CAFFE VENEZIA Caffe Venezia, on University Avenue at Grant Street, will close before this summer after 33 years of operation in Berkeley. Owners Jeff Wizig and Roger Feuer are retiring and selling the business, the restaurant’s manager said. A new owner plans to open a restaurant in the space eventually, but the lid is on precisely what it will be. Caffe Venezia, with its charming Venice street scene interior décor — fountains, balconies and washing lines included — has been a much-loved fixture on the local dining scene for generations of Berkeley families. Caffe Venezia’s founder, John Solomon, was the inspiration behind the “How Berkeley Can You Be Parade” that marched along University once a year for 13 years, until it was canceled in 2009. Berkeleyside Nosh will have a fuller report looking at the history of the restaurant and its place in city life soon. [Hat-tip: James Carr] MONTEREY LIQUORS Monterey Liquors, at 1590 Hopkins St,. is to be reborn as an artisanal liquor and drinks store under the stewardship of Arthur Kinsey, former general manager of next-door’s Gioia Pizzeria, and Ryan Murff, bar manager at Berkeley’s Café Rouge. “We want to cater to the modern cocktail movement,” Kinsey told Berkeleyside. The […]
CAFFE VENEZIA Caffe Venezia, on University Avenue at Grant Street, will close before this summer after 33 years of operation in Berkeley. Owners Jeff Wizig and Roger Feuer are retiring and selling the business, the restaurant’s manager said. A new owner plans to open a restaurant in the space eventually, but the lid is on precisely what it will be. Caffe Venezia, with its charming Venice street scene interior décor — fountains, balconies and washing lines included — has been a much-loved fixture on the local dining scene for generations of Berkeley families. Caffe Venezia’s founder, John Solomon, was the inspiration behind the “How Berkeley Can You Be Parade” that marched along University once a year for 13 years, until it was canceled in 2009. Berkeleyside Nosh will have a fuller report looking at the history of the restaurant and its place in city life soon. [Hat-tip: James Carr] MONTEREY LIQUORS Monterey Liquors, at 1590 Hopkins St,. is to be reborn as an artisanal liquor and drinks store under the stewardship of Arthur Kinsey, former general manager of next-door’s Gioia Pizzeria, and Ryan Murff, bar manager at Berkeley’s Café Rouge. “We want to cater to the modern cocktail movement,” Kinsey told Berkeleyside. The […]