SF Bay Area mehniacs?
17My son is getting a restaurant/bar off the ground in Oakland, and has enlisted the help of a crowdfunding site to add investors. Construction is underway and completion is expected this summer.
Details are here: https://www.nextseed.com/offerings/oakland-rec-club/?sc=teamorc#overview
And here is the site for the place: https://www.oaklandrecclub.com/
As you can see in the write-up, this would be his fourth venture. The first three were all successful and are still open and operating.
You don’t have to live in the Bay Area to invest. I don’t hear it mentioned much, and I’m kind of curious about how many forum players are located there. Even if you don’t invest, you might want to check it out when it opens.
Anyway, just wanted to share, sorry for the shameless plug. I guess it’s kind of a mom thing, y’know?
- 21 comments, 49 replies
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No one will admit to Bay Area connections?
Wait - is it a secret society thing?
Life is too good, and you don’t want others to move there?
You can confess, it’s safe here!
@KDemo uhh, I’ll admit that my mom was Born in Oakland (april of '46)…her parents were Bretheren missionaries, studying…probably mandarin… at Berkley, in preparation to head to their mission field in China. they were there until they had to evac (with 3 kids under 12, and whatever essentials they could carry) in the middle of the night, because the red army was headed their way…
back to the states for a couple years, learn a couple Indian dialects, then off to their new mission fields in India.
@earlyre - Were you one of those three kids? Awesome story. Did you pick up any extra languages?
My stepfather was a teacher - taught seven languages, but I didn’t learn any.
Well, just the one.
@KDemo nope, not me. Been a buckeye my whole life. That story was my mother’s childhood. She was the middle of those 3 kids. Her little sis was actually born in China.
I’d admit to being in the Chesapeake Bay Area, but even that’s a bit of a stretch. Wish I was over that way, though, I’d get my drink on!
@brhfl -
They’ll keep yours cold until you get there.
I lived in San Francisco most of my adult life.
@huja - Yay!
I would live in SF in a minute if I had the $. I love that City.
@KDemo I love it when I don’t hate it. I hate it when I don’t love it.
@huja - Well, I have to agree with you there - except when I don’t.
Is it interesting that two topics have similar Amy Polher thread images?
No? Okay.
@KDemo every time I look at this thread, I think you’re asking for a mechanic. I wonder if I’m not the only one.
@RiotDemon - Oh, could be!
Well, I’m sure mechanics need drinks too.
@RiotDemon That is how I initially read it too
The bar is open to suggestions for the kind of glassware to use.
I have a couple -
@KDemo heavy duty stuff that’ll stand up to the dishwasher. Besides that, I like square glasses… Colored glasses might be fun, but they’ll detract from what’s being served.
I posted a picture of my skull shaped shot glass in a different thread. I’d enjoy being served that at a bar, but not everyone likes looking at skulls (even though we all have one.)
@RiotDemon - I saw your skull cup, it’s cool. You’d probably like this shot glass?
@KDemo it’s the same one.
@RiotDemon - Oh, hah! I knew it looked alike, didn’t know yours was a shot glass.
@KDemo yeah, it looks pretty big in the photo… Well, they’re almost the size of a regular rocks glass, on the outer diameter. I love them, but they are thin. Definitely wouldn’t hold up to a bar. I get a little nervous hand washing them.
@RiotDemon Aren’t they borosilicate, at least?
@brhfl I don’t know, honestly. Got them from eBay. Some imported stuff.
@KDemo
/image creepy doll head cup
Now with Baby Arm!
@RiotDemon -
That’s so perfect! meh needs to sell those - or at least use them in the product photos.
Next time I’m that much further west, I’ll try to visit.
Running bars and restaurants is a really tough biz. He must have some serious serious talent and insight, along with a serious attention to detail. Congrats to you and to him that he’s good at this.
Bet his places rock.
PS
Put up some pix of his places? I’d like that.
@f00l - Thanks!
A couple of pics without people -
https://www.yelp.com/biz/83-proof-san-francisco
https://www.yelp.com/biz/hopwater-distribution-san-francisco
@KDemo
Both just beautiful. Congrats again!
