The lot on the corner of Gilman and Curtis where local property owners hope to open a beer and food truck garden has been host to a number of under-canvas operations over the years. Photo: Google

A Berkeley couple who own the vacant lot on the corner of Gilman and Curtis streets in West Berkeley has applied to open a beer garden and food truck market there, tentatively called the Westbrae Food Garden, or the Gilman Biergarten.

Linda and Carl Lasagna, whose family founded Westbrae Nursery next door to the lot but are no longer owners, envision 3,400 sq ft of outdoor dining space with picnic-style seating served by a on-site food trailer, in the style of an Airstream, as well as up to three food trucks or trailers. The application to Berkeley’s planning department was filed on March 29.

Dietmar Lorenz, an architect at DSA Architects who is working with the Lasagnas on the project, said the idea for the small-scale outdoor dining spot — which he describes as not dissimilar to the Hayes Valley Biergarten on Octavia St. in San Francisco, but in a more verdant setting — has so far been well-received in the neighborhood.

DSA has collected 60 signatures in favor of the project from local residents and businesses. The application did not require this action, as it is for a straightforward administrative use permit on a lot zoned for commercial use (and therefore will not need to go before the Zoning Adjustments Board), but, Lorenz said, the applicants were keen to present the concept locally.

He said the hope is that the garden can open soon, “with spring knocking on the door,” and that part of the thinking is tied to the reopening of the Ohlone Path and the new West Street Pathway, which is having its grand opening on Earth Day on April 20.

“We’re excited that we might coincide with the reopening of the pathway,” he said. “The concept is that the garden will be very accessible to cyclists and bike-friendly.”

Detail of the design for the outdoor dining garden proposed for the corner of Gilman and Curtis streets. Image: DSA Architects

Talks have already begun with potential food trucks, including rotisserie specialists Roti Roti and Vietnamese noodle spot The Pho Bar, as well as local bike shop Blue Heron — the idea of food deliveries by bike has been floated —  but nothing is set in stone, according to Lorenz. Opening hours may be between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. on weekdays, with Fridays and Saturdays until 10 p.m.

The corner lot has hosted a  number of tenants over the past few years. Most recently it was an outdoor yard sale-type event that included tents. Before that it was a pottery outlet, and for a long period it was rented by outdoor sculpture gallery A New Leaf, before they moved to Sonoma.

Until the end of last year, Berkeley had two food truck markets, both operated by San Francisco’s Off The Grid. The market on Shattuck Avenue in the Gourmet Ghetto was abruptly closed in December, while the newer one, on Telegraph Avenue at Haste, continues to operate every Thursday evening. The closure was partly provoked by restaurants in the Gourmet Ghetto complaining that the food trucks were unfair competition and their business was hurting as a result. There are far fewer restaurants in this part of West Berkeley. The closest are probably Lalime’s and Kikusushi.

There’s been a veritable beer resurgence in Berkeley recently, and in West Berkeley in particular,  with news of new ventures from the likes of sour beer makers The Rare Barrel, The Mead Kitchen, Moxy Beer Garden, and Sierra Nevada joining established operations such as Trumer Pils and Pyramid Breweries. See Berkeleyside Nosh’s interactive “Drinking in Berkeley” map for a comprehensive review.

Lorenz said they are hoping for approval from the city in time for a May opening. “This great neighborhood is underserved [for informal eating options],” he said. “We need to wake this sleeping beauty.”

http://www.berkeleyside.com/2013/04/10/plans-afoot-for-berkeley-beer-food-trucks-garden/

David N/Berkeleyside
Ann Vu and her daughter Sandy in front of the Healthy Heavenly Foods trailer.

Three food truck vendors who were displaced by UC Berkeley’s construction at Sproul Plaza have been found a new location at the corner of Bancroft and College. According to an announcement from Mayor Tom Bates, the vendors will be able to renew their permits to operate in the new location for an additional two years.

