At Koolfi Creamery, Narayanan produces small batches of premium-quality American-style ice cream made with organic eggs and organic Strauss Family dairy. Some flavors are inspired by her mother’s South Indian dessert recipes. One of Koolfi’s signature flavors is salted caramel with Mysore pak, a fudge-like dessert made with ghee and chickpea flour. Another is jackfruit pudding ice cream made with coconut and jaggery. One of their newest flavors, Mung-o-Rama, is made with yellow mung beans and is dedicated to Narayan’s mother, who is named Rama. They also make a line of vegan ice cream using coconut milk.
Wait what? I thought the Temple Club space is being redeveloped, hence why Geoffrey Deetz was asked to vacate the space. Sounds like the redevelopment plan didn’t pan out? And Temple Club closed for nothing?
Now, you can sit at the bar and enjoy a glass of one (or more) of the roughly 10 sakes and 4 shochus available on the menu that week while snacking on a stick of Japanese fish sausage. Even better, ask for a custom flight like the one Akabori poured for me: a delicate junmai ginjo with the kind of funky undertones you’d usually expect in a red wine; a cloudy-white orizake brewed in West Oakland, yogurty and in-your-face; and a shochu that burned my throat and filled the room with the fragrance of pineapple and guava. “This one is really special,” Akabori said each time she introduced a rarity—a selection you’d be hard-pressed to find anywhere else—which feels like almost every bottle. That’s just the kind of place this is.
This place in Old Oakland is going through a soft opening until a grand opening on October 5. I think that it is intended as a center for journalists and news gatherers to meet and talk. Sounds like a great idea as I’m interested in new ways to cover local news in the smartphone era, if that is what it’s intention is. Melanie Wong at Chowhound has some posts about this place and seems interested.
Peternell says he’s proud to support (and feed) local journalists like his podcast producers, as well as the larger community. “We all love the idea of how good food facilitates conversations, letting stories flow around the table,” Peternell describes. “This space combines several of my passions, by bringing more affordable food to the diverse clientele that reflects Oakland.”
The Lede is now open for weekday lunches from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. The grand opening is Saturday October 5, at which point, hours will expand to include weekday dinners from 5 to 10 p.m., as well as full days on Saturday from 12 to 10 p.m.
Thanks for the tip but it sold out instantly again. I logged on and picked 2 tickets at 12:00 on the nose and when I went to check out it said they were no longer available. This was before the clock even struck 12:01.
Sorry to hear - we won’t be around, so I didn’t attempt buying tickets. It looks like a lot of other people on their FB site experienced the same thing. Perhaps they’ll consider looking into a different online reservation system in the future for a better customer experience.
Yeah I don’t know how such things work but it seems pretty clear a bot must have snaked the tickets. I went to Franklin BBQ six year ago and it was worth the hassle - I guess I’ll have to go back to Austin to try it again.
I don’t think it helps that 4505’s location in Oakland’s Laurel isn’t a very big space, either. It’s fine for the neighborhood, but for such a popular event, picking a site that only holds 50-60 people - maybe they could squeeze in 70 if they started stacking diners, LOL - I couldn’t help wondering at the event organizer’s thinking.
Re EBay TImes 50 Best Restaurants:
I think we could all disagree on some of the choices on anybody’s list, LOL. We wouldn’t personally return to either Commis/Oakland nor Juanita & Maude/Berkeley, but both obviously have their fans since they’re busy all the time.
