East Bay Express reports that TROUBLE COFFEE now has a location in West Oakland. The tiny, original Outer Sunset location of Trouble Coffee kicked off the $4 toast trend and received national media attention for owner Giulietta Carrelli’s fascinating personal story. This is the third outpost for the shop, which added a Bayview location in 2013 in addition to the original. In Oakland, there is no posted menu, so you have to talk to your barista (and yes, the Yelp page offers a wide range of opinions on that choice), and it’s an electronics-free zone, so no computing or pic-snapping. 1545 Willow St. at 16th St., Oakland, 510-735-9214.
On Monday August 3rd, chef Paula McDade is doing a pop-up at Juhu Beach Club called k.pop! There are two seatings for the dinner, one at 5:30pm and another at 8pm. The four-course prix-fixe includes dishes like pork belly “tacos,” octopus pancake, and braised short ribs. Tickets are $55 and include food but not drinks or gratuity. 5179 Telegraph Ave. at 51st St., Oakland, 510-652-7350.
Uptown Oakland is getting an ice cream shop, Scoop reports. It’s called LITTLE GIANT and is from owners Kevin Best and Neil Rideout. The pair is making all their ice cream on-site, with lots of unique flavors. Most ice cream shops purchase a base from creameries like Straus, but Little Giant is working with their own pasteurizer so that they can customize their ice cream from the very beginning. This also means they can alter the base for boozy flavors, like Negroni and old-fashioned. Their creamery will be walled off with glass, so you can check out the action while licking your scoops too. They’ll be serving scoops out of a trailer in front of the shop on Friday August 7th at Oakland’s First Friday event, giving out free samples and offering tours of the shop, and will open the shop a couple of weeks later. 1951 Telegraph Ave. at William, Oakland, no phone.
On Tuesday August 11th, UMAMI MART is celebrating their third annual birthday with a bash, Matsuri (which means “festival” in Japanese). They’ll be taking over their back parking lot with food from the likes of Hopscotch, J-Shack Truck, and Casa de Kei, and there will be Japanese beer on tap from The Trappist. There will also be fun activities, including a live taiko drumming performance from Emeryville Taiko, J-Pop music from DJ Chungtech, and screen printing from Team Print Shop. The party runs from 6pm-9pm and is free to attend. Food and drink available for purchase. 815 Broadway at 8th St., Oakland, 510-250-9559.
