Neighborhood Shops

Neighborhood Shops

News about great shops in your neighborhood

Recycled Crochet

Just a few doors down from Oakland institution Mama’s Royal Cafe on Broadway sits Cyzuki Industries, whose two windows display selections from Cynthia Lloyd’s original designs. Lloyd stitches her designs entirely from repurposed and recycled materials—boxes on the store’s high shelves contain samples or manufacturer overruns. Many are crotcheted or have crocheted sections. Some pieces have bondage elements, although she places seams on the outside because she thinks seams on the inside can irritate the skin. Her dresses, skirts and bags are witty and eccentric and make for unique clubwear. Lloyd mentions Harajuku style, a lively urban look invented by Japanese youth, as an influence and it’s easily visible in her work. She also takes commissions for anyone looking for something more individual.

Cyzuki Industries, 4020 Broadway, Oakland, (510) 645-9044; www.cyzuki.etsy.com.

—Susan Sanford

______________

Jack London Jammin’

From its island mansion style to its growing Caribbean menu and live music, Miss Pearl’s Jam House in Oakland is much more than the island-themed restaurant of the same name that opened in San Francisco’s trendy Phoenix Hotel 20 years ago. Joey Altman, a consulting chef from the original Miss Pearl’s, has jazzed up the menu with island recipes and Caribbean cocktails, and made the new Miss Pearl’s Jam House “all grown up in menu and decor,” says Christopher Meck, food and beverage director. “Like anything in life, everything gets a facelift and Miss Pearl’s has hers,” Meck says. Located next to the Waterfront Hotel in Oakland’s Jack London Square, Miss Pearl’s has live music on Friday and Saturday nights and features dishes like “mini-skirts with nice buns” (skirt steak sliders), Jamaican pepper pot, sugar-cane barbecue prawns, chile and lime–spiced sweet potato fries, Thai sticks, tuna poki, Caribbean crab cakes, catfish fingers and banana leaf–braised lambshank.

Miss Pearl’s Jam House, 1 Broadway, Oakland, (510) 444-7171; www.misspearlsjamhouse.com.

—Aaron Crowe

______________

People-Powered Chocolate

After visiting Jamaica for years, Nancy Nadel—also an Oakland City Councilwoman in her spare time—decided to bring something home to Oakland other than the typical souvenir. After meeting cocoa farmers there, she started The Oakland Chocolate Company as a worker-owned co-op last year and is looking to make Jamaican chocolate sometime in 2010. The farmers are working hard toward organic certification and Nadel will help them sell their cocoa beans to other chocolate companies as well as provide the chocolate for her Oakland sweets. All ingredients are without preservatives and many are organic, with leaves and other shapes and flavors suggestive of Oakland and Jamaican themes. For now, she imports her company’s chocolate from other areas for her artisan chocolates, which include delicately designed leaves, etched bark, dried mango strips dipped in chocolate and filled chocolate acorn shells. “It’s not the kind of thing where you grab a bar and chomp it down,” Nadel said. “It’s more like a savory experience like tasting wine.”

The Oakland Chocolate Company, 3228 Helen St., Oakland, (510) 654-6966; www.theoaklandchocolateco.com.

—Aaron Crowe

______________

Made in the Shade

For 87 years Acme Awning Company has been outfitting houses throughout the East Bay with window and door awnings to protect people from sun and wind. First opened in Oakland and now located in San Leandro, Acme Awning sells three basic kinds of awnings—traditional fixed-frame awnings, retractable awnings complete with remote controls, and retractable screens. For anyone living in the sun-drenched East Bay, it can be a challenge to keep outdoor spaces cool enough to use during the warmer months. “We sell shade,” says Jack Crowley, vice-president. “We can help turn your patio into another room.” Installing a retractable awning can make a too-hot patio or deck lovely and cool during hot summer days. The awnings even come with drop-down shades to block out the glare of the setting sun. Creating more shade can also lower energy bills by reducing the need for air-conditioning. Acme’s fabric awnings come in more than 150 different colors, both stripes and solids, with extensive warranties against fading and mildew. Prices start at about $700 for a fixed-frame awning. Retractable awnings with a manual crank begin at $1,500 and can rise to about $3,000 if they have motorized automatic sensors for sun and wind.

Acme Awning Company, 1199 Beecher St., San Leandro, (510) 635-6383; www.acmeawningco.com.

—Sarah Weld

Faces of the East Bay