Original Joe’s
Kendall Marie Photography
Original Joe’s Reopening on Wednesday
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Original Joe’s is opening in Walnut Creek. The iconic Italian American standby’s original Broadway Plaza launch was long delayed before a kitchen fire forced it to close a few days after its debut in August. Now after about a month and a half spent cleaning up interior fire and smoke damage, the restaurant announced that it is reopening this Wednesday, October 1—confirming Dish’s reporting last week. As a refresher, the 300-seat Walnut Creek location sports an expansive main dining room with counter seating overlooking the exhibition kitchen, a stand-alone bar with a fireplace, two outdoor patios, and a private dining room in which to enjoy its signature Italian American favorites such as chicken parmigiana, hamburger sandwich on sourdough, spicy rigatoni, and mesquite-grilled steaks and chops. New items to the Broadway Plaza location include a bone-in veal parm, Dungeness crab roll, and “dirty” saltimbocca with a truffle porcini sauce (and an espresso martini affogato for dessert). The restaurant will be open for lunch and dinner daily—hopefully for the foreseeable future.
East Bay Opening Updates
Speaking of which, here are a few updates on some other anticipated East Bay openings.
Square Pie Guys, Walnut Creek: Once expected to open in the spring, the popular SF-based Detroit-style pizzeria’s first Contra Costa brick-and-mortar location has been delayed again, according to founder Marc Schechter. He’s now eyeing a November/December launch in the ground floor of the Waymark apartment complex near the Walnut Creek BART station.
Western Flyer, Lafayette: It’s been a while since we checked in with banker-turned-brewer Logan Jager’s passion project: an ambitious, expansive brewery and taproom being built from the ground up along Mt. Diablo Boulevard in Lafayette. Jager says progress is good, with the Lafayette resident hoping to launch by late October. As a reminder, Western Flyer will have a contemporary, indoor-outdoor design (see pic below) to go with warm-weather-friendly lagers and other beers brewed on-site and a food program centered on elevated tacos.
Western Flyer
Logan Jager
Stereo 41, Walnut Creek: As we mentioned last week, this anticipated new hi-fi lounge from brother-sister duo Victor Ghaben (World Famous Hotboys) and Sofia Sabet (Lita) and others looks to be quietly making progress towards a downtown launch. How do we know that? Signage is now up on the exterior of the former PG&E customer service building on Bonanza Street.
Barebottle Brewing Company, Walnut Creek: The San Francisco brewery could be close to launching its new downtown Walnut Creek taproom at 1375 South California Boulevard in the former Pinky’s Pizza and Pub home across from Trader Joe’s. How do we know that? A hiring announcement on their official Instagram page from September 12 stating that “Barebottle Walnut Creek is opening this October.” Seems pretty definitive, but delays do happen, so we’ll keep an eye out for updates.
Zachary’s Chicago Pizza, Livermore: The beloved East Bay deep-dish pizza institution was aiming to open its latest restaurant in Livermore this fall in the former Patxi’s Pizza space downtown. There is still no specific opening date, however, as Zachary’s COO Leandra Schuler says that “we are still making the space ours.” Fair enough!
Calicraft Brewing Co., Walnut Creek. The expanding Walnut Creek brewing operation just launched a massive new beer garden in Davis. With that done, says co-owner Blaine Landberg, they will be able to focus squarely on the downtown rooftop bar they’ve planned atop Va de Vi Bistro and Wine Bar. Craft beer, cocktails, and creative small plates are the plan for Calicraft’s latest concept, which Landberg now hopes to open by early November before the holiday season.
Pivot, Pleasanton: Sabio on Main and Crush’d Wine Bar and Kitchen chef-owner Francis X. Hogan’s new two-story elevated sports bar has been slow going, but Hogan said they are steadily working through inspections, after which he expects things to accelerate.
