Welcome to the Mid-Week Menu, our roundup of East Bay food news.
1) Barkada (4316 Telegraph Ave.), Temescal’s cozy bakery-turned-full-service-restaurant, closed suddenly last week, Inside Scoop reports. The restaurant — which, among other charms, served my favorite chocolate croissants in town — shut its doors a little over a year after it opened. When I reached out to Barkada’s owners, they told me the decision to close was due to a personal health issue, not anything to do with finances or the success of the restaurant. Here’s to hoping that everyone gets better and that, down the road, the business might rise again.
2) A Chowhound poster notes that Alameda’s Feel Good Bakery (1650 Park St.), maker of my other favorite East Bay chocolate croissant, has now gotten into the breakfast and lunch business. Located farther east on the island, Feel Good Kitchen (3215 Encinal Ave.) serves things like lemon ricotta pancakes and Eggs Benedict served on house-made English muffins, in addition to Feel Good’s usual array of pastries and other baked goods.
3) Jon Guhl, owner of the Albany branch of Little Star Pizza and The Star on Grand, is opening a burger joint called Boss Burgers (1187 Solano Ave.) in Albany, Inside Scoop reports. The restaurant will serve smaller, Shake Shack-style burgers made from fresh-ground Prather Ranch beef. Guhl and his chef and partner in the venture, former Cafe Rouge bar manager Ryan Murff, are aiming for a September opening.
5) Tablehopper reports that Downtown Oakland’s Modern Coffee (411 13th St.) is opening a second location in Oakland, this time Uptown — in the Leamington Building, at the intersection of 19th and Franklin streets. The new cafe should open by the end of July or in early August.
6) Shakewell (3407 Lakeshore Ave.) — the Spanish-Mediterranean-inspired restaurant project from two high-profile Top Chef alums — had its official opening night in Oakland last week. Check out some pretty pictures of the restaurant’s wood-burning oven and the rest of the space, courtesy of Eater.
7) Over in Temescal, recently-reviewed Cal-Moroccan spot Doukkala (4905 Telegraph Ave.) has launched brunch service on Saturdays and Sundays, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The menu includes things like Moroccan-style baghrir pancakes, a Moroccan Benedict that features house-made Merguez sausage and harissa hollandaise, and a grass-fed burger.
8) Kensington’s Benchmark Pizzeria (1568 Oak View Ave.) is celebrating its two-year anniversary with a $40 prix-fixe menu (three courses, plus two drinks) from 5 to 9 p.m. this Sunday, July 20. Fifteen percent of the night’s proceeds will go to the Alameda County Community Food Bank. The event kicks off a new feature wherein a different charity or nonprofit will benefit from a monthly Tuesday night dinner.
9) Pizza snobs, prepare to turn your noses up: Domino’s Pizza has won approval to bring its high-concept “Pizza Theater” and “artisan” pies to South Berkeley, Berkeleyside Nosh reports.
10) Finally, ICYMI, Uptown Oakland’s Marrow has closed, and a new gluten-free bakery is coming to Emeryville.
Got tips or suggestions? Email me at Luke (dot) Tsai (at) EastBayExpress (dot) com. Otherwise, keep in touch by following me on Twitter @theluketsai, or simply by posting a comment. I’ll read ‘em all.
Sam’s Log Cabin (via Facebook). Pancakes, Moroccan style (via Facebook).