Source: Berkeleyside

http://www.kqed.org/news/story/2013/03/20/118121/new_berkeley_home_found_for_displaced_food_trucks?source=berkeleyside&category=bay+area

Through the efforts of the city council, the food trucks may be relocated to the plaza near Boalt Hall.

After months of controversy and negotiations, the three food trucks previously located in front of Sproul Plaza have found a new location.

The three food trucks will be able to reopen at Bancroft Way and College Avenue in April, according to Councilmember Kriss Worthington. Worthington and Mayor Tom Bates have both been personally involved in advocating for the food trucks’ return in recent weeks. The food trucks were asked to leave campus in December following construction on Lower Sproul.

Ann Vu and Jack Huynh, respective owners of Healthy Heavenly Foods and Kettle Corn Star, plan on reopening as soon as the city completes necessary preparations, like new signage and street markings. Michael Koh, owner of Dojo Dog, anticipates that it will take longer for Dojo Dog to return.

“(Reopening) will take time,” Koh said. “On the operations side, we have to restock inventory. I had no hope of coming back, so I was not prepared.”

He plans to open briefly in the summer and make a full return in the fall.

Koh, Vu and Huynh were notified Tuesday of the new location, Huynh said.

Huynh cited media coverage and pressure from Worthington as reasons the issue came to the forefront of the City Council’s busy agenda. Though the owners are appreciative of action that has been taken, they are still anticipating what the future will bring.

Vu said, however, that the new spot “is a little far, with less business — I can tell this for sure.”

“We’re satisfied in the sense that we get to go back to work,” Huynh said. “As for how that new location will work out, only time will tell. We’re taking it one step at a time and are grateful.”

http://www.dailycal.org/2013/03/21/food-trucks-to-reopen-due-to-efforts-from-city-council/

Ann Vu and her daughter Sandy in front of the Healthy Heavenly Foods trailer. Photo: David N

Three food truck vendors who were displaced by UC Berkeley’s construction at Sproul Plaza have been found a new location at the corner of Bancroft and College. According to an announcement from Mayor Tom Bates, the vendors will be able to renew their permits to operate in the new location for an additional two years.

Michael Koh, owner of Dojo Dog, Ann Vu, owner of Healthy Heavenly Foods, and Jack Huynh, owner of Kettle Corn Star, were forced to vacate their previous location near the intersection of Telegraph and Bancroft in December, when construction started.

Koh spoke at the Telegraph Avenue brainstorming convened by the mayor last month, and local councilmember Kriss Worthington had asked the city manager to assist in the relocation. Worthington’s referral is on the City Council’s action agenda for tonight’s meeting.

Worthington’s referral points out that, although the Lower Sproul project construction has been planned for years, the food vendors were given just two days’ notice to vacate their locations.

Vu, owner of Healthy Heavenly Foods, was involved in a previous dispute with the university some years ago when she and other small family-run businesses lost their leases in the Bear’s Lair food court, to be replaced by Subway, Tully’s Coffee and other chain food stores.

“We heard loud and clear at our Telegraph Avenue community brainstorming meeting, three weeks ago, that our vendor community was in need of a solution,” said Mayor Bates in today’s announcement. “I am incredibly happy that city and UC staff have been able to work out a solution for our vendors and feel that this is one in a series of steps towards helping to revitalize the Telegraph area.”

http://www.berkeleyside.com/2013/03/19/new-home-found-for-displaced-food-trucks/

The Heavenly Food Cart , run by Ann Vu, use to be set up in front of Upper Sproul Plaza near Bancroft and Telegraph.

City Councilmember Kriss Worthington has asked the city to assist the owners of the food trucks previously located in front of Sproul Plaza in finding new locations.

At its March 19 meeting, Berkeley City Council will consider a referral submitted by Worthington requesting the city manager to assist Michael Koh, Ann Vu and Jack Huynh, the respective owners of Dojo Dog, Healthy Heavenly Foods and Kettle Corn Star, in relocating their businesses. The move comes more than two months after the vendors were asked to vacate the property in December due to Lower Sproul construction.

