$5 Live Music Fridays

$5 Live Music Fridays

Friday,
March 5

TORNADO RIDER

Tornado Rider’s music has awakened a new consciousness in music that defies logic and even reality with their unique fusion of punk energy, rock power, pop hooks, classical harmonies, funk rhythms, and manic bluegrass hootenannies. Tornado Rider’s music is a time to free yourself from the shackles of sensibility and remember what it was like once upon a time to howl at the moon and dance ‘til your feet were bloody.

http://www.TornadoRiderBand.com/



Friday,
March 19





THE DAVE MATTEWS BLUES BAND

This five-piece blues/R&B cover band features East Bay’s own Dave Matthews on harmonica. The band plays standard blues covers such as “Sweet Home Chicago” and well-known dance tunes like “I’ll Take You There,” and “Feeling Allright.” They know how to get people dancing - you can tell they are having a great time performing, and the crowd feeds off their energy.

www.DaveMatthewsBluesBand.com

New Everyday BoilerHouse Restaurant Food Specials

New Everyday BoilerHouse Restaurant Food Specials:

BoilerHouse Restaurant

Open Monday-Friday 11am-9:30pm

Nightly Promotions

Thirsty Monday
Buy a Pitcher of Beer,
get 6 wings for FREE
Taco Tuesday
4 Mini BH Tacos for $3

Wings Wednesday
$.50 Wings (min 6 per order)
Local Thursday
15% OFF all food items
for local residents

Music Friday
Only $5 Cover!



March 17th
St. Patty’s Day Specials
Traditional Entrée:
Cornbeef & Cabbage
Green Beer


1414 Harbour Way South, Richmond, CA 94804
510-215-6000 phone | 510-215-6025 fax
www.craneway.com | events@craneway.com

More info craneway.com/specials

Tornado Rider At the Craneway Friday March 5, $5 at the door

Craneway Show Schedule

Chocolate & Beer? Yes please!

The Craneway Pavilion’s first ever Chocolate & Beer Festival surpassed expectations. More than 1,000 guests streamed into the one-of-a-kind, historic, state-of-the-art Craneway venue Saturday afternoon to taste and compare chocolates and beers. Local chocolatiers and brewers offered their signature products with generous samples for all. People also loved the attendance prizes. One of Richmond’s policemen won a child’s backback that delighted his six-year-old son. Three local bands entertained the crowd and many couldn’t resist the urge to get up and dance!

Take the "Best Chocolate and Beer" Poll

Many people stayed for dinner at BoilerHouse Restaurant which is at the opposite end of the hall, just a few steps away. Regular hours for www.boilerhouserestaurant.com are weekdays 11 am to 9 pm. Weekend brunch will restart in April, Easter Weekend.

You are invited to contact www.craneway.com to find out the Services offered for parties, office events, receptions or wedding at The Craneway Pavilion.

The Festival was a benefit for Saffron Strand, a non-profit that provides employment-based solutions for the homeless in Contra Costa County www.saffronstrand.org

A few comments from guests at the Chocolate & Beer Festival:

“My husband and I had an amazing day at the chocolate and beer festival held at the Craneway Pavilion in Richmond. We drank exceptional stout beer perfectly paired with yummy dark chocolate. The Craneway is a wonderful space for events. We look forward to the next one! -- A. Dean (age 30)

“A fun affair with a terrifically well-behaved crowd. Well-managed event.” -- B. Levey (age 70)

“The Beer and Chocolate Festival at The Craneway Pavilion was wonderful! The beer and chocolate vendors were friendly and knowledgeable, the live music was fun and festive, and the venue itself was large, open and has the most beautiful view of any venue in the east bay!” – D. Meckfessel (age 50)

“The Chocolate and Beer Festival at the Craneway was excellent!” – F. Price (age 58)

“I had a blast at the Craneway. The pier on the waterfront is a spectacular location. The place is large enough to support a good crowd. The music was perfect, a nice combination of garage and retro with some indie rock. The crowd was eclectic, drawing young hipsters and a more refined cohort.” -- B. Bassett (age 35)

“A beautul space and location, a pleasure to be there. People of all ages mixed very nicely.” – K. Atkinson (age 57

