Rocky’s opens new gourmet marketplace in Oakland
When complete, downtown Oakland’s Brooklyn Basin project will transform 64 acres of industrial property on the Oakland Estuary into a vibrant neighborhood with affordable housing, retail and more than 30 acres of public parks.
Now you can add a specialty market and outdoor dining restaurant to the mix.
Rocky’s Market Brooklyn Basin and The Kitchen at Rocky’s Market has opened in the historic Ninth Avenue Terminal Building along Oakland’s waterfront, offering locally sourced organic produce, from-scratch Two Local Girls grab-and-go meals and a seasonally changing menu of dishes to be enjoyed via takeout or on the large, 75seat alfresco patio. Covered and heated, of course.
Brooklyn Basin is the second location of Corinne Kinczel and Brady Bellis’ market — the original Rocky’s is in the Oakmore neighborhood. The new restaurant serves breakfast, lunch and dinner items, like the Basin Breakfast Sammy, a choice of croissant or brioche bun with lemon aioli, havarti, caramelized onions, housemade bacon or sausage patty and two poached organic farm eggs.
For lunch and dinner, look for grilled peaches stuffed with burrata (and, um, pistachios and crispy chicken skin) or the hot housemade pastrami sanwich, a choice of sourdough or ciabatta roll or rye bread with housemade grassfed pastrami, stone-ground mustard aioli, caramelized onion and dill pickles. There’s also Berkeley-based Boichik Bagels and organic softserve ice cream with housemade chocolate sauce.
Rocky’s Market Brooklyn Basin is located at 288 Ninth Ave., Oakland. The market is open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily. The Kitchen at Rocky’s Market is open for breakfast from 7:30 to 10:30 a.m. daily, and for lunch and dinner from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily. For more information, go to rockysmarket.com/ rockys-brooklyn-basin.
San Mateo County’s first Chick-fil-a nearly ready
Construction is nearly complete on the Bay Area’s newest Chick-fil-a.
The fried-chicken sandwich juggernaut — which is now serving antibiotic-free chicken at all of its 2,400 U.S. locations — is scheduled to open later this month in Redwood City.
The Whipple Avenue location, near Highway 101, will be the first Chick-fil-a in San Mateo County.
The chain, which had faced criticism over the years for its support of groups opposed to LGBTQ causes, last November released a new charitable giving policy for 2020. “Staying true to its mission of nourishing the potential in every child, the Chickfil-a Foundation will deepen its giving to a smaller number of organizations working exclusively in the areas of education, homelessness and hunger,” the foundation said in a statement.
Those recipients include Junior Achievement (educa
tion), Covenant House International (homelessness) and regional/local food banks (hunger).
Philly’s Best cheesesteak shop comes to Oakland
When the craving for hoagies stuffed with thinly sliced beefsteak and melted cheese hits, where do you go?
If you’re in Oakland, Bruce and Latrina Hopson are hoping you’ll try
Philly’s Best, a new fast-casual eatery in the Hegenberger Gateway Retail Center near Oakland International Airport.
The longtime Oakland residents and food industry veterans are the first to bring the popular Socal chain to Northern California.
With their son Ki helping run the front of the house and daughter Jada managing back office operations, the Hopsons are banking on the chain’s authentic Philly cheese-steaks, hoagies and cheesesteak fries to woo Oakland appetites.
Like the 19 locations down in SoCal, the Oakland franchise will use proprietary recipes and ingredients to craft their 10 cheesesteak offerings, from the original Philly’s Best, with sweet peppers and mushrooms, to chicken sandwiches and salads. Products come direct from Philadelphia, including Amoroso rolls, Herr’s Chips and Pennsylvania Dutch Birch Beer.
The company was started in 1992 by native Philadelphians Bob and Andrea Levey.
Philly’s Best is open for pickup from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. at 8460-D Edgewater Drive in Oakland.