Cake. Opens in Lafayette

September 18, 2012 11:30 am

Back in August I noted that Teacake Bake Shop closed in downtown Lafayette and now a new bakery has opened, appropriately called Cake. Note the period is part of their name. I think I’m seeing a trend here. Anyway, the owner Andrea Quinn used to be the pastry chef at the Oakland restaurant Bay Wolf, and owned a bakery in Hawaii for many years. Cake. offers handcrafted bakery items that are 90% organic, with locally sourced ingredients such as honey and eggs.

The interior is beautifully decorated with rotating artwork from the Berkeley vintage European poster showroom Vepca.

Note the iPad being used in place of a cash register. Amazing.

Sightglass coffee is for sale on one wall:

The coconut macaroon I tried was amazing, yum! Cake. is located at 35 Lafayette Circle in La Fiesta Square in Lafayette.

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Pop Up Alert – Toss Designs Opens in Broadway Plaza (Walnut Creek)

September 18, 2012 8:30 am

Last week I noted that Diane’s Beach Wear had moved a couple of stores down in Broadway Plaza, Walnut Creek, and now Toss Designs, a “San Francisco Bay Area design house” featuring “totes, travel bags and all accessories in between” has opened up a temporary pop up store in this location until late January. Apparently they are testing the Walnut Creek waters and may permanently relocate somewhere in Broadway Plaza if they like what they see.

Toss Designs has locations in San Francisco and San Anselmo in Marin as well as being carried by retailers around the country. They have a fresh design aesthetic and the accessories displayed throughout the store make for a fun browsing experience. You may notice an alphabetical letter on their bags. Those are actually monograms that can be customized and they also sell stick-on letters for a less expensive option.

Check out some of their cool designs:

Toss Designs is located in Broadway Plaza, Walnut Creek right next to Nordstrom until late January.

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Venture Men’s Goods Opens in Lafayette

September 17, 2012 8:30 am

Venture Men’s Goods, a new men’s clothing store in downtown Lafayette whose name was only unmasked recently opened its doors last week. They focus on higher end California designed brands such as Tellason, Talyor Stitch, Marmot and more. You can check out the rest of the brands they carry here. Everything really looks amazing, the layout is clean (a fresh pine scent is evident thanks to the pine tables in the middle of the store), and they even carry local designers such as dapper beaux ties.

If you stop by today, be sure to enter your name for a chance to win a pair of SeaVees baja slip on shoes. The grand opening daily giveaway runs until tomorrow.

The space looks great:

Check out the modern lounge area near the dressing rooms:

They have an iPad available at the table to use while you’re waiting. The attention to detail is incredible. That map in the background is a custom designed screenprint using a United States Geological Survey map. (Available for sale as well.)

Venture Men’s Goods is located at 3571 Mt. Diablo Blvd. in Lafayette, next to Radio Shack.

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Mooyah Burgers Opening Sept. 10th in Ygnacio Valley Shopping Center (Walnut Creek)

September 10, 2012 11:30 am

Mooyah, a Texan burger joint is opening their second California location, (the first is in Merced), right in Ygnacio Valley Shopping Center in Walnut Creek today (assuming permits go through).

Check out the inside:

This is the menu for the Walnut Creek location:

Interestingly, as I was taking photos from the outside, a bunch of people from Mooyah came out and I started asking them about the burgers, and how it compares to Habit Burger. Turns out the guy setting up the store was from Texas and had never heard of Habit Burger. I’m curious to try this place out, if you go let us know how it is! The menu says free toppings, what’s the best combo to get?

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Davidson & Lichte The Watch Shoppe Closes in Downtown Walnut Creek

September 10, 2012 8:30 am

Davidson & Lichte The Watch Shoppe has closed in downtown Walnut Creek on N. Main St, however their shop on Broadway Plaza is still open so if you have repairs, a note on the door mentions to pick it up there.

I believe Davidson & Lichte own the building itself, as well as Vanessa’s next door so it’ll be interesting to see what will open in its place.

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Bakery Company Opens Today in Walnut Creek

September 7, 2012 11:30 am

The ~~Walnut Creek~~ Baking Company is opening today, exactly one week after the original Walnut Creek Baking Company closed due to their lease expiring, and the wife of the landlord is taking over.

Diablo Dish notes that the bakery will have, “the same products, some of the same staff, and the same name—at least until they can change it”, and here is what the landlord (and husband of the new bakery owner) has to say about the new bakery:

“There will be the same level of quality—and maybe even higher.”

