After the birth of her second child, Lisa Alumkal found cooking good meals at home to be challenging. An avid cook and formerly a professional in the food specialty business, Alumkal was tired of takeout and found restaurants tiresome with two kids. Her solution, The Full Plate, is a Walnut Creek—based kitchen that offers customers that chance to assemble gourmet-quality, ready-to-cook meals.
In less than two hours, customers can assemble 8-12 meals, each serving four to six people–enough food to stock the fridge or freezer for several weeks. The Full Plate handles the planning, shopping, chopping, and cleanup, saving customers an average of 13 hours of “cook time” per month.
Cofounder Alumkal says developing a menu that was both healthy and family-friendly took over a year and lots of input from food scientists, recipe developers, chefs, and nutritionists. Recipes range from hearty comfort food such as Turkey Meatloaf and Red-Skinned Mashed Potatoes to the more exotic flavors of Chicken Morocco and Cilantro-Lime Salmon. Some meals can be modified to meet vegetarian, low-carb, or low-salt diets, however, Alumkal says “kid-friendly” is the number one request.
Besides serving busy families, Alumkal says The Full Plate helps people through various life events. “People who are remodeling a house, just had a child, going into surgery, or even when a parent is going out of town.”
Eight family-sized meals cost $170 or 12 for $195. The Full Plate hosts private parties of nine or more for Gals Night Out, baby and bridal showers, clubs and corporate events.
The Full Plate, 1810 North Broadway, Walnut Creek, (925) 939-FULL; www.thefullplate.com.
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Hike over to Glass Mountain (located in the historic Tannery building on Fourth Street) and you’ll be rewarded with vistas of beautiful, handmade, functional and decorative American glass. Owner Tony Weiden, a Bay Area resident for 20 years, found inspiration for his shop, opened in March, on a trip home to West Virginia. After visiting two of the area’s famous glass factories, Fenton Art Glass and Blenko, Weiden was hooked.
“They make the best in the world,” says Weiden who is now one of the only East Bay dealers of Blenko and a showcase dealer of Fenton, both century-old companies. “Today everything is mass-produced and this is lovely, one-of-a-kind beauty and there’s no comparison.” Fenton Art Glass is famous for its iridescent Carnival glass. Blenko is renowned for its functional products in brilliant colors and traditional and innovative shapes.
Weiden, who previously worked in the salvage business–Urban Ore, Gilman St. Salvage, and the East Bay Depot in Oakland–is also familiar with the local glass scene. Through Fourth Street Glass, Weiden offers a cornucopia of delicious glass fruits and vegetables. And he carries unique, fused, slump glass pieces made by two Crucible artisans collectively known as Big Hair, Fire & Glass.
Buying quality handmade glass doesn’t have to break the bank. In a price range from $8 to $375, you can find water pitchers, bowls, vases, hurricane lamps, and tumblers. Glass Mountain also carries exclusive pieces, signed and numbered by the artist.
Glass Mountain, 1314 Fourth Street, Berkeley, (510) 524-2102.
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Housing is still hot and if you’re looking to buy or sell in the East Bay, Alain Pinel Realtors (APR) hopes to carry you over the threshold. Now the largest independent residential real estate firm in California and one of the biggest in the nation, APR is well-known in the South Bay, SF Peninsula, and the other side of the Caldecott Tunnel. From its new digs in Montclair, opened in March, it will serve Montclair, Piedmont, Berkeley Hills, and the Oakland Hills markets.
“We offer incredible consumer-focused marketing and advertising, and seasoned real estate professionals that utilize technology to provide consistent quality real estate services,” says Clayton Gracé, Vice President and Managing Broker for Montclair and Orinda.
With an average sales price of $975,000, APR attracts high-end buyers and sellers. Gracé says the company is sophisticated. Its brochure, he adds, says it all: “A Tuxedo. Caviar. The little black dress. Alain Pinel Realtors.”
Alain Pinel Realtors, 6116 LaSalle Avenue, Oakland, (510) 899-8000; www.apr.com.
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Everyone who has lived or traveled in Europe has the same thing to say returning to the States: The women there know how to dress. Even a trip to the playground with the kids deserves the right accessories. Certainly not a big scruffy backpack filled with snacks and juice boxes. The perfect bag. What woman doesn’t need one?
Step into clean, white, Euro-cool Beata and feast your eyes on the unique Continental accessories. Pronounced bay-AH-tah, this cool, modern shop is nestled in between the cafés that face onto Frank Ogawa Plaza near Oakland’s City Hall.
Downtown Oakland may seem an unlikely location for a chic handbag boutique, but it was downtown’s elegant architecture and busy urban feel that drew store owner Beata Keleman to open her very first shop ever. A native of Poland, Keleman designed the shop with her husband and opened it in December. The handbags and jewelry in the shop also reflect her own unique taste.
“I have people asking me for Louis Vuitton and Prada but I don’t carry those lines because it’s easy to get them,” Keleman says. “I look for different things, for what’s at the fashion shows in Milan, for the hot stuff coming from Europe.”
Keleman finds the latest styles and then orders the bags to be made according to her own specifications. Made mostly in leather of different textures, Beata’s bags are straight off the runway: funky and elegant but priced for women who want an interesting look but aren’t willing to spend a paycheck on a handbag.
Beata also features fine silver and amber jewelry.
Beata, 120 Frank Ogawa Plaza, Oakland , (510) 444-7999; www.storebeata.com.
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Making a change in name or look is a big decision for any business. The owners of Rockridge Home did both at once–and only six months after opening the store.
Originally called Red Feather Mercantile, the College Avenue shop has shifted into a comfortable pose, showcasing fun, casual, sophisticated homewares: furnishings, accessories, gifts, wall art, rugs, glassware, candles, and body care products.
“It was like opening a new store twice in six months,” says Jennifer Kaplan, who owns Rockridge Home with husband Edward Wong (and faithful dog Vermont). “We shifted the store to what the neighborhood wanted and toward our own personal taste as well.”
Kaplan and Wong look for new trends and treasures at furniture shows around the country. In North Carolina they found an item that’s become one of the store’s most popular pieces: the butler cube. An ottoman available in both leather and fabric, the butler cube opens up on top for storage. Flip the top over and it’s a tray to hold drinks and appetizers. Replace the tray and it becomes a cocktail table. Also available with wheels it can be clustered in pairs or quads, or used as a stand-alone piece for seating and storage.
Also popular this season are “love plates”: brightly colored dishware in polka-dot patterns that mix well with glassware by Leonardo (of Germany), coasters in the shapes of fruit slices, handpainted oil bottles, and Swing wineglasses.
“Home decor is like wine,” Kaplan says. “As long as it works for you, that’s all that matters.”
Rockridge Home, 5418 College Avenue, Oakland, (510) 420-1928.