“I was able to get to the festival yesterday afternoon with Kaya and Shima and we had a wonderful time dancing to tornado rider and tasting all kinds of chocolate (including real cacao beans)..The beer was great also…I prefer Drakes 1500 by far in the brew section. The kids loved the chocolate and the band was a riot.” – L. Dixon (age 50)

Images courtasy of:

Y Studio Photography, www.ystudiophotography.com

Perfect Circle Photography, www.perfectcirclephoto.com

Take the "Best Chocolate and Beer" Poll

Chocolate Tasting Notes

Beer Tasting Notes

More Craneway Events Coming soon:

Tornado Rider Friday March 5

Bay Area Roller Derby Saturday March 6

Dave Mathews Blues Band Friday March 19

C & B Festival Chocolate Contributors:

Bittersweet Chocolate Cafe

Galaxy Desserts

Teeny Cake

Vice Chocolates

TCHO Chocolates

C & B Festival Beer Contributors:

Drakes

Trumer

Napa Smith

Linden Street

Triple Rock

Mas Vino

C & B Festival Music Contributors:

Juke Joint

Tornado Rider

The Beehive Spirit

Marcy Wong Donn Logan Architects restore the essence of an aging icon of 20th-century industrial architecture for a viable future

The Ford Assembly Plant in Richmond, California, was the largest of its ilk on the West Coast: a 517,000-square-foot factory on the edge of San Francisco Bay supplied by water and conceived as a single linear space beneath a sawtooth roof that flooded the work spaces with indirect daylight. Designed by Albert Kahn in 1931 with minimal ornamentation except for the streamlined deco detailing at either end, the 1⁄4-mile-long behemoth languished after Ford moved to suburban pastures in the 1950s.

Read more

Tornado Rider To Play Craneway Friday March 5

"Tornado Rider is a powerful bird band of swirling goat god victory that lurks in the spooky forest regions and yells out over the mountains,” proclaims Tornado Rider’s frenetic frontman, Rushad Eggleston. To be perfectly honest, there’s no better way to describe the sound of San Francisco’s Tornado Rider.

Tornado Rider’s music has awakened a new consciousness in music that defies logic and even reality with their unique fusion of punk energy, rock power, pop hooks, classical harmonies, funk rhythms, and manic bluegrass hootenannies. Tornado Rider’s music is a time to free yourself from the shackles of sensibility and remember what it was like once upon a time to howl at the moon and dance 'til your feet were bloody. What is especially extraordinary is that their singular brand of wild animal rock only utilizes an electric cello, electric bass, and drums to create a colorful world of escape into mischievous playfulness and thunderous raucousness.

Formed in May of 2008, Tornado Rider is the brainchild of enigmatic lead singer and electric cello player, Rushad Eggleston. Brought up on a steady diet of hard rock, classical, bluegrass, folk, world music, Dr. Seuss, Lewis Carroll, and the wild and mysterious woods that he frequented, Eggleston’s imagination and creativity have always been rooted in the colorful otherworldliness of abstract realities and volcanic eruptions of unrestrained fun.

A Grammy nominated artist, Eggleston had a rich musical childhood, working his way up from age three. Building his musical talent through endless orchestras, bands, competitions, and adventures, Eggleston has played almost every musical style imaginable on various instruments until finally landing at Berklee College of Music in Boston with a full cello scholarship. Subsequently, he toured around the world as a groundbreaking cellist in various ensembles but never found a group of individuals who fully resonated with his inner wildness and propensity for imaginative musical expression.

Finally, after his 4th band in a row had spontaneously combusted, Eggleston called upon longtime friend Scott Manke to play drums in a new wild rock band he was creating. Manke, a music director at a summer camp, enthusiastically agreed, inviting his buddy Graham Terry, also music director of the same camp, to play bass. Whereas bandmates of the past had tried to stunt or mute Eggleston’s vivid persona, Manke and Terry not only embraced Eggleston’s vision and imagination head on, but helped bring the music to new heightened levels of power and fun. They encouraged Eggleston to play with a strap so he could run around and be even wilder, and to play the cello through a large loud amplifier with distortion. Thus began the magic and majesty of Tornado Rider, as all of Eggleston's songs got reborn as rock anthems and he had finally found the faithful partners in costumed wildness he'd been searching for, to help him spread his gospel of bouncy electric joy.

