Retro Revenge
Step into Berkeley’s Modernaire, and you’re instantly transported back to the midcentury world of Mad Men. From the ceiling, a cascade of turquoise, beige, peach, and white trumpet-shaped lamps illuminates abstract metal wall sculptures and reprints from Fernando Vilchez and Bjorn Wiinblad. The sliding doors of a Danish modern rosewood credenza reveal spotless, felt-lined drawers. Red, orange, turquoise, and chartreuse Murano art glass pops against Paul Frankl’s white, treated-cork tables. You can almost see a Brylcreemed Don Draper, whiskey glass in one hand, ever-present cigarette in the other, reposing on the tweed-covered Scandinavian love seat.
Not that long ago, “’50s style” was considered an oxymoron. But the resurgence of interest in architects like Eichler, Keck, and van der Rohe has brought the era to legitimacy in the world of interior design. “It’s got clean lines, and a lot of it is frankly much better made than most contemporary furniture,” says proprietor Bruce Crawford. In business for the past 25 years, Crawford started out selling Art Deco furnishings. “It’s all a progression toward modernism,” he says. “During the Second World War, art and design receded into the background because of the war effort. Afterward it shifted from Europe to the United States. It was a big period for avant-garde with designers like Eames and Nelson.”
Center stage at Modernaire is a cheery yellow Formica kitchenette set with round-legged aluminum chairs. Like the sturdy blond Heywood Wakefield bedroom set, Crawford describes the design as “soft-edged”— a metaphor, perhaps, for how we look back on our youth.
Modernaire, 2101 Dwight Way, Berkeley, (510) 649-3500.
—Andrea Pflaumer
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Hat Head
Whether you’re traveling to this summer’s Burning Man, can’t figure out what to get that crazy relative for a holiday gift, or want to spruce up an old outfit, Berkeley Hat Company has got your head covered. Started 30 years ago by co-owners Ed Dougherty and Carol Lipmick, Berkeley Hat Company is the largest complete hat store in California, with over 10,000 hats, caps, and wigs.
Located on Berkeley’s eclectic Telegraph Avenue, the wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling collection reflects the vast array of hat-seekers who flock to this headgear haven. Animal-inspired wool knit hats for the kids ($26.50), pink fur “sugar daddy” hats ($24.50) for theme party junkies and, of course, fedoras (around $20) for those on the cutting edge of fashion, can be found amongst the massive piles.
“I’ve brought many generations of people to start their addiction here,” says Berkeley resident Deb Fink. “I wear the same hat until I either wear them out or lose them, then I’m back.”
Prices range from $3.50 for a poker visor to $288 for an attention-grabbing wide-brimmed Kentucky Derby hat. If you’re in the market for a non-hat accessory, the shop also carries, depending on the season, goggles, scarves, sunglasses, and umbrellas.
Berkeley Hat Company, 2510 Telegraph Ave., Berkeley, (510) 549-2955, berkeleyhat.com.
—Jocelyn Hall
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Bees Do It
Verdant valleys carpeted with wildflowers: not our Western vision of Yemen. But for Khaled Almghafi, proprietor of Bee Healthy Honey Shop in Oakland, these are vivid images from his childhood. “Yes, we do have deserts filled with acacias from which we get acacia honey,” he explains. “But we also have mountains and on the beautiful island of Socotra, off the coast, very rare plants. That honey goes for $180 a kilo in France.”
Hive-shaped cubbies along the walls of Almghafi’s cozy south-of-Temescal shop are filled with local and imported honeys, royal jelly, beeswax, and other Mediterranean delicacies. “There is a whole section in the Holy Koran devoted to the healing properties of honey,” he says. “For people with pollen allergies, honey from the flowers to which they are allergic builds immunity to the pollen.” Almghafi promotes his products—and pleases his customers—with 3 p.m. tastings Monday through Friday (word to the wise: that delicious coffee honey delivers a kick).
A second-generation beekeeper, Almghafi is also a one-man champion in the fight against honeybee colony collapse. Upon request, he’ll install a hive of industrious pollinators in your garden—or, conversely, remove a rogue outpost. A thick photo scrapbook on the front counter documents numerous colonies that Almghafi has routed from East Bay birdhouses, attics, and walls. “I vacuum out the bees and relocate the hives,” he says. Relieved homeowners get rid of the uninvited guests and receive some honey for their trauma—and the bees buzz happily ever after.
Bee Healthy Honey Shop, 3622 Telegraph Ave., Oakland, (510) 388-9112; beehealthyhoneyshop.com.
—Andrea Pflaumer
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Persian Pastoral
Mina Bolouri is a florist who likes a challenge. At Arjan Flowers, she stocks an eclectic, luxuriant mix of bloom and branch that suggests the walled gardens of her native Iran—along with a hint of the sun-warmed countryside of Provence. Recently asked to design floral arrangements for a sustainable wedding, she dreamed up a plantable bridal bouquet (its roots to be contained in an elegant net bag), herbal centerpieces, and bromeliad corsages. As a thank-you bouquet for a client’s chef friend, Bolouri combined a single rose with rosemary and chard.
Patrons often provide photos of favorite paintings, fabrics, and place settings for Bolouri to complement in floral fashion (one bride-to-be even brought in a pair of leopard-skin high heels). Flexible as a wisp of bear grass, Bolouri is happy to work with clients to assemble something just right for the big (or small) occasion, or to come up with something inspired of her own.
Launched less than a year ago on Piedmont Avenue across from St. Leo’s Church, Arjan is a creative Aladdin’s cave of a shop, worlds away from six-roses-and-baby’s-breath emporiums. Jarred herbs reflect generations of family study of botanic lore. Pastoral and flower-themed artwork by local artists hangs on the wall. The store itself was named for the rare Arjan fig tree growing outside of the city of Shiraz, where Bolouri adventured among butterflies and wildflowers as a child.
Arjan Flowers, 4220 Piedmont Ave., Oakland, (510) 652-2887; arjanflowers.com.
—Susan Sanford
