Tag Archives: Five restaurant
Bites: What’s new in East Bay food, XXI
Openings, closings
NEW NEXT DOOR Next Door has now opened in the old Addie’s Pizza Pie location, at 3290 Adeline St. in Berkeley (as tipped by Nosh in March). Eater SF reports that the “menu has a little bit of everything,” from red curry tofu to fried chicken. See the full menu here. Chef Sharon Lorraine Anderson, formerly of The Purple Plum, is running the kitchen. Henry Alvarez, the controversial former head of San Francisco’s Housing Authority, and his wife Dionne Roberts, are the owners. Hours run from 5-10 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, as well as Sunday; and 5-11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. The restaurant is closed Mondays. A Mother’s Day brunch is available this weekend; generally, breakfast is available Saturdays and Sundays from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Learn more at Next Door Berkeley.
BARKADA BAKERY After several weeks popping up on the sidewalk, Temescal’s new bakery, Barkada, at 4316 Telegraph Ave. in Oakland, is set to open Saturday. Get connected with all the latest Barkada news via the café’s Facebook page and blog. At the end of April, the owners posted a short round-up of what it’s taken to get the business going: “We are so happy to be joining the neighborhood! We have been planning, designing and constructing the space for the last five months and are pretty close to opening. We are in the homestretch and are going through our inspections this week.” … Continue reading »
FIVE chef on his time in Berkeley: ‘A great journey’
Banks White remembers vividly the summer just over four years ago when he took up his post as executive chef at FIVE, the Hotel Shattuck Plaza’s restaurant on Allston Way in downtown Berkeley. American Idiot was playing at the Berkeley Rep, Barack Obama was not long installed as president — “there was a real buzz in the city,” he said last week, after it was revealed White would be leaving the restaurant and Berkeley.
The Texan — whose resumé includes stints at the Auberge du Soleil and étoile at Domaine Chandon in Napa, and Leftbank Brasserie in Larkspur — is heading to Harlem where he will helm the kitchen of an as-yet-to-be named restaurant. Berkeleyside chatted with White on Friday about his time in the city and his plans going forward.
Tell us about opening FIVE in Berkeley
It’s been a great journey. I’ve called Berkeley my home for six years now. But when FIVE opened in the summer of ’09 downtown Berkeley was very different. We were pretty much the only kids on the block [for casual style fine dining]. Venus was there, but Downtown had just closed, and it was pre-Gather and Comal. (Hotel Shattuck’s Scott Howard, whom White at met at Leftbank, invited White to help launch the restaurant and oversee menu design, as well as kitchen installation and recipe testing.) … Continue reading »
Nosh on the town: FIVE restaurant
Come along with Nosh as we explore East Bay restaurants in photographs. This week we focus on FIVE restaurant, in Berkeley, CA. (See the menu.) If you’ve tried the spots we feature, please let us know about your experience in the comments below. If you’d like to submit your own photo gallery for consideration from a meal you enjoyed, please email nosh@berkeleyside.com for more information. You can also add photographs to our Flickr group. (Photos by Emilie Raguso, captions below the fold.) … Continue reading »
12 drinks a drinking: Reasons to rejoice at FIVE
Some may say that chocolate has no place in a cocktail. We beg to differ. Particularly at this time of year, a little extra sweetness helps reduce pre-holiday stress, and increases the ability to enjoy the spirit of the season.
We gave ourselves an early present by sampling from the Twelve Cocktails of Christmas featured during December at FIVE Bistro & Bar. Listed between the Eight Maids a Milking (chili vodka, chocolate liqueur, sugar and cayenne rim) and Ten Ginger Lords (vodka, ginger liqueur, apple cider, gingerbread cookie rim), the Nine Ladies Dancing leapt into a clear lead in a very competitive field.
Since it’s early in the month, bartender Victoriano had yet to tackle the Nine Ladies. This proved not to be a problem for the chemist-by-day, bartender-by-night, however. “Bartending is just like chemistry,” he assures us, as he reviews the ingredients and mixes the requested drink, which he then served in a glass with a cocoa-coated rim. … Continue reading »
Six Berkeley restaurants snag Michelin Bib Gourmands
Six Berkeley dining spots have been named Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurants this year, including newcomer Comal.
Two names are missing this year from last year’s list of seven: Berkeley Thai House, on Channing Way, and eVe on University Avenue. Thai House is still going strong but eVe closed in late 2011 and came back under the same ownership last year as Peruvian rotisserie chicken joint Brasa.
The six restaurants are: Comal, Corso, Five, Gather, Ippuku, and Rivoli.
Michelin judges give the ‘Bib’ to restaurants that serve two courses and a glass of wine or dessert for $40 or less (tax and gratuity not included). ”Most importantly, they are the restaurants that the company’s inspectors frequent themselves,” Michelin said on its release. Michelin selected 70 such places for its 2013 San Francisco area guide which covers the entire Bay Area and wine country, down from 77 last year. … Continue reading »
Berkeley’s second Coffee & Tea Festival leaves a buzz
The second annual Berkeley Coffee & Tea Festival took place on Saturday morning at the Hotel Shattuck and, if you attended, you’re probably only now coming down from the caffeine- and sugar-induced buzz it induced.
Hundreds of people wandered the hotel’s elegant ballroom and exterior patio, sampling espresso drinks and fine teas, miniature bundt cakes, chocolate bites and gelato… not a bad way to spend a lazy weekend morning, many participants agreed.