Dubbing their music “Sneth Rock”, Tornado Rider are taking listeners into their world and letting everyone marvel at it while creating a one of a kind musical experience. So what is ‘Sneth Rock”? “The land of Sneth is a wild, colorful, mystical and where a bunch of mythical creatures live,” explains Eggleston, “It’s a happy place but more crazy, trippy and magical. There’s a bunch of creatures called ‘thnarks’ that fly around on clouds. They’re not worried about getting their arms cut off with chainsaws or mold and decay, death and suffering. They just live to have a bouncy good time. The land of Sneth is darker, more primal, mischievous, and loud, hence the term, ‘Sneth Rock.’ ”

Where Pan played a flute in Greek mythology to get people wildly excited, Eggleston is the Pan of this generation, dancing and rocking the stage with his cello affecting everyone in his path and infusing a spirit of righteous release and electric exhilaration into every soul he meets. On stage, Eggleston combines a Peter Pan like state of reckless abandon with the undeniable magnetism and mystical quality of the Pied Piper of Hamlin. His virtuoso cello solos rival even the best of guitar solos to the point where his cello seems like a natural extension of his body. Tornado Rider’s music is so aggressively fun that, according to Eggleston, "it forces you to dance a lightning-dance!"

Tornado Rider isn’t just a musical experience; they are a force of nature. With every city Tornado Rider plays, their wild animal rock breaks through the mire of mediocrity giving people an experience that is both sonically and visually unique. They have created a new style of music that will take audiences on a singular musical journey, allowing them to leave their cares at the door. “What people have said to me after shows and what’s made me happier than anything else is that they were having a bad day,” says the charismatic Eggleston, “then they came to the show and they left happy and feeling motivated.”

Tornado Rider (TR) will play live at the Craneway Friday March 5. Tickets will be $5 at the door. Doors open 8am, TR on stage at 9pm. More Craneway music info soon at Craneway.com/music.

Bay Area Derby Girls Saturday March 6

Join us Saturday March 6th at the fabulous Craneway Pavilion for our 2010 season opener. The Bay Area Derby Girls are back and badder than ever bringing Women’s Flat Track Roller Derby to the East Bay.

Come check our 2009 BAD champions The Richmond Wrecking Belles take on the Sac City Rollers. This event is the first to come in an action packed season of Women's Full Contact Flat Track Roller Derby.

Event Tickets are $10 in advance and $12 at the door. Purchase tickets here. This is an all ages event, kids under 5 get in free. Would you like to bring a large party? Submit your information to our Large Party Order Form and receive $1 off admission for parties of 20 or more. Click here to submit.

Doors open @ 6:30pm and the action starts @ 8:00pm. Check out our vendor village showcasing some of the best local businesses and organizations in the Bay Area. Enjoy our blue-collar drink special $5 for a shot of Makers and your choice of Pyramid and Lagunitas micro brews. Best of all, check out the hard hitting action of some of the nations best skaters. The East Bay events are limited this season so take advantage.
Official Site: http://www.bayareaderbygirls.com/

More Event Info

Ticket Info

Richmond Wreckling Belles

Sac City Rollers

Beer Tasting Notes

Take the Best Chocolate and Beer Poll.

Napa Smith Brewery

1 Lost Dog (Malt and hop flavors combine delightfully, producing some bittering on the finish. Full, clean, crisp aftertaste with lasting richness)

2 Bonfire (Aroma is very malty and chocolaty with light flowery hops. Full rich flavors of caramel malt, chocolate, and coffee, accented with low hop bitterness. Clean, sweet after-taste with long lasting richness)


Trumer Brauerei:

1 Trumer Pilsner (The light golden appearance and tight creamy head boasts a vigorous carbonation; evident because of the small tight bubbles coming from the bottom of the glass. Trumer Pils' crisp, clean and well rounded finish is its true signature. Although traditionally hopped, Trumer Pils has a delicate hop bite that doesn't linger)


Drake's Brewery:

1 Drakes Brewing Imperial Stout

2 Drakes Brewing Black Robusto Porte

3 Drakes Brewing 1500 Extra Hoppy Pale Ale

4 Triple Rock Brewery, Black Rock Porter

5 Linden Street Brewing, Burnt Oak Black Lager


Bison Organic Beer:

1 Chocolate Stout (This richly textured, roasty dry stout has a boost of bitter and charismatic flavor from the addition of cocoa powder in the mash. We blend five unique organic malts to create Bison's most award- winning beer)

2 Indian Pale Ale (Our IPA recipe blends four hop varieties together into four kettle additions plus a blended dry hopping in the fermenter, and another dry hopping in the cellar! The balanced malt profile finishes dry, as the aroma of hops,notably pine and grapefruit, linger on you palate)



Buckbean Brewing Company:

1 Black Noddy (A traditional Schwarzbier with a smooth, rich malt flavor, black color and medium body. The mild roastiness and malt complexity is perfectly balanced with a moderate hoppiness for an exceptionally clean finish)

2 Tule Duck Red Ale (This rich, robust American Red Ale has a seductively smooth, full body, deep red color and a sweet, nutty malt flavor. A blend of the finest hops yield a subtly, but satisfying, hoppy aroma and finish)

Chocolate Tasting Notes

Take the Chocolate and Beer Survey at www.surveymonkey.com/s/ZLGLM5J

Vice Chocolates:

1 Fleur de Sal,salt bars (65% Venezuelan Dark Chocolate +french Salt)

2 Spicy Orange Almonds (Carmelized Almond coated in 65%Venezuelan dark Chocolate + Vietnamese Cinnamon, Orange Essential Oil, Cayenne Pepper)

3 Black Lager Truffle (Dark chocolate Ganache made with Lucky Hand Black Lager, Decorated with Organic Crisp Brown Rice and French Sea Salt)



Teeny Cake:

1 Mini Cupcakes, Chocolate stout cupcake, Wheat beer cupcake (Choclate Stout w/caramel cream cheese frosting, Belgian white cupcake w/ Chocolate buttercream)

2 Cupcake Pops, Peanut Butter Bites (cake and frosting mixed, dipped in chocolate, peanut butter mix dipped in chocolate)



TCHO:

1 Nutty (Pure and complex, with the rich flavor of roasted nuts accented with hints of dark roasted coffee and toasted biscuit)

2 Chocolatey (Rich, smooth and intensely chocolatey-a perfect expression of deep flavorful beans from Ghana. You may discern fudgy caramel notes dancing with malty, roastey and earthy undertones)

3 Fruity (full of bright cherry and raspberry notes, w/just a hint of raisin)


Galaxy Desserts:

1 Double Chocolate Mousse Duos (A light, yet creamy rich combination of dark and milk chocolate mousse, topped with White chocolate shavings in a whimsical shot glass. A delicious treat that would enhance the darker beers or compliment a lighter ale)

2 Capuccino Chocolate Duo (Delicate chocolate sabayon mousse and cappuccino mousse topped with cocoa powder and a chocolate coffee bean, all in a whimsical shot glass. The duo pairs well with a medium to full body beers. The cappuccino/chocolate combination accentuates the rich beers)

Bittersweet Chocolate Cafe:

1 Singaraja (65% Spicy and with light fruit--cardamom, cinnamon and fruits rouge)

2 Puerto Plata (75% Deep, dark chocolate with notes of tobacco and leather)

Marcy Wong Donn Logan Architects

The Ford Assembly Building, Marcy Wong Donn Logan Architects ...
Called the Craneway Pavilion, it has already been used for a Merce Cunningham Dance Company performance as well as private parties, and it can be entered ...
read more...

San Francisco Destination Wedding Photographers: Never say NEVER!