Mayor Tom Bates has also called upon the city manager to look into finding alternative locations for the vendors.

Worthington characterized the vendors’ notice to vacate two days before the beginning of construction as “offensive and outrageous.” Usually, authorized businesses are notified one to two months in advance if they need to vacate for construction purposes, he said.

“This construction project has been planned for five years,” Worthington said. “It’s not like some emergency that just sprung up.”

Worthington said he hopes his referral will prompt the city to consider alternatives for the vendors more seriously in the future.

The owners, who invested in the trucks last year under a four-year permit program with the city, are reaching out for either alternative locations or compensation from the city because they cannot afford to keep paying the trucks’ parking permits or insurance.

The vendors say Worthington’s action may bring them the help they need to earn their livelihoods again.

“It’s kind of like when you’re drowning and someone throws you a rope,” said Koh, a UC Berkeley senior. “The city was pretty much going to avoid us. Because of (Worthington), they will start to reinvestigate and put in some serious effort.”

Vu has also been trying to reach out to UC Berkeley students on Lower Sproul for help in further gaining attention from the city.

“I went there last Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday to reach out to students,” Vu said. “The people support me.”

The vendors said their previous locations near Lower Sproul were ideal but that they are willing to operate anywhere the city allows as long as they will receive business.

Worthington said he hopes the city can come to an agreement with the vendors in the next two weeks, before Berkeley City Council is set to discuss the request.

http://www.dailycal.org/2013/03/05/berkeley-city-council-to-consider-relocating-food-trucks/

The food trucks formerly located in front of Sproul Plaza need the city’s help. The trucks’ owners, who say they signed four-year permits with the city last year, were displaced after being asked to move in December due to construction in Lower Sproul Plaza. Now, one owner estimates losses of up to $30,000 per month — a situation the city must reverse.

While the city has said it is under no legal obligation to relocate the trucks or compensate the owners, it has a moral obligation to do so. First of all, Berkeley has fostered a commercial climate friendly to small businesses, as is apparent by the relatively high number of mom-and-pop stores in town. These trucks, at least one of which is student-run, fit that mold and deserve all the support Berkeley can provide.

The city should also feel compelled to help because it could have avoided the situation entirely. Plans for major construction to renovate Lower Sproul have been in the works for several years — the city should have been able to anticipate a conflict with the trucks’ location. Knowing that the location could eventually become problematic, the city, not the truck owners, should have been able to devise a solution in advance or limit the length of the permits.

UC Berkeley students are heavily impacted by the trucks’ disappearance. Coupled with the loss of vendors in Lower Sproul — also due to the construction — the lack of food trucks on Bancroft Way and Telegraph Avenue has diminished eating options near campus. The trucks provided a cheap, easy option as well as an alternative to campus-sponsored dining. Due to the closure of other campus eateries, they are needed now more than ever.

Because of this, the campus should also be more proactive in accommodating the trucks. An administrator told The Daily Californian that alternate spots were unfeasible due to concerns about visibility and emergency vehicle access, but it’s hard to believe that, on a campus as large as ours, there are no legitimate options. Given the trucks’ importance to students, the ASUC should advocate for an on-campus spot for the trucks to set up shop.

The truck owners cannot continue to struggle without assistance from either the city or the campus. Furthermore, the current campus dining climate proves there is a need for the trucks if they are able to find a suitable location to conduct business. Ensuring their speedy relocation will benefit students, other residents and the local business climate alike.

http://www.dailycal.org/2013/02/26/help-the-food-truck-owners/

Off The Grid had its last North Berkeley food truck gathering on Shattuck Avenue and Rose Street

Off The Grid, the food truck fest that has been a fixture on Shattuck Avenue in Berkeley’s Gourmet Ghetto every Wednesday evening since June last year, had its last day in that location yesterday.