The Coffee & Tea Festival was orchestrated by the Berkeley Chamber of Commerce and included a program of talks, and both coffee and tea ceremonies. Exhibitors included Berkeley Coffee & Tea, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Café V, Twenty Twenty Studios, Madecasse Chocolate, Genuto Gelato, Jade Chocolates, Five Mountains, Café Clem, Nothing Bundt Cakes and Tisano Tea. … Continue reading »
‘Five Broken Cameras’: A ‘best documentary of the year’?
In Five Broken Cameras (opening at Landmark’s Shattuck Cinemas on Friday, June 22) you’ll see overzealous security forces hurling tear gas canisters at civilians, fences being torn down, protesters throwing rocks, and a courageous camera operator recording it all for posterity. It’s not, however, the latest livestream from “Oscar Grant Plaza,” but a remarkable documentary culled from the video archives of a Palestinian “citizen journalist” who’s been filming in the Occupied Territories since 2005.
A self-described falah (peasant), Emad Burnat was born and raised in the West Bank village of Bil’in. A free spirit who preferred roaming nearby hills to picking olives with his father, Burnat acquired a new appreciation for Olea europaea after Israeli surveyors and bulldozers arrived to clear trees and prepare the way for the construction of the West Bank Wall.
Acquiring his first camera shortly after the birth of his fourth son in 2005, Burnat initially used his new toy to film village parties and family events. That same year, however, residents of Bil’in began marching each week to protest the construction of the Wall and the loss of their land to hastily built apartment complexes for ultra-orthodox Jewish settlers. Burnat and his camera were soon tagging along. … Continue reading »
Seven Berkeley restaurants get value nod from Michelin
Seven Berkeley dining spots have been named Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurants. The ‘Bib’ is bestowed to restaurants where the Michelin judges deem one can eat well for $40 or less (plus tax and tip), and Michelin selected 77 such places for its 2012 San Francisco area guide.
Ippuku, the Japanese dining spot on Center Street, received the accolade for the first time. The other six are: Corso, eVe, Five, Gather, Rivoli, and Thai House.
Ippuku serves traditional yakitori and a wide selection of the Japanese spirit shochu, and has found a loyal following since it opened in July 2010. Not long after its launch, Alice Waters told Berkeleyside that it was one of her favorite haunts. “I really don’t want to tell too many people about it because I don’t want the place to get too busy,” she said.
Michael Bauer included Ippuku in the Chronicle’s Top 100 restaurant list for 2011 and praised chef Christian Geideman for his grilling expertise, and his partner Paul Discoe, who designed the restaurant, for his mastery in carpentry. … Continue reading »
Farm-to-fork tours spotlight local green businesses
Three years ago, Marissa LaMagna started Bay Area Green Tours, a nonprofit, shoestring operation now headquartered in the David Brower Center (and largely staffed by eager, eco-conscious, unpaid interns) because she wanted to showcase the best sustainable farms and food, buildings and businesses, energy practices and employment opportunities in Berkeley and beyond.
The green tour business with a biodiesel bus takes people from near and far to see for themselves and hear the stories behind successful sustainable enterprises … Continue reading »
Downtown Summer Cinema series closes with bang
The finale of Center Street Summer Cinema, a free outdoor movie series launched this year by the Downtown Berkeley Association and sponsored by Berkeleyside, was deemed a success.
An estimated 500 people turned out to see The Big Lebowski, a quintessential Berkeley movie if ever there was one, which was shown on the side of the future Berkeley Art Museum in the Bank of America parking lot.
Before the feature, participants enjoyed free entertainment from Oakland’s Fire Collective … Continue reading »
Reminder: Free screening of “The Big Lebowski” tonight
Tonight sees the grand finale of Center Street Summer Cinema, an outdoor movie series in downtown Berkeley sponsored by Berkeleyside.
The Big Lebowski will screen on the wall of the future Berkeley Art Museum in the Bank of America parking lot at around 8:30pm.
Before the main feature starts, from 6:00pm onwards, moviegoers are encouraged to eat al fresco, enjoy musical entertainment — from Laura Weinbach of Foxtails Brigade on violin and the Fire Arts Collective – enjoy pre-movie … Continue reading »
“Raiders of the Lost Ark” screening at Summer Cinema
Last week an estimated 350 people turned out to enjoy a free screening of Up, the second in the series of four free outdoor movie screenings on Center Street in downtown Berkeley.
Saturday sees Raiders of the Lost Ark which will be shown on the wall of the future Berkeley Art Museum in the Bank of America car park.
The Summer Cinema series, organized by the Downtown Berkeley Association, sees Center Street closed to traffic. Before the main feature starts, … Continue reading »
Five’s Banks White: Berkeley ‘keeps me on my toes’
Banks White is the executive chef of Five, which calls itself a modern American bistro. Think comfort food with au courant accents: Macaroni and cheese made with orzo, wild mushrooms, tomato jam, and smoked gouda. Slow braised short rib pot roast with mascarpone polenta. Buttermilk biscuits with white cheddar pimento cheese.
The restaurant (named for the five senses and its 5 o’clock happy hour) is housed in the historic, refurbished Hotel Shattuck Plaza, which looks like it’s been given the Dorothy Draper treatment. (This writer spent some time last fall at the interior designer’s signature space, The Greenbrier in West Virginia.) Swirling black-and-white wallpaper. Ornate red chandelier. Black-and-white marble floors and red wall sconces. Get the picture?
White hails from Texas, land of barbecue and Buds, but is trained in classic French culinary techniques. The 30-year-old has worked for several upscale boutique hotel restaurants including The Driskill in Austin and Auberge du Soleil in the Napa Valley. … Continue reading »