By Weddings 9-1-1 Photography and more!
"She mentioned this one place that recently opened near El Cerrito, a place called The Boiler House and Craneway Pavillion in Point Richmond, California. Yolanda had raved about this place as she had been there for a company party and so ..."
Read more at San Francisco Destination Wedding... - http://weddings9-1-1.blogspot.com/

Bittersweet Chocolate Cafe

Bittersweet was founded in 2004 by folks who had spent the previous 10 years working in technology, building brands in the virtual way. We wanted to get out of our offices and into the community, to create a place for friends and family to meet and greet. Chocolate was where we started, realizing that in other parts of the world, chocolate was much more of an integral part of peoples’ daily experience. We wanted it to be accessible, not high falutin’, as well to help people understand who’s growing the cacao, who’s making the chocolate, where it comes from, and all the ways worldwide that it is consumed. We have our “wall of chocolate” with over 150 bars from all over the world, arranged according to flavor profile (sort of like a wineshop). We also have our drinking chocolates, hot, cold, spicy, ice creamy as drinking chocolates is where the world of chocolate began historically. We make our own puddings, marshmallows and truffles and have delicious (and I mean delicious) chocolate pastries (our brownies won “the best of the bay area”!).

United Earth Networks and The Craneway Pavilion

United Earth Networks is a global event production service that combines artfully developed productions and 21st century networking among forward-thinking individuals and institutions.

From this perspective of progressive networking and producing, we look at UEN as creating community, of connecting people to people all over the planet through small to large scale event productions.

With over 25 years experience in global and local event producing, the team of UEN—led by Rick Lukens—brings an extraordinary depth of talent and solutions to professional gatherings, conventions, expositions, concerts, conferences, festivals, live television, recorded video and cinematic events.

Our projects range from environmental gatherings to establishing new paradigm television networks to world fair exhibitions to setting up tours for musicians any place on Earth to planning and executing satellite TV events bridging countries and continents. And, everything you can imagine.

As UEN services draw on a network of altruism-oriented partners, our contribution to your event is grounded in ethics, global responsibility, the spirit of helpfulness and affordability.

Learn more by visiting http://www.unitedearth.net

Read more at http://oakdalc.org/?p=594

Napa Smith Brewery

THE NAPA SMITH STORY

- Napa Smith is an ultra-premium brewery and winery under one roof located at the southern gateway to Napa

- Napa Smith is the company name and the brand name for both the wine and the beer. The beers are labeled "Napa Smith Brewery", and the wines when released will be labeled "Napa Smith Winery". Our website is www.napasmithbrewery.com

- We are not aware of any company that is making ultra-premium beer and wine under one roof and under the same brand name

- Our beers and wines are balanced, complex, drinkable, and food-friendly. We craft each beer and wine focusing on its ability to pair with food

- Our Master Brewer, Don Barkley, has been brewing craft beer longer than anyone in the U.S. other than Fritz Maytag at Anchor Brewing. Don started out in 1978 at New Albion Brewing Company, which was the first new brewery licensed in the U.S. since Prohibition. He then moved on as one of the founders of Mendocino Brewing Company, where he was Master Brewer for 25 years, creating Red Tail Ale and Eye of the Hawk Select Ale amongst others


- Our Winemaker, Luc Morlet, is one of the most accomplished winemakers in California. Luc is the consulting winemaker for the renowned Peter Michael Winery. He is winemaker for Vineyard 7 & 8, and his own brand Morlet Family Wines. Luc has also made wine at Staglin and Newton Vineyard (where he worked with both Michel Rolland and John Kongsgaard). In the 2009 Wine Advocate by Robert Parker edition on Northern California, there were 31 wines made by Luc that were rated. Of those, 29 of the 31 rated 90 points or higher

- We are a family-owned and operated business with family members making up several of our employees. Our owners, Kathleen Smith-Cutuli and Greg Cutuli, have a love for great food, wine, and beer. They continue a long-time family tradition of home-made Sunday dinners featuring wine and beer served to family and friends. The family - now 3 generations - live next to one another in Napa

- The beer was launched in the Spring of 2008 and has been received very well. We currently have over 50 tap handles in Napa Valley alone, making us the best-selling draft beer in the Valley. We distribute the beer in Napa, which retails for about $9.99 a 6-pack. We now have approximately 85% penetration of retail accounts in Napa, and in the past few months have expanded our distribution to all of Northern California, the northern portion of the state of Nevada, and the state of Ohio and Chicago will launch soon

- The wine will be launched in the coming months, in conjunction with the opening of both our wine and beer tasting rooms