Does this strike anybody as odd? The only thing I can think of is that the landlord, in addition to buying the equipment, also bought the rights to the former owner’s recipes and procedures. Otherwise there is a situation where one of the former head bakers, now working for the new owner, is using Denise’s recipes and baking techniques to try to replicate what Denise came up with from scratch. They did say, “maybe even higher”, but how so if they’re using the same recipes etc? Does this rub anyone the wrong way? This is something I have to see myself.

Check out the proof it’s opening today:

Apparently some employees remained loyal to the former owner:

If you drop by tomorrow please let us know your impressions, the suspense is driving me crazy.

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Fraedo’s Cafe Opening Soon in Downtown Walnut Creek (Growers Square)

September 5, 2012 11:30 am

Growers Square, a small business center in downtown Walnut Creek across from the Lesher Center for the Arts is getting a new cafe called Fraedo’s Cafe. No word on when it will open yet but this could be convenient to stop by for a quick bite to eat or get a snack.

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Preview of Sprouts Supermarket – Opens Sept. 5th in Walnut Creek

September 4, 2012 11:30 am

Back in July I noted that the Sprouts Farmers Market (Supermarket) would be opening September 5th in Walnut Creek, so I stopped by to check out the progress. There’s a new, large parking lot to handle the influx of cars.

From the Sprouts website:

Scheduled to open on Wednesday, September 19 at 7am. Grand opening promotions: • Coupon booklets for 5 FREE SANDWICHES to the first 500 customers who make a purchase. • FREE reusable bags to all paying customers, while supplies last.

I don’t know why they mention September 19th as being the opening day as it is definitely opening this Wednesday, Septamber 5th. The 5 free sandwich coupon booklets is awesome so if you live nearby see if you can get one.

Work on the other stores in the mall is proceeding at a much slower pace. There is no signage up for the other stores yet, and it doesn’t seem like anything other than Sprouts will be opening up anytime soon. Anyway, back to Sprouts, check out the cool deli area:

Here you can see part of the checkout area, as well as the Gourmet Coffee, Bulk Foods and Frozen Foods areas:

A sign in the window also notes that there will be “Community Screenings and Lectures” which is pretty surprising considering it’s a supermarket! This really looks like a cool supermarket, is anyone planning to check it out opening day? Let us know how you like it. Sprouts is located at 1510 Geary Rd. in Walnut Creek.

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Koreana Kitchen Closes – Mixed Grain Opening in Downtown Walnut Creek

August 30, 2012 11:30 am

Diablo Dish notes that Koreana Kitchen, located at 1546 Bonanza St in downtown Walnut Creek has closed. A new Korean restaurant called Mixed Grain will be opening in its place. Were there any fans of Koreana Kitchen?

As someone who used to work in Koreatown in Manhattan, I would really enjoy a good Korean BBQ. Yum!

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Le Gateau Elegant – The Elegant Cake, Opening this October in Walnut Creek

August 29, 2012 11:30 am

The hotly anticipated move from Martinez to Walnut Creek for the bakery Le Gateau Elegant is nearing, with an expected opening date this October according to an employee I spoke with recently. They will be located at 1479 Newell Ave. in the strip mall where George’s Giant Hamburgers and Pacific Bay Coffee are. There is even another bakery in the back of the mall which I previously covered, called Plumeria Flours.

You can check out their cake offerings here. Look at those fancy cakes, sweet! I wonder if they’ll have cupcakes and other bakery items as well. From their website:

As one of the Bay Area’s most sought after cake designer’s, Karen Del Bontá, owner and artiste of Le Gâteau Élégant, has over 22 years of experience as a expert Pastry Chef and Cake Decorator. Her impressive career includes serving Marin, San Francisco, Fairfield, and Martinez. Karen has personally produced well over 10,000 designer wedding cakes.

Karen has mastered the art of working with marzipan, white chocolate, and rolled fondont to reproduce “edible” flowers, ribbons and bows in any shape or color, and is known for her exquisite work with molding smooth rolled icings over cakes. Her ability with freehand drawing, three-dimensional artwork and fresh flower design produces unique custom cakes to make your own ideas come alive.

Looks like Le Gateau Elegant is opening just in time considering the unfortunate closing of the Walnut Creek Baking Company.

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openings and closings