A second Wahlburgers to open on the Peninsula
More Wahlburgers are bound for the Bay Area.
Three years after bringing the celebrity Wahlberg family’s faves to downtown Palo Alto, the group will open its newest location on Burlingame’s restaurant-packed Burlingame Avenue.
No opening date has been announced yet, but the signs trumpeting the brothers’ arrival are up.
It was Wahlberg brother Paul who turned chef and opened the first burger joint in Hingham, Massachusetts, with musiciansturned-actors Mark and Donnie as partners. The A&E Network then turned the family’s venture into a behind-the-scenes reality television show that aired for 10 seasons over five years.
The dishes are Paul’s nostalgic throwbacks, with upgrades. The O.F.D. stands for “Originally from Dorchestah,” and it’s a half-pound burger with Swiss cheese, bacon, sauteed mushrooms and housemade tomato jam. A crispy haddock sandwich, hand-breaded with seasoned panko, is served with balsamic tartar sauce.
If your devotion to Donnie ranges from his New Kids on the Block days to his long-running “Blue Bloods” gig, then the BBQ bacon burger (with white cheddar, fresh jalapeños) will be your choice.
A rarely-seen-here option from New England is the Wahlbergs’ dessert version of a Fluffernutter: a grilled banana Fluffanutta made with peanut butter, fresh banana, Marshmallow Fluff and Nutella.
In Burlingame, the new Wahlburgers is taking over the space formerly occupied by a Rangoon Ruby restaurant. The Palo Alto location is currently open for takeout and delivery.
DETAILS >> 1219 Burlingame Ave., Burlingame, and 185 University Ave., Palo Alto. wahlburgers.com
Bay Area’s first spizzicheria opens in Berkeley
The owner of Walnut Creek’s 54 Mint Forno Italiano has brought a culinary first to the Bay Area. And we’re sort of losing our minds because there are mozzarella-filled risotto croquettes involved.
Casa Barotti is a spizzicheria, which co-owner Daniele Carsano defines on the eatery’s website as “a casual place to pop in and enjoy something delicious with a glass of wine or beer.” It’s an homage to the regionally focused street-food spots that are found all over Italy, including in Torino, where Carsano grew up with his two co-owners.
Located in Berkeley between La Farine and Boichik Bagels, Casa Barotti offers a variety of handmade eats, including pizza al trancio, a light and airy pizza crust baked in a steel pan and topped with fresh local or imported toppings; panzerotti, a crispy fried Puglian mini-calzone filled with tomato and mozzarella or cotto ham and ricotta; and supplì, the aforementioned to-die-for tomato risotto croquettes that are filled with mozzarella and hail from Rome.
Casa Barotti also offers a wide range of house-baked foccacia, which is available, like the pizza, by the slice, half tray (5 slices) or whole whole tray (10 slices). There’s also farinata, a thin, Ligurian chickpea pancake that is gluten-free. Beverage options include an ever-changing selection of beer and wines from Italy, alongside a rotating local IPA selection.
Much like 54 Mint Forno Italiano, Casa Barotti sources its produce from trusted farmers in Northern California. Its salumi, cheeses, wines, olive oils, flours and San Marzano tomato sauce and specialty products are curated from small producers and farmers in Italy.
Current hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday to Saturday at 3204 College Ave., Berkeley. Find more information at www. casabarotti.com.
Insomnia Cookies expands (and stays up till midnight)
Its motto is “Warm cookies delivered crazy late,” and during this pandemic era, when so many late-night eateries have had to curtail their hours, that service could come in handy.
Insomnia Cookies has opened in downtown San Jose, with freshly baked cookie delivery and in-store purchases until midnight every day. Later hours are expected in the coming months.
Then-student Seth Berkowitz dreamed up the idea in 2003 in a dorm room at the University of Pennsylvania. Insomnia since has expanded to 186 locations, including near college campuses in Davis, Irvine, Chico and San Luis Obispo.
Customers can select from nine freshly baked “classic” varieties (chocolate chunk, snickerdoodle, double chocolate chunk, sugar, M&M, double chocolate mint, oatmeal raisin, peanut butter chip and white chocolate macadamia) or upgrade to one of the six “deluxe” varieties (s’mores, peanut butter cup, triple chocolate chunk, confetti, salted caramel and oatmeal chocolate walnut).
And then there are the seasonal variations. For St. Patrick’s
Day, Insomnia is now baking the Irish potato cookie, a snickerdoodle with coconut flakes and cream cheese chips. The springtime and Easter flavors are the carrot cake cookie with carrot shreds and raisins and a confetti cookie.
On this menu a “combo” means two warm cookies and ice-cold milk (your choice of fat-free, 1%, 2%, whole or chocolate). Other offerings include vegan and gluten-free cookies, cookie’wich ice cream sandwiches, the chillax pack that combines cookies with a pint or quart of ice cream — plus pieshaped and heart-shaped cookies and party-size packs up to 100.
DETAILS >> 42 S. First St., San Jose; 669-900-1412; www. insomniacookies.com
Slice House is coming to San Leandro
Pizza is perhaps the pandemic comfort food. And soon, San Leandrans will be wrapping themselves in the ultimate blanket of dough and cheese.
Slice House by Tony Gemignani, the Neapolitan pizzeria with locations in Walnut Creek and San Francisco, is opening its second pizzeria in the East Bay.
The new location, housed in the space that formerly occupied The Vine Wine & Tapas, will be owned and operated by Tom and Teresa Lawrie, who are also the proprietors of Sons of Liberty Alehouse, a popular restaurant and tavern about a block away.
Tom Lawrie and Gemignani go way back to the pizzaiolo’s early days at Pyzano’s in Castro Valley, when the World Pizza Champion titles were just starting to roll in. According to Lawrie, the idea for a San Leandro Slice House came about last year when Lawrie wanted to send his Sons of Liberty chef to Gemignani’s International School of Pizza in San Francisco.
Since the school was temporarily closed due to the pandemic, Gemignani proposed another solution. “He suggested we license a Slice House location,” Lawrie recalls. “It was a no-brainer. He’s the Michael Jordan of pizza. It’s perfect every single time.”
To prepare for their opening, the team has been learning the ins and outs of the spicy Wise Guy, Purple Potato and other pies Gemignani is famous for, including his Detroit-style square pizzas, like the Motown, made with white cheddar, mozzarella, spinach, garlic and tomato sauce, at the Slice House in Walnut Creek.
They’ll be available by the slice and pie, along with Slice House’s other signature pizzas, pastas and those famous Monday Meatballs, in a much larger space. When it opens this month, the San Leandro pizzeria will offer seating for 80 outside on the 1,200-square-foot patio. When indoor dining resumes, there’ll be another 35 seats inside the 1,600-square-foot restaurant.
“We plan to have a pergola and TVS outside so people can watch the games and relax,” Lawrie says.
Look for a respectable list of wines and craft beer, too.
Slice House will be located at 135 Parrott St. in San Leandro. Check slicehouse.com for grand opening details.