pizzeria Roma, which we wrote about in October, is set to open in downtown Berkeley at 2286 Shattuck Ave. on April 11. We’ve been told the 120 plus-seat “loft-like contemporary dining room, designed by Lisa Holt and Abueg Morris Architects, includes repurposed materials from local sources” and has a contemporary Italian feel. It joins other pizza newcomers Pizza MODA on University, in the former Fellini space, and Sliver Pizzeria (in a small storefront on Center Street). (There are also Kensington pizzeria Benchmark and Jules Thin Crust, which was set to open in March in Rockridge, not to mention The Forge in Jack London Square.) … Continue reading »
Bites: What’s new, what’s hot, what’s happening, V
Bites is Nosh’s round-up of restaurant and bar news in the East Bay. Got a tip or a scoop? Send it our way at nosh@berkeleyside.com. Christina Mitchell, founder of East Bay Dish, is the main voice behind Bites, with a little help from the staff at Berkeleyside.
Freshly served…
EL GUSANO According to Eater SF, Erin Brooks and Michael Sopher, who own San Francisco’s Tropisueño, opened El Gusano earlier this week in Old Oakland. The menu features Mexican specialties ($3.95-$11) including burritos, tamales and quesadillas, as well as pambazos, a sort of wet torta with chorizo and potato that’s a specialty of Mexico City. Various cocktails, with a focus on mezcal, will be available in the bar. El Gusano, 1015 Clay St., Oakland; 510-444-9676. Hours: Monday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and 5:30-9:30 p.m. Closed Sunday.
EAT + LOUNGE Haig and Cindy Krikorian’s K2 Restaurant Group closed Sea Salt on New Year’s Eve and Inside Scoop reports that it was already scheduled to open again as Eat + Lounge under chef Kwin Vu. (Berkeleyside also reported this in December in our Shop Talk column.) The menu is influenced by the Mediterranean and “more farm-to-table” offerings. The plan is to serve lunch, dinner and brunch on the weekends. Eat + Lounge, 2512 San Pablo Ave., Berkeley; 510-883-1720. … Continue reading »
Shop Talk: The ins and outs of Berkeley businesses
NEW AMSTERDAM COFFEESHOP New Amsterdam Coffeeshop has closed after three years at 1952 University Ave. Its owners sent out a letter to customers and posted a sign on the door explaining they wanted to “spend more time with their boys.” “We never imagined that our little homemade restaurant would be so busy or popular or loved,” they wrote. “But as we grew busier and busier the focus on business and lack of sleep and the intensity that we put into it began to take away from our family. We never had enough time for ourselves, or our kids, and we were unhappy.” … Continue reading »
This week on NOSH: Hot spots, truffles, Corpse Revivers
In case you missed the news, Berkeleyside recently launched NOSH, an exciting new East Bay food section.
Here are the stories we published on NOSH this week:
Bites: What’s new, what’s hot, what’s happening Our regular round-up of East Bay food news, including new restaurants and bars.
Why Norman Rockwell’s turkey dinner sets us up to fail Just in time to ensure perfect results on Thanksgiving day, The Local Butcher Shop’s Monica Rocchino shares an expert view.
To Die For: Kao Mun Gai at Hawker Fare Former America’s Test Kitchen cook Kate Williams finds out what all the fuss is about the poached chicken and rice dish at this hot Oakland restaurant.
Raising the dead at Revival Bar & Kitchen Ms Barstool, aka Risa Nye, gets more than she bargained for sipping a Corpse Reviver in downtown Berkeley.
Three mouth-watering views of Asian cuisine Japanese farm food, the flavors of Burma, and Charlie Phan’s new tome: three exciting new cookbooks that would make perfect gifts. … Continue reading »
New Roman-style pizzeria to open in Berkeley
A hotel development and design group has chosen downtown Berkeley to launch its first restaurant, a high-end Roman-style pizzeria called A90. (Update, Jan. 2013: the restaurant has since been renamed Build.)
A90 will be located at 2286 Shattuck Avenue, on the corner of Bancroft Way. The space was most recently occupied by Indian restaurant Pasand Madras, next door to the recently shuttered Shattuck Down Low music club. Lisa Holt of DLS Hotels & Spas said work has begun on the building and they hope to be open by the spring.
DLS Hotels & Spas, whose projects include Milliken Creek Inn & Spa and Hotel Yountville, plans to replicate the A90 concept in other locations, both around the country and globally.
“Berkeley will be our flagship,” said Lisa Holt who is working on the launch in partnership with David Shapiro and the Rustic Restaurant Company. … Continue reading »
Shop Talk: The ins and outs of Berkeley businesses
ALL ROADS LEAD TO ROME The Chronicle’s Inside Scoop has more details on the restaurant Lisa Holt and David Shapiro are opening in the old Pasand space at 2286 Shattuck (which prompted the landlord not to renew the lease of the Shattuck Down Low nightclub). It will be a Roman-style pizzeria called A90, referring to the road that circles Rome and the number of seconds it takes to cook a thin-crust pizza. The restaurant will be ”something unique that has not been seen in the Northern California area at all,” Holt told Inside Scoop, and will let diners “be individual and creative about their food.” The chef will be Brian Langevin, a pizzaiolo trained by Tony Gemignani, the paper reports. [Update: The name has been changed to Build Pizzeria.] … Continue reading »