Livermore’s popular Zephyr Grill and Bar is aiming to reopen in mid-to-late October after closing in July for a big remodel. Expect an updated menu to go with the restaurant’s new look, while the Zephyr moniker will stay the same (owners had been considering changing it).
Fatto a Mano Alimentari
Courtesy of Gastronomia di Porchetta
Porchetta and Other Homemade Tuscan Treats Coming to Prescott Market
A homemade Italian shop selling fresh pastas, porchetta sandwiches, and other Tuscan specialties is coming to West Oakland’s Prescott Market. The owners of Fairfax’s Gastronomia di Porchetta—which was named a top-25 restaurant last year by the San Francisco Chronicle—are launching Fatto a Mano Alimentari in the place of the shuttered Prescott Meats and Deli. Set to open later this year, Fatto a Mano will offer salads, antipasti, pastas, paninis, desserts, and wine by the glass and bottle, in addition to chef-owner and native Italian Elena Fabbri’s famed porchetta, which will be sold by the pound and in sandwiches. Fabbri has been specializing in porchetta since 2017 and cooks the Italian-style savory, fatty pork roast on an in-house rotisserie. Her new Prescott Market outpost will also have a retail section with pantry items, housemade sauces, and focaccia, and pasta made fresh on-site and on-view behind a glass display. Prepared foods will be available for dine-in and take-out, with polpo in zimino (octopus with greens) and fagioli e salsiccia (beans and sausage) among the Tuscan dishes that may make the seasonal menu. For a better idea of what to expect at Fatto a Mano, note Fabbri’s definition of “alimentari.”
“The name ‘alimentari’ comes from the Latin verb alere, meaning ‘to feed’ or ‘to nourish.’ In Italy, an alimentari is a small, local, often family-owned shop that sells fresh and specialty items. That’s the spirit we want to bring here—a welcoming place with authentic, artisanal Italian food.”
This comes after the recent announcement that Janice Dulce, of Oakland’s modern Filipino standby FOB Kitchen, will be launching a solo spinoff in Prescott Market, in which she plans to cook dishes inspired by her Filipino roots as well as her time spent in Guam and the Bay Area. Both restaurants are aiming to open later this year. The news also comes on the heels of a busy few weeks at the market, which tapped pre- and post-game crowds for the Oakland Ballers, the new independent pro baseball team that won the Pioneer League title last week in just its second season.
Starbucks Closes Spots Around the Region
Starbucks shuttered a string of stores across the East Bay amid pumpkin spice latte season. The closures are part of a broader restructuring plan by the coffee behemoth that will shut down around 900 cafés across the United States and Canada. Among the stores apparently impacted are locations in downtown Walnut Creek (at Locust Street and Mt. Diablo Boulevard), downtown Danville (on Hartz Avenue), San Ramon’s City Center Bishop Ranch, and Pleasant Hill at Contra Costa Boulevard and Gregory Lane. Of note for those seeking pumpkin spice lattes: several Starbucks remain open in all those cities.
Small Bites From Across the East Bay
Southwestern seafood chain California Fish Grill Casual Kitchen is reportedly expanding to Concord on Diamond Boulevard near Benihana and Lazy Dog.
According to a posted ABC license transfer, it looks like someone is already lined up to replace recently shuttered downtown Martinez standby Lemongrass Bistro—no word yet on details.
Preeti Mistry, former chef-owner of Juhu Beach Club in Oakland’s Temescal district (now home to FOB Kitchen), has resurfaced as the new executive chef at famed Napa Valley winery Silver Oak Cellars.
Café Brusco, from the same owners as Berkeley’s critically acclaimed Rose Pizzeria, is now open next door. The all-day café specializes in homemade bagels baked in Rose’s pizza oven, plus coffee and pastries.
SFGate dropped an unexpected nugget in its roundup of new foodie offerings at Emeryville’s Public Market: Apparently the food hall will soon be home to a new location of Washington, D.C.–based sustainable salad and bowl chain Sweetgreen.
Dining and Cooking