.Mid-Week Menu: R.I.P. Genova Deli

Welcome to the Mid-Week Menu, our roundup of East Bay food news.

1) Earlier this year, the Express broke the story that Genova Delicatessen — a Temescal institution for ninety years, and one of the last vestiges of that neighborhood’s history as an Italian-American enclave — would likely close this spring due to an untenable rent hike. Sadly, the Mercury News reports that Genova’s owners have now announced that April 30 will, in fact, be the deli’s last day of business, the desperate pleas of longtime customers notwithstanding.

See also:
Rent Hike May Force Genova Delicatessen, an Oakland Institution, to Close after Ninety Years in Temescal


[jump] In the end, the deli’s owners told the Mercury News that the rent increase was only one factor — a part of the overall rising cost of doing business — that ultimately led to the decision. The landlord is reportedly looking for a local operator to continue running the location as a deli.

There aren’t many restaurants in Oakland that are as beloved, by as wide a swath of local residents, as Genova Delicatessen. I’m sure we’ll see a slew of loving remembrances posted in the coming week. Here’s mine.

2) The Ike’s sandwich empire’s expansion continues unabated, with one new shop recently opened in Rockridge and another coming soon, Berkeleyside Nosh reports, to a former Togo’s location at 2172 Shattuck Avenue in downtown Berkeley.

4) Inside Scoop has a few new details about the new incarnation of the Bay Wolf (3853 Piedmont Ave., Oakland), which shuttered last summer and was taken over by the owners of Rockridge’s Wood Tavern and Southie. Most notably, the restaurant will be called The Wolf, and it is now tentatively slated to open in November.

5) The Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture (CUESA), the organization best known for running the farmers’ market at the San Francisco Ferry Building, is taking over the Sunday farmers’ market at Jack London Square — perhaps the next step in the long-delayed “Ferry Building-ization” of Jack London Square? The farmers’ market will be closed for the next two Sundays, and will reopen under its new management on May 15.

6) A new branch of Cookiebar Creamery, the Alameda-based mix-and-match build-your-own ice cream sandwich shop, will open on Friday, April 29 in Old Oakland, at 517 8th Street, Inside Scoop reports.

7) Kingston 11 (2270 Telegraph Ave., Oakland), the Uptown Oakland Jamaican restaurant, is hosting a fundraising dinner for the Oakland-based nonprofit Attitudinal Healing Connection (AHC) on Sunday, May 1, 5–8 p.m. Sliding-scale tickets are $60–$100.

8) This May 1 pop-up at Swan’s Market, highlighting the handiwork of young farmers and young chefs, seems like it could be pretty great.

9) Finally, ICYMI, I wrote about an East Bay tattoo artist’s new vegan cookbook and AS B-Dama’s new sushi-focused sister restaurant at Swan’s Market.

Got tips or suggestions? Email me at Luke (dot) Tsai (at) EastBayExpress (dot) com. Otherwise, keep in touch by following me on Twitter @theluketsai, or simply by posting a comment. I’ll read ‘em all.

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