The Veranda, Concord
Last summer we learned that the SoCal-based restaurant chain Yard House would be coming to the Veranda shopping center in Concord and they are now set to open in two weeks on April 29th. Check out their menu here. There will be, “over 100 American-style dishes made from scratch daily, and the world’s largest selection of draft beer with 130 taps”.
La Fiesta Square, Lafayette
The Shade Store opened recently at La Fiesta Square in Lafayette where the ice cream shop Smitten used to be. Check out their online gallery here.
Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival:
Japantown, San Francisco
Saturday, April 13th, Sunday, April 14th, 2019
11:00am – 6:00pm | FreeWelcome to the Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival®, one of California’s most prominent celebrations of Asian traditions and the biggest on the West coast. Since 1968, the Festival serves to cultivate the continued alliance between Japan and the United States using culture as its bridge. Each year, over 220,000 people attend this dazzling display showcasing the vibrant colors and grace of the Japanese culture and the diversity of the Japanese American Community.
All are welcome to join in the festivities as we celebrate Japanese and Japanese American culture in San Francisco’s Japantown! We expect this year to be filled with special events and new attractions.
Shops at Todos Santos, Concord
Thanks to a reader sending word that Ramen 101 opened recently at the Shops at Todos Santos in Concord. Check out their Concord menu here. Note that there is also a vegetarian ramen option.
Photo by Flickr user andrewmalone
The other day my kid asked for a peanut butter and pickle sandwich. Have you ever heard of such a combination? I love PB&J sandwiches and I suppose peanut butter goes well with almost anything, but pickles?! I do like pickles with a deli sandwich on occasion. Do you like pickles? Do you crave them? Sour or half-sour?
Diablo Symphony and Diablo Ballet Present: Family Concert: Dance:
Lesher Center for the Arts
1601 Civic Dr, Walnut Creek
Sunday, April 14th, 2019
2:00pm | $35The Diablo Symphony Orchestra is delighted to join forces with Diablo Ballet on April 14 to present a concert the whole family will enjoy. In a program celebrating dance, audience members of all ages will be invited to move – and maybe even clap out loud – to rhythms of the waltz, the polka and Russian folk dance. Dancers will bring cats and unicorns to the stage, and the orchestra will transport imaginations to a village fair with gypsies, masqueraders and a dancing bear. Classic ballet selections featuring dancers from Diablo Ballet include Tchaikovsky’s “Pas de Deux” from Swan Lake and “Puss in Boots” from Sleeping Beauty. Under the direction of Matilda Hofman, the orchestra will perform the universally loved waltz from Sleeping Beauty as well as selections from Igor Stravinsky’s brilliant ballet Petrushka. Capping off the celebration, a surprise guest conductor will lead the orchestra in Strauss’s exuberant “Tritsch-Tratsch Polka”.
370 Hartz Ave, Danville
Hartz Cafe, featuring crepes, ice cream and coffee, opened this week on, can you guess, Hartz Ave. in Danville, where BlooGrape Organic Sworls used to be. I don’t see any social media presence yet but crepes and ice cream sure does sound delicious as summer approaches.
Downtown Pleasant Hill Shopping Center
Thanks to those who emailed about Corner Bakery Cafe closing at the Downtown Pleasant Hill Shopping Center. As you can see in the photo below, they closed at the end of March and are still open in Pleasanton and San Francisco.
Free Movie – The Goodbye Girl:
Orinda Theatre
4 Orinda Theatre Square, Orinda
Thursday, April 11th, 2019
7:00pm | FreeAfter being dumped by her live-in boyfriend, an unemployed dancer and her 10-year-old daughter are reluctantly forced to live with a struggling off-Broadway actor.
Rheem Valley Shopping Center, Moraga
It looks like iTea will no longer be the only boba drink spot in Moraga as Squeeze Juice Bar, featuring boba drinks judging from a poster in the window, plans to open where Little Hearty Noodle used to be in the Rheem Valley shopping center. Stay tuned…