- We are working with premier restaurants to feature our products with their cuisine, often conducting multi-course beer-pairing meals. We brewed the official beer for the inaugural San Francisco Beer Week, and just won Gold Medals for our Pale Ale and Amber Ale at the 2009 California State Fair and a Gold for our Pilsner at the 2009 Los Angeles International Fair

Trumer Brewery in Berkeley

Opened in 2004, the Trumer Brauerei Berkeley is the sister brewery to the 400 year old Trumer Brauerei Salzburg. The two breweries are committed to brewing the highest quality pilsner on both continents. Trumer Pils results from a unique partnership of two family owned companies: Privatbrauerei Josef Sigl and The Gambrinus Company.

The Trumer Pils in the United States is brewed using the same exact dry ingredients from Austria and Germany that are used to make the Trumer Pils in Salzburg. The light golden appearance and tight creamy head boasts a vigorous carbonation; evident because of the small tight bubbles coming from the bottom of the glass. Trumer Pils' crisp, clean and well rounded finish is its true signature. Although traditionally hopped, Trumer Pils has a delicate hop bite that doesn't linger.


The Trumer Brauerei Berkeley has won two consecutive gold medals (2006 & 2008) at the prestigious World Beer Cup competition for Best German-style pilsner. The World Beer Cup is a bi-annual event sponsored by the Brewers Association.

More info vistit www.trumer-international.com

Teeny Cake

Teeny cake takes the classic cupcake and makes it extra special using the finest ingredients and organic produce available. We work with customers to create the perfect presentation for their unique requests and special occasions. Our cupcakes are made fresh daily, and you can find our creations in local farmers markets or by phone/email orders. We also offer cute favors such as cupcake lollipops and cupcake sandwiches. Order a dozen for your next office or dinner party, or make your next large event festive with a cupcake tower or sprinkle bar!

Galaxy Desserts

Our Story

Galaxy Desserts (crafters of the Jean-Yves Charon Collection) is home to over 200 dessert lovers working in a 52,000 square foot building filled with thousands of sticks of creamery butter, pounds and pounds of dark, milk and white chocolates, loads of ovens, enormous freezers and one eclectic kitchen dedicated to researching and hand-crafting the most fabulous, French-inspired desserts.

We founded the company on the promise that we’d create exceptional individual desserts. We work consciously to keep our company sustainable, successful and incredibly satisfying for our palates as well as our souls. Our founders, celebrity pastry chef Jean-Yves Charon and Paul Levitan, certifiable dessert addict, work in tandem to keep the pleasures of dessert alive! When Jean-Yves returns from his annual trip to Europe with new ideas and recipes, Paul is the first to try them. When Paul wants to order all of the desserts on the menu, Jean-Yves obliges. Their passion truly knows no bounds.

What really sets us apart is that we do all the crafting, baking, freezing and packaging ourselves. Our all-natural desserts are flash-frozen to seal in the just-baked flavor so they taste as amazing on your table as they did right out of our oven. Even after months in your freezer our desserts still retain their original texture and taste, which makes them easy to have on hand for impromptu dinner parties, gatherings and indulgent moments.

Intensely committed to quality, we source all of our ingredients from the best producers we can find. Working with local suppliers where we can is a big priority. We endeavor to mitigate our environmental impact and support our community every day.

History

French-born pastry chef Jean-Yves Charon and our CEO Paul Levitan founded Galaxy Desserts in 1998 after they discovered their complementary passions for creating all-natural, individual desserts.

Their combined resources created a new company. A company where Paul’s business acumen supported Jean-Yves’s creativity and allowed him to source the world’s best ingredients, hone his classic, French-inspired recipes and dabble with new ideas (usually involving chocolate, butter, sugar and flour).

The years have been good to Galaxy Desserts with some of the nation’s best restaurants, bakeries and specialty stores, including Williams-Sonoma and Neiman Marcus, as customers. We have many loyal fans. And, much to our joy, our very buttery French Butter Croissants and Molten Chocolate Lava Cake Batter have each been on Oprah’s “Favorite Things” show (the croissants for three separate, yet equally fabulous years). We’ve had the incredible honor to grow and continue making indulgent dessert dreams come true.

Here’s the story of