The city took the decision to stop hosting the market due to its impact on local brick and mortar businesses and property owners, and also because a reconfiguration of the space it used — at the intersection of Shattuck and Rose — is due to begin next year.

The sudden departure of the hugely popular street food gathering will come as a surprise to the estimated 1,500 people who make a beeline there every week to tuck into on-the-go edibles from the likes of Brass Knuckle, Fiveten Burger, Liba Falafel, and the CupKates Truck.

“Some businesses have taken a really big hit,” said Michael Caplan, Economic Development Manager for the City of Berkeley. “What was meant to be a special event became a competitive challenge for some existing brick and mortar stores.” Caplan said he had spoken to local restaurants who were losing $1,000 worth of business every Wednesday night. “One business owner said to me, ‘How would you feel if you saw your sales drop by a significant percentage on 50 days of the year?’,” he said.

Caplan said he had mixed feelings about the decision. “It’s a really cool thing, but the exciting food choices that Off The Grid brought in were also creating competitive pressure.”

Off The Grid organizer Matt Cohen said he had been told the reason for the cancellation was that the North Shattuck Association is planning to reconfigure the space used by Off The Grid, at the intersection of Shattuck Avenue and Rose Street, and therefore opted to not renew the mobile food gathering’s permit for 2013.

Cohen said work on the reconfiguration — which calls for more parking spaces and “parklets” (outlined in the the North Shattuck Pedestrian Improvements plan) — would have compromised the site. ”The size of the space available after the reconfiguration is uncertain, and the city was reluctant to issue a short-term use permit.”

Cohen was told an annual permit would not be forthcoming two and half weeks ago and said he is sorry OTG could not have alerted its customers sooner. “We would have liked to have given more notice,” he said.

Heather Hensley, Executive Director of the North Shattuck Association, said the owners of the building at 1400 Shattuck had wanted OTG to leave for some time. “They are fairly upset at having the entrance to their businesses blocked twice a week,” she said. (There’s a weekly farmer’s market on the site, as well. The building is home to Lo Coco’s restaurant, Maru hair salon, and a chiropractic center among many others.)

“We decided to take a hiatus while we do the reconfiguration which should allow us more flexibility. Hopefully this will take the pressure off,” she said. The nonprofit farmers market which holds a weekly market in the same space every Thursday will stay for now, Hensley said. She added that it had been a hard decision to not reissue the annual permit. “Off The Grid has been very professional and good to work with. This is through no fault of theirs.”

The Shattuck market has been a winner for Off The Grid and the food trucks that made their weekly stop there. Cohen said it easily brought at least 1,500 people to the neighborhood every week, usually more. “It was very successful in bringing in a different demographic,” he said.

But he acknowledges there have been detractors whose main complaint has been the market’s effect on parking. “That more than anything has been an issue, and I’m very sensitive to that,” he said, adding that parking in the Gourmet Ghetto had always been problematic.

Off The Grid opened a second Berkeley location on Haste at Telegraph Avenue in July of this year which, Cohen said, was doing “steady” business. While the North Berkeley market has focused on interesting, chef-leaning food in keeping with the neighborhood, Telegraph has been a magnet for students seeking value-driven dishes, he said.

Cohen is intent on finding a new space in North Berkeley, but whether the city is as open to the idea is another matter. ”We are looking for an alternative location and the city is helping us with that,” he said. (He also urged Berkeleyside readers with ideas of possible spots to email them to grub@offthegridsf.com.)

Hensley said Off The Grid might potentially be able to return to the same area on a monthly basis. Caplan said the food truck market was invited in as a way to help boost the North Shattuck district’s identity and he could see applying that goal to another area of Berkeley. He said he could also envisage food truck markets operating on a special event basis.

http://www.berkeleyside.com/2012/12/20/off-the-grid-says-goodbye-to-berkeleys-gourmet-ghetto/