A Great Place to Live
We love living in the East Bay. A few days ago, my wife, Sonia, and I stopped for lunch at Bakesale Betty’s recently opened, second location (2228 Broadway; original shop is at 5098 Telegraph Ave). At either location, the lines are nearly always out the door. After picking up the rightly famous fried chicken with slaw sandwich for me, and a delicious, egg salad sandwich for Sonia, we settled in on the provided sidewalk stools and vintage ironing boards to chow down.
Bakesale Betty's unconventional sidewalk cafe
Afterward, we took a short walk past three of Oakland’s art deco landmarks: the Paramount Theatre (2025 Broadway; completed 1931, closed 1970, fully restored and reopened 1973, and now on the National Register of Historic Places); the I Magnin building 2 doors down (opened 1931, closed 1995, restored and reopened as an office building 2001); and, just two blocks in the opposite direction, the sea green terracotta Breuner Building (2201 Broadway; built 1931 as a furniture store, closed in the 1970’s, now restored as offices).
Paramount Theatre, downtown Oakland, CA
I. Magnin building to left of Paramount Theatre, downtown Oakland
Breuner Building, Oakland, CA
A few days later, after a visit to La Foot (2917 College Avenue, Berkeley) to pick up running shoes for Sonia, we drove to Berkeley Bowl West (920 Heinz Avenue). Sonia has been telling me I just had to see their new store since it opened. She was so right.
Berkeley Bowl, an East Bay landmark since 1977, opened their Heinz Ave. store in 2009. The produce department alone is huge and filled with fantastic fruits and vegetables you will not easily find in other shops. Among other groceries, Sonia picked up something I had never had before — hedge hog mushrooms — and sautéed them in butter for our steak dinner – delicious!
Only a portion of Berkeley Bowl West's extensive produce department
You can't help but want to photograph BBW's gorgeous veggies on display
There has been a lot of talk about “stay-cations” in the past few years. Running regular errands around our hometown and adjoining areas can easily feel like a very enjoyable one.