Staffers Ashley (left) and Ella at the new Cupcakin’ Bake Shop location in the former Virginia Bakery space in North Berkeley show off the wares. Photo: Joanna Della Penna
When Nosh posted its list of February openings and closings this time last year, there was very little hint as to the looming pandemic lockdown and ongoing months of crisis soon to come. Looking back now, it is remarkable to note that despite the year’s unparalleled challenges, only three of the 18 East Bay food and drink businesses that opened last February have since closed.
Hard-won resilience stories from that February 2020 list include the resurrected Persian restaurant Alborz in downtown Berkeley; U :Dessert Story, still treating folks on Shattuck Avenue; Oakland’s Shawarmaji, that has since morphed from a pop-up to a popular brick-and-mortar; Nibs, a former El Cerrito favorite now slinging pancakes and burgers in West Oakland; and Arizmendi Emeryville, that overcame more than a year of repairs after
This story first appeared on Berkeleyside’s sister site, The Oaklandside.
Jose Ortiz and his son Gabriel have been planning for over a year to move their popular Dimond restaurant, La Perla, from its current location in a convenience store on MacArthur Boulevard to a bigger space at 3409 Fruitvale Ave. The highly anticipated grand reopening of is planned for Sunday, Feb. 14.
But the reopening may not happen as planned. The Alameda County Department of Environmental Health is requiring that Ortiz replace the kitchen floor in the new restaurant space, which used to be a Subway sandwich shop. According to Ortiz, the requirement came as a surprise in December, after he’d already spent over $80,000 on renovations.
Supriya Yelimeli looks forward to visiting a crowded dining room at Viks Chaat for cholle bhature then going back in line for sweets and seconds. Photo: Mighty Travels/Flickr
Our final installment of year-end food reflections focuses on the future hopefully, the not-so-distant future when we can safely eat, drink and gather again in restaurants and with others outside our immediate households without masks.
Below, you’ll find the hopes and wishes of Nosh, Berkeleyside, Oaklandside and Cityside contributors and staff on the topic, but we’d love to hear what you’re looking forward to most, when it comes to food, when the pandemic is over. Share your thoughts in the comments below.
The Peruvian chicken dinner from Michoz, a pop-up operating out of Hidden Cafe in Berkeley, was a memorable feast. Photo: Sarah Han
Usually, around this time of year, we’re feeling pretty good. We’re buzzing with a sense of joy and relaxation, spending time with family and friends, gathering and eating meals together and looking back on the fun times we had over the last 12 months. After almost a full year of living with COVID-19, those halcyon holiday times seem so distant from our current reality. But while we didn’t get many opportunities to eat at restaurants or meet up for meals with friends, we still did have some good times and ate plenty of good food in 2020.
Deputies: One airlifted after two-car crash in Hopewell
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The Ontario County Sheriff’s Office reports the investigation of a two-car personal injury crash at the intersection of Freshour and Taylor roads in the town of Hopewell.
It happened on Sunday around 11 a.m.
Deputies say Ricky Rodas, 58, of Manchester was traveling west on Taylor Road when he failed to stop at the intersection with Freshour Road and continued through it.