Oakland Tribune Outtakes

I’m going to have to start getting used to taking openings in stride after this weekend. Both Ave and Somar opened Saturday night on Telegraph Avenue, and Van Kleef’s was packed inside and out. They were about to start turning people away. It’s kind of a good sign that I’ve already started nagging about what Oakland doesn’t have — late night diners, infill between businesses, late night BART. Let me back up though. 
Ave’s sweet narrow room with art on the walls and a substantial bar near the kitchen was fuller than full Saturday night, the grand opening. Among the crowd were, of course, Mr. DTO510 and V-Smooth, she all glam in black skirt and high heels. Naturally Jonathan was not wearing heels or a skirt but looked very dapper nonetheless.  My own appearance was less than stellar but that’s another story. Co-owner Gairy Jacques of Air Lounge and soon to be Era was looking pretty relaxed for an opening night, which entailed some hectic moments inside.  We had some sort of mixup with our drinks, and my boyfriend (who sported a casual look) even got chided by a bartmaid for ordering twice although he hadn’t ordered twice. But the crew smoothed things out and we sipped our Manhattans, 7&Sevens and Stolis at a slender wood bar outside (genius!) with the beauty supply store that squats on the corner for a view.  It’s just a matter of time before that thing goes or (hope, hope) gets turned into a late-nite retro diner or something.  
A little way up the street, Somar was hosting its soft opening. The place was absolutely throbbing with loud club music and mostly  20-something Asian customers. Somar is slick (but the brick wall that lines the far side of the lounge keeps it cozy) and loungey with very friendly owners whose bartenders were slinging the drinks as fast they could pour ‘em. For the first time, I felt like I could have been on the path of a nightclub crawl like SoMa’s, which I am wondering has anything to do with the name Somar. The place went up quietly and still doesn’t have a sign but it won’t open officially for a couple weeks. Crews were working like maniacs trying to get ready for the soft opening: when I walked by Tuesday night they were out at about 10:30 p.m. sawing a big sheet of plywood. Now I understand why.
Ave at 20th and Tel put down some much-needed footprints in the still-dark north side of the Uptown lounge, extending the entertainment row to start linking up with the heart of the Art Murmur scene on the other side of West Grand  as well as Ozumo, Luka’s, etc. at West Grand and Broadway extending up to Mua and Z Cafe. Somar, meanwhile, in the old vitamin store building at 17th and Tel, brightened up the block and brought people out onto the streets. Even better, you could hear and see them from Broadway across the 19th Street BART walkway between Broadway and Telegraph.  If only the Fox had been lit up the scene would have been perfect.

The official vehicle of the blogosphere would be a Segway scooter, I decided last night erstwhile when Nancy Nadel challenger Sean Sullivan rolled up to the Washington Inn last night. The downtown business darling showed up at the Oakland Blogger Get-Together. The blogoyalty were there — such as the event’s organizer “Becks” of Living in the O, Future Oakland/The DTO’s Jonathan Bair and ”V Smoothe” of A Better Oakland.  So were Oakland’s citerati:  Oakland Events, Dowtown Lake Merritt Neighborhood Group, Tina “Tamale” Ramos (The big cheese over at La Borinquena Mex-icatessen who’s living in a tamale world cuz she’s a tamale girl). Lots of readers and numerous genuinely engaged residents who had lots to say about people trashing their town, the popping entertainment scene and transit.  It was the first blogger party I’ve ever been to or heard of. I was half expecting to find a bunch of freaks and geeks to be tapping away at their laptops. Just kidding. No way Oakland’s urban bloggerati would be doing anything but looking fabulous drinking their cocktails. Anyway, I appreciated being there but felt a little strange as the only reporter. Read the rest of this entry »

I didn’t even have space to get into half the details about the city’s no fun policies in today’s Night Owl backed up the “party police.” Sometimes Oakland seems to get in the way of its own success by making it hard for even its most popular venues to entertain us. First it was Oakland Metro, Oaklandish and 21 Grand that the Alcohol Beverage Action Team targeted. Last year, the squad cracked down on smoking inside and outside bars. Now it’s their attention to Mama Buzz Cafe that has people up in arms, even though the team tagged four other venues for combining DJs and dancing without having a $2,210.36 cabaret permit. It’s like we’re trapped in Elmore, Oklahoma in a scene from Footloose, as The DTO blogger Jonathan Bair put it. The situation is set to change because the law is too absurd. Even the city’s cabaret license chief Barbara Killey and ABAT’s rep agreed that something should change. (Maybe we should move fast because I heard the well-liked and respected Killey is set to retire.)
City Councilmembers, after all, changed the rule barring cabarets from operating 300 feet from a library, school or church (amen). They had to or else the Fox Theatre and Oakland School of the Arts couldn’t coexist and Cafe Trieste would have been banned from setting up shot on their spot on Piedmont Avenue. Of course, that has all been vented about on A Better Oakland. Now about the taxi problem here and that ordinance about breasts and booze…