@f00l - Cheers!
@KDemo
If you really wanna move to SF, and you can afford to give up your current job, he should haul you down there to assist with all these fine establishments.
Unless it can get kinda explosive when the two of you spend too much time together in close proximity…
@f00l - No, we’re close, but the cost of living there is astronomical. There are other barriers, but I would so love to be able to see my granddaughter (and family) more than once a year. FaceTime is our salvation.
Jelloware you don’t have to wash?
@KDemo I wanted these forever.
@RiotDemon - I thought someone here would like them. Cool how they make a heart.
@KDemo I think I’ve drank from these. Are they also available in purple glass? If not, must have been something similar.
@Pantheist - They are! Looks like they start at $150/pair in purple amethyst.
@Pantheist it’s a popular style. Here’s the whole wedding set.
Edit: @KDemo beat me to it.
@KDemo yup, I know those
Wildly impractical because of cost, relatively small manufacturing scale, and the fact that they’ve only recently started making clear glasses (as @RiotDemon suggested up there somewhere, barware that doesn’t reveal the color of the beverage is a pretty huge turnoff), but the glass from Fire and Light is beautiful and made there in California. I would be pretty excited to find myself in a bar using their stuff…
@brhfl - I would love to have a set of these for home use, they’re really beautiful. All of their glassware is amazing.
@KDemo It really is, the pictures don’t do it justice. It’s also all recycled glass, it’s sturdy, and their customer support is amazing. They actually started up shop back in the day because of a lack of glass recycling facilities in the area. Also, the lavender is alexandrite, so this happens when you move into fluorescent light:
(I actually rounded out my set with some bowls recently and thought they sent me the wrong thing… no, I just opened it under the fluorescents
)
@brhfl - Those are incredible! My favorite bead collection is alexandrite - blue when indoors and purple outdoors or in sunlight. Phenomenal.
Today we have a bulletproof glass.
@KDemo I love these too.
@KDemo Amazon keeps suggesting these to me as of late. Think they’re trying to tell me something.
@brhfl - Er, shoot. Their aim might be to put you over a barrel. Someone might have to be fired.
@KDemo
Those bullet glasses are great for home use. BUt at a commercial place, most people would be trying to get the bullet loose from the glass.
The rest would be thinking that the glassware looks unusual enough, that if the customers put their minds to it, they can find good reasons to claim injury and sue the establishment.
@f00l - Still, it gives new meaning to the term “shot glass”, right?
Yes, this has become a place to post unique glasses regardless of their bar-worthiness.
That said, enough alcohol and they will feel no injury.
Just ask Frodo?
@KDemo
Ask Merry and Pippin perhaps. I think they’re the experts on that topic.
"It comes in pints?"
They make this mug in clear glass, but for whatever reason I can’t find a photo of it.
The ring spins so you can fiddle with it while you have your drink.
Looking at other suggestions, it would be fun if someone could get the rights to open a Prancing Pony bar.
/image prancing pony wood stein
@RiotDemon - The precious one is so cool - I would definitely play with the ring.
This was easy to overlook, I almost skipped past it -
You should start that Prancing Pony bar!
@KDemo
I love the One Ring glasses, but I can sure see them getting stolen a lot.
@f00l - Easier said than done. Just ask Frodo.
@KDemo
Ok. Next time I see him.
; )
I actually had a beer served to me in a pretty neat glass tonight (and this suggestion is actually meant for food service, how wild!)
Libbey’s Everest series. The neat thing was that all the bubbles from the beer were channeled up through those ridges in the bottom. Even when they got to the top half, they were all marching up in little columns… it was rather mesmerizing.
@brhfl - That does sound hypnotic! Something I wouldn’t have thought of until you described it. A side benefit, I guess.
Congratulations KDemo! From one Mom to another. You wouldn’t be Mom if you didn’t shamelessly promote your son. My best to you both.
@candiedisilvio1 - Aw, thanks! Best to you, as well.