A big new project for a bar star
What does the culmination of 20-plus years as a bartender and bar consultant look like? Well, for Jennifer Colliau, it’s strolling across the dust-covered floor in Uptown Oakland while daydreaming about the future.
If everything goes as planned over the next year, Colliau will turn a former art gallery at 1780 Telegraph Ave. into Here’s How, the first solo project of her career. The name comes from the whimsical, irreverent and decidedly well-produced 1941 cocktail book from W. C. Whitfield. The book covered everything from whiskey, gin and hot scotch slings to eggnog and rum milk, and connected the recipes through quirky cartoons and funny one-liners.
“The book is just so charming in a completely nonpretentious way. I just love it,” Colliau said, while providing Inside Scoop with a first look at the 3,500-square-foot space. “It’s a little big, but it’s an amazing location.”
Sheets of construction paper taped against the windows block the view of curious passersby. And the hints of sunlight that manage to snake their way through are drenched in a light brown hue. A few art pieces leftover from the previous tenant can still be seen on the walls.
It’s all located directly across the street from the Fox Theater, which Colliau admits will be a boon for business once she’s up and running. For now, everything is more concept than an actual construction project.
For a talent like Colliau, especially one who’s been a star in the industry for years, it’s almost surprising that this is her first solo venture. She was a pioneer at the Slanted Door, drew patrons in droves to the Interval at Fort Mason where she serves as beverage director, and crafted the Perennial’s revolutionary bar program. And she did all this while building up a cult following for Small Hands Foods, her now-nationwide syrup company.
Colliau said owning a bar was always in the back of her mind, but instead of aggressively pursing it, she said she was just patiently waiting for the right opportunity to present itself.
“It was only a couple years ago that I really started to think hard about how I would own a place of my own,” she said.
Not long ago Colliau was in talks for a space a few blocks from her current one but the building ended up being sold. The developer who bought and sold that building later approached Colliau with an opportunity to take over 1780 Telegraph Ave.
“All of this, the whole process, is new to me. Everything. I don’t have ownership in any other bar. It’s exciting and nerve-wracking,” she said.
With so much left to be coordinated, Colliau doesn’t yet want to commit to certain, smaller details. Outside of a kitchen and an outdoor area that will include some seating, the project is fluid.
Still, it’s safe to assume the drink menu will be a gem. Colliau hasn’t actually settled on a design, but the actual menus will be made from wood, in the spirit of the original “Here’s How” book, and will include recipes and quotes.
“I’m just planning to have a lot of these,” Colliau said with a smile, referring to the menus. (In other words, the chances are good people might try to sneak out with them.)
“I really want to show off what goes into making craft cocktails in a fun, irreverent way where people get really excited to be here and to work here,” she said. “I’ll be pulling back the curtain on the wizard that is the craft cocktail scene.”
But that’s not all: An argument could be made that Uptown Oakland has the East Bay’s most active restaurant scene these days. The cavalcade of new projects marching toward Broadway seems to grow daily, and the most recent addition is a project from the husband-and-wife duo of
Anjan and Emily Mitra, the same folks behind San Francisco’s Dosa, which has locations on Valencia and Fillmore.
Anjan Mitra said he’s hoping to have the Oakland concept open by the fall at 2310 Broadway, an address that was the former home of an appliance store, and before that a pet store.
The first Dosa opened in the Mission in 2006 and represented one of the first modern South Indian spots to open in San Francisco. The second location on Fillmore debuted a few years later.
The project is just across the street from the 2200 block of Broadway, where Tanya Holland’s Brown Sugar
Kitchen and Bocanova are both slated to open within the former Ozumo and Pican spaces. A 100-seat izakaya and ramen restaurant called Shinmai is headed to the neighborhood as well.