Grand-Lakeshore Business News

Papyrus celebrated their Grand Reopening last Saturday with a festive celebration featured in an article in the Montclarion. I stopped by late that afternoon and took a couple of photos. This one gives a small glimpse of an all new interior (everything from paint to carpets) and all new merchandise including Obama/McCain cookies which will be available for a short time only. Welcome back, Meg!

Speaking of celebrations, Lakeshore Natural Foods will be observing their 20th Anniversary with a store-wide, 20% discount from November 3 through the 9th. In the festive spirit of that occasion, I've decided to share a little secret. For those of you who (like me) crave sweets but avoid dairy products, Jane carries Soy Dream non-dairy ice creams. I used to think that their Mocha Fudge flavor was almost as good as sex. Now that I'm officially a senior citizen, I can confess it's better. I'm sharing this info on two conditions. Don't spread it around and please, please, please save the last pint for me.

Over on Santa Clara just a couple of doors up from H & R Block, Micio Mambo has a special Thanksgiving event planned for November 16 at 3:00 pm. Colleen Patrick-Goudreau, author of The Joy of Vegan Baking: Compassionate Cooks Traditional Treats and Sinful Sweets, will provide tips on how to enjoy a vegetarian Thanksgiving! She will discuss the history of Thanksgiving and traditional autumnal desserts and also demonstrate creation of a beautiful harvest centerpiece.

The Lakeshore Avenue Business District is celebrating Halloween next Saturday, November 1. Their annual parade begins at 11:00 at Mandana Green across from Lakeshore Baptist Church. Kiddies in costume will be given bags and mini pumpkins and invited to trick or treat in all the stores displaying the official parade poster. For more information, contact Pamela Drake at pamelad205@sbcglobal.net.

Farmers Market News

Sorry for the short notice, but the Farmers Market is hosting its own Halloween celebration today beginning between 9:30 and 10:00. Jim Fenton says they too will be distributing free mini pumpkins along with decorations in the form of cut veggies. They've done this in the past and it's a great and far safer alternative to carving. Jim also says to look for a pumpkin-toss game.

If you were at the market last week, you may have noticed one or more video teams in action. It turns out that Bryant Terry and Anna Lappe were filming a pilot for the Food Network. Unfortunately, I arrived just as Bryant was wrapping up an interview with Eddie Chavez from EGB Farms. I did, however, later snap a photo of Anna as she conducted an interview in front of the Prather Meat booth. If this segment is actually aired, watch for a hand reaching in to grab a chicken. That would be Rita Hurault who swears it's the best chicken money can buy.

After a very short absence, Goat Cheese will be back today but Massa Organic Rice will not. The latter lost their sales person and have not yet found a replacement. If you know of anyone looking for a part-time position, have them contact Massa or Jim Fenton, the market manager.

Over in the Plaza, a lot of dedicated customers are happy to see Souley Vegan back in the fold. Last year, they stopped doing the market in order to concentrate on their permanent location at 431 13th Street--on the fringes of Chinatown. At an Oakland Merchants Leadership Forum meeting I attended several months ago, they talked about farmers markets and flea markets serving a valuable role as business incubators and Souley Vegan is a perfect example. The warm reception they received at the Grand Lake Market gave them the encouragement and capital that allowed them to open a permanent restaurant location.

Another Oakland-based vendor is at the opposite end of the Plaza. Phat Matt's Barbecue has been cooking up a storm and is busier than ever now that they've expanded their menu to include sandwiches priced at $5 to $7. A couple of weeks ago, Matt helped us prepare lunch for volunteers landscaping the Lakeshore Avenue freeway off ramp by barbecuing Tri-Tip steaks donated by Trader Joe's. They were incredibly delicious. This guy works magic with meats.

Incidentally, thanks are also due to the other farmers market vendors who contributed to that lunch: Eddie Chavez from EGB Farms, Mimi from Halog Farms, Brad from Wild Boar Farm, Eric from Paramount Bakery, Alex Nanalis from CJJ Farms and the good folks at J & J Farms.

The photos I took last week were just posted on our Splash Pad Farmers Market gallery. The photo of a fallen leaf on the seating wall is meant to evoke the onset of Autumn. What is hopefully a more permanent change is symbolized by the photo of Jeff Potter from Aly Kat. Jeff told me all his clothes now sport a prominent peace symbol. It appears that peace is "in" and not a moment too soon.

While taking photos in the wonderfully eclectic Emeryville Metal Sculpture booth, I was immediately drawn to this limousine. It reminded me of a vintage limo my father bought in the early 1950's. It had a privacy window that separated the back seat from the driver and a speaker system that allowed passengers to communicate with the driver. Rumor was that it once belonged to a famous movie star--Dick Powell as I remember. In any case, I remember it as being a positively wonderful set of wheels. My sister who was then about sixteen, was however totally appalled--particularly when it backfired which it did frequently. To this day, I think she breaks out in hives when the subject is mentioned.

Grand Lake Retail Advisory Group

The GLRAG survey closed September 1 with a total of 710 completed surveys. Asked: "What products should be added to the existing retail", over half (53%) of respondents said "meat, poultry, seafood". Next highest rating was for "shoes" at 40.2% followed by "art and craft supplies" at 36.6%. Rounding out the top five were "specialty grocery" at 33.6% and "art gallery" at 28.5%. Fifty-three % said they shop at the Farmers Market "usually" and another 41% do so "sometimes". The complete results are still being tabulated and analyzed and should be posted soon on the www.glrag.org web site.

Video Recommendation for today

For today's video recommendation, I asked my World Traveler son to pick a couple of his favorite Ted Talks. If you're not familiar with Ted Talks, they're videos recorded at an annual gathering of some of the world's most profound thinkers, doers and performers covering everything from science to travel to magic. He selected two. The first is only 4 minutes long and it shows director David Hoffman sharing his feelings about the recent loss of his home and a lifetime collection of possessions. If you get the bug and want to see more, watch the 20 minute talk by Rick Smolan entitled "A Girl, A Photograph and a Homecoming".

Grand-Lakeshore Entertainment Calendar

Our apologies, but the online calendar is still not updated. The following will have to do for the time being.

October 25: Keena Webster (of Talking Wood) + the Growieser Band.

November 1: Golden Gate Jazz Trio + Pat Nevins.

November 8: Brasshopper Band + Dylan Moon.

November 15: Afro Soleil + David Greco.

November 22: The Mad Maggies + Harry Best.

Other Events

One of the very best places to celebrate Halloween with your kids is Children's Fairyland on October 27th and 28th from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. Their annual Jack O'Lantern Jamboree includes unlimited rides, goodie bags, costume parades and continuous entertainment.

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