Park Street Art & Wine Faire

Today was the first day of the Park Street Art and Wine Street Faire. The weather was cooperative and turned out to be a warm and sunny day. This year celebrates 25 years of the Art and Wine Faire which is a great accomplishment for the small town of Alameda. I've been attending the event for close to a decade and enjoy attending every year.

The food vendors are basically the same players who participate in the street faires in San Francisco every weekend. As I walked around today from Lincoln to Encinal along Park, the food choices available were pretty much bad for you. A majority of the food was deep fried or there were plates of food being served with a lot of grease. Nonetheless, gallons of wine and beer were flowing like a river. People loved the idea of walking around with a beer in hand, shopping, eating and talking.

Even though the street faire is about the wine and art, I believe the live music was by far the best part of the event. The musicians showed real talent and skill. The bands performed cover songs, but they were good and sounded very similar to the original recordings. Whereas the art vendors who showcased their work was mediocre. The end products did not reflect real talent or creative ingenuity. I think someone forgot to tell the artists that we are in a recession and that customers don't want flattened wine bottles hanged on their walls. The level of art was disappointing. I guess after a few beers, any art looks awesome.

Overall, it was a good day had by all. I even think the dogs appreciated going out and meeting other furry friends.

Cafe Envy

A new cafe on Webster Street has opened for business. The name of the establishment is Wescafe. I believe the space was a former television repair shop where it appeared worn and tattered. Thank goodness a new owner has come in and made the space inviting and comfortable. Wescafe offers hot breakfasts, coffee, hot chocolate, muffins, cookies, cupcakes, tea and sandwiches. Another great feature of the new spot is the outdoor patio in the back. On a warm day, the patio is a great place to eat, relax and enjoy the surroundings. The patio has beautiful flowers and it's a great, clean environment. Wescafe is definitely welcomed to the West End since Tillie's is closed for business.

Another pleasant cafe across town on Encinal Avenue is Shay's Cafe. Shay's has a completely different vibe inside the space. The food counter is light and bright and showcases the open kitchen. The dining side of the room is dark blue in color and a bit somber if you ask me. The space is large and seats plenty of customers, but the color brings down the lightness of enjoying food. There is a kid's corner in the far right side of the room which is a great idea so Mom and Dad can sit and read the paper. The owners (husband and wife team) are pro-active business people and participated in the 4th of July Alameda Parade with a cool banner, kids and parents. The signature dishes are the East Coast inspired sandwiches. The weak points are the desserts. I am very happy that Shay's Cafe moved in since the previous business, Muffins, Muffins and More lost complete control of quality assurance of the food products.

Dependent upon what side of town you are at, you can't go wrong with either one of these cafes. If you are ambitious, you can ride your bike and go to both and check it out yourself.

Frozen Yogurt Phenonmenon

For some reason there is an explosion of frozen yogurt joints all around Park Street. Frozen yogurt has been around for a few decades and I don't understand the sudden supply of yogurt stores. This reminds me of a Seinfeld episode where a particular yogurt joint suddenly becomes popular because the owner proclaims the frozen yogurt is fat-free. Customers can't get enough and wait long lines for the dessert. Jerry gains weight from the yogurt and smuggles the yogurt to a food laboratory where it tests positive for fat. The yogurt shop is then forced to hang a sign that states the yogurt is not fat-free, and the business goes bust.

The places around Park Street are Tuttimelon, a new place under construction on Santa Clara, and Yogofina recently opened at Park and Encinal. Yogofina is a cute and colorful space with friendly interiors. It's a small and cozy room, but does not hold a lot of customers, especially on warm days.

I wonder how long the frozen yogurt trend will last? The yogurt joints may have a chance just as long Tucker's doesn't get into the yogurt business.

Another Victim of the Economy

The Dock Cafe and Tiny's Candy Store is no longer in business on Webster Street. Tiny's lasted for a few good years before the husband and wife team decided to expand into the space next door. Who would have known that a tiny, hole in the wall candy store would create enough business for expansion? Unfortunately when the couple thought they had enough regular clientele to expand, the Dock Cafe did not work.

Ghost Town Alameda

A few hours after the Fourth of July Parade was over, Downtown Alameda was a ghost town. I brought out-of-towners to Park Street after the parade and a majority of the retail stores were closed. A few bars and restaurants were open, but the town appeared to be shut down. I was surprised to see many closed stores and businesses on a Saturday, where hundreds of people were walking around at one time. The Downtown, Park Street tour lasted less than thirty-minutes.

Fourth of July

Fourth of July is a great time to relax, hang out with friends and family and watch the Alameda Fourth of July Parade go by. What is really special about Alameda is the community spirit and hometown feel. My favorite parade moments were the Mexican Cowboys riding horses down the parade route and watching the horses perform tricks. The horses were graceful dancers and it's wonderful to watch them prance with regal flair. It's also great to see the various local high school marching bands, organizations and companies participating in a city event.


