Currently, the food menu is fairly limited but will be expanding shortly. In addition, according to the owner, they will begin serving brunch on Saturdays and Sundays within the next several weeks and when they do so, hours will be extended on weekends.

For a photo and review, check out Jessica Hilberman's Oakland Goods a superb website that I just discovered. It focuses on reviews of some of Oakland's newest and best places and products.

Grand Lake District Entertainment

We've just updated the Grand Lake Entertainment Calendar through January. This Saturday, look for Oakland resident, Damond Moodie, as well as the Big Dog Band.

The Granthams have become something of a neighborhood institution. Lou was a member of the Splash Pad Fundraising Committee and her husband, Jim, performed at the park's opening celebration in October 2004. Jim's jazz group continues to appear every Sunday from 3 to 6PM at the Coffee Mill and now they have a second gig at Kingman's Ivy Room on San Pablo in Albany on Sundays beginning at 8PM. Jim was the subject of a very flattering article in last week's Chronicle.

Another neighborhood couple are also in the news this month. David Gans, who is a regular performer at the Farmers Market and his wife, Rita Hurault, were profiled in a nice article in this month's Oakland Magazine. The article focuses on a show of their photos depicting water surfaces now on display at the Nomad Cafe, but concludes with the following tribute to the Grand Lake Market:

Recently, Gans and Hurault wrote their first song together, "The Bounty of the County." "That was a fall song, harvest time," he says. "Now we're working on a spring song about vegetables." Vegetables, especially those at the Grand Lake Farmers Market near their Haddon Hill home, is another subject he loves to shoot. "You just look through the viewfinder and you see these amazing, mutant twin tomatoes, and potatoes in all strange shapes!" But no ripples.

L'AMYX Tea Shop again has a very full schedule for Saturday nights in January featuring guitar, harp and accordion. If you love the accordion, I'm happy to report that it is now available 24 hours a day online at Live 365. On the other hand, if you equate the sound of the accordion with a fingernail scraping a blackboard, you owe it to yourself to check out Dan Cantrell on January 19th. Judging by his website, Dan is a very talented musician and composer who makes very different sounds from the instrument. He's also the recipient of an Emmy in 2002 for the score he wrote for the KQED production, "Home Front".

Homeless on the Range

As you may or may not be aware, I've been involved in homeless issues for the past several years--prompted initially by concerns about homeless individuals taking up residence in the new Splash Pad Park or occasionally using the planter beds as a public toilet. I wrote about the homeless in our midst in a November 2006 article in the Grand Lake Guardian and also penned an appeal for volunteers at the City's Homeless Connect event that was published a few weeks earlier in the Tribune and Montclarion .

As pleased as I was by the successes of the three Homeless Connect events that have been held in Oakland thus far, I remained rather pessimistic--overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of homeless individuals living on our streets and by the enormous obstacles that have to be overcome. On the morning of December 10, I was therefore elated to learn that an individual who has been encamped here in the neighborhood for fourteen years had just been approved for Social Security benefits and hopefully, will be able to find warm, safe and affordable housing. This occurred as a result of the dogged efforts of a young attorney named David Waggoner who is on the staff of the Homeless Action Center--one of the very best agencies I've encountered.

Unfortunately, my sense of elation was tempered within hours when I learned that Jon Johnson, the homeless guy that almost everyone knew as "JJ" had died the previous day. Chip Johnson's Christmas Day column expanded on information that I'd heard earlier from the Grand Lake Smoke Shop's Peter Brady--one of several long-time neighbors who was a classmate of Jon's at Oakland High.

After a few weeks of contemplating these conflicting emotions, the message I'd like to share is that we can make a difference in some, but not all cases. What is required is that we look at the homeless as individuals and not as a large, amorphous entity. I've spent some time of late talking to Steve Krank who is currently running Oakland's Winter Shelter and this is the approach Steve constantly pitches and practices and it definitely seems to work.

Speaking of the Winter Shelter, kudos to Rev. Jim Hopkins and all the good folks at Lakeshore Avenue Baptist Church. Due to their generosity, evenings for 125 homeless individuals have been visibly brightened due to their donation of a very large screen TV.

Absinthe Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

Last month, we did the unexpected and reported on a show in San Francisco-- the Missing Peace Show honoring the Dalai Lama. One of the eighty-eight pieces in this prestigious show came from the Magnolia Edition studios of my good neighbors, Donald and Era Farnsworth . The show is at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts through March 16.

This month, we're doing something even more unexpected by recommending a destination in Alameda. St. George Spirits is located on the old Navy Base. They've developed quite a reputation over the last several years based largely on the success of their "Hanger One Vodka". More recently, they've been getting tons of free publicity thanks to their reintroduction of Absinthe to the American market as reported by the New York Times on December 5 and the San Francisco Chronicle on the same date.

We visited the distillery shortly thereafter. It is housed in surprise...surprise: "Hanger One". They've made great use of an old building immediately adjacent to the bay with a wonderful view of the bridge and San Francisco. For $10 a head, we sipped samples of fourteen of their products--not including the Absinthe which wasn't introduced until later in the month and which sold out immediately. Hanger One products are also available at Buckingham Liquors on Lakeshore. Max told me he's ordered half a dozen bottles of the Absinthe and is expecting delivery when the next batch becomes available at the end of this month.

I do, of course, have ulterior motives for including mention of this. I'm a long-time believer in (and practitioner of) creative re-use and "Hanger One" is a perfect example of what's possible here in Oakland in connection with the "Ninth Avenue Terminal"--most of which was slated for demolition as part of the massive Oak to Ninth Project. Thanks to the efforts of Councilmember Pat Kernighan, the City did issue a Request for Proposals and Ninth Avenue Terminal Partners responded with plans for a Vintner's Hall that would house Oakland's burgeoning wine-making industry, a tasting room and restaurant.

If realized, the Vintner's Hall should prove to be a huge draw and provide a big boost to the local economy. Unfortunately, much of the decision-making on our waterfront has been lacking in imagination and the results thus far (as for example, Jack London Square) have been less than stellar. In addition, there are serious financial obstacles that will have to be addressed. From what I've heard, Mayor Dellums really wants to make this happen. You can help out by expressing your support to Mayor Dellums and members of the City Council. Contact information is available on the Vintner's Hall website.

Police Services in the Grand Lake Neighborhood

The Lakeshore and Grand Avenue commercial districts have a new Walking Beat Officer named Jeff Tom. If you see him out on patrol, be sure to give him a big welcome. We are also extremely pleased to report that Hoang Banh will remain as the Neighborhood Services Coordinator for the Grand Lake and surrounding neighborhoods.

Splash Pad Mail List

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