When you think of Fourth of July, hot dogs, potato salad, and hamburgers come to mind. After the parade is over, the City hosts a party in one of the parks with jumpers for kids and food booths. The food booths tend to be the same players who participate in the Earth Day event meaning Croll's Pizza and a non-profit organization selling hot dogs and drinks to raise money. The food is nothing special and it's mobile food to walk around with ease.


If you don't pack your own food basket, The New Zealander is a good place to eat at after the parade and get a pie and a pint. A hamburger from Nation's is a decent choice for hungry eaters on a budget. Havana is a cool place to hang out and look good at the same time. Linguini's is the only front patio restaurant along the parade route. A great pizza or pasta dish at this place would satisfy an empty stomach. Higher end restaurants are not open for business during lunch times on holidays so Acquacotta or Yume is not an option. Too bad. However Cera Una Volta is open on the weekends for lunch, so this a great choice on Saturday. If the fourth is a beautiful, sunny day than Julie's on Park Street is a wonderful and quiet outdoor setting for a sandwich or a beverage and a baked good.

Angela's Bistro

The long awaited Angela's Bistro on Central Avenue is finally in operation. It took the contractor a lot longer than expected to get the restaurant built, but every aspect of the restaurant is bigger and better.

I was a regular at Angela's when it was located in the Marina Village. The prices were fair, not expensive and the food quality was good. When the new location first opened, I went there a few times without a reservation and could not get a table. I walked around the dining room to get a feel of the new space. The front area of the restaurant was very pleasant with a relaxing color scheme of greens and browns. The mood then slightly changed the further you walked back towards the restrooms. The tables were so close together that it was quite easy to bump into a table with one's rear end. Luckily, the last time I actually ate a meal at the restaurant, the staff had moved the table and chair configuration that was a much better layout than feeling like cattle.

The first noticeable difference in the new location is the green spread for the bread. The spread is much lighter in flavors of garlic and cilantro. The old version was strong and pungent where the flavors exploded in your mouth. The new version is a watered down version of the old with similar flavor profiles, but with less intensity.

The menu hasn't really changed much, but there are a few more choices to select from in appetizers and entrees. I ordered the Duck confit with wild rice in a puff pastry as an appetizer. The dish was very nice and light. The Duck confit was tender and flavorful. The tangy sauce brought the flavors together of the duck and wild rice. The wild rice alone without the duck was a bit lackluster. The dish overall was a good pick since Duck confit does not appear on the menu with high frequency and it's not easy to make at home.

My main course was a medium rare Hangar Steak with potatoes and vegetables. The steak was thinly sliced when it arrived at the table with a red wine sauce reduction. The sauce was nice and added a more complex dimension to the steak. The potatoes were awkward at first because they were flattened, small potatoes with skins on. The potatoes were tender and had a great flavor to them, but you had to cut them with fork and knife. The vegetables were carrots and green beans. The vegetables had problems. The carrots were overcooked and thinly sliced where it was tough to chew. All of the moisture of the carrot was gone and it was like chewing on a piece of leather. The green beans lacked flavor and it wasn't an issue of being overcooked, but something tells me it has to do with freshness. Food portions were not large and the prices were somewhere in the medium to high range. The steak was over $20, but I got five to seven slices of meat at approximately four to five ounces in weight.

The dessert menu looked a little weak. There were six items to choose from, but none of seemed appetizing and so I opted to skip dessert.

Another time I ate a meal at Angela's, I ordered the Lobster Ravioli. The sauce was creamy and delicate with hints of tomatoes, herbs and butter. The lobster inside the ravioli was perfectly executed, it was thinly shredded lobster meat. The strong lobster flavor of the pasta balanced the subtle creme sauce where the two components complimented one another. One slight flaw of the meal was the texture of the ravioli. The pasta was a bit chewy and it was a tad too thick for my liking. I wondered if the pasta was purchased from a wholesaler and then boiled in the kitchen, but the waitress claimed the pasta is made in the kitchen on the premise. I should have further investigated to ask if the pasta was ever frozen which would explain the chewiness of the texture, but I did not. Oh well, another time, another opportunity. The Lobster Ravioli was a pleasant meal, the food portion was appropriate with six pieces of ravioli.

I would definitely come back to Angela's Bistro for another meal. The ambiance is nice if you sit in the middle of the room or closer to the front door. I suggest choosing menu items that are more complex because steak or salmon is an easy food item to grill. The chef is playing it safe in cooking food that he knows how to make, instead of taking chances on flavors and ingredients. However, you can't blame the guy because the costs of building a new restaurant is expensive, and you have fill the space with paying customers to pay the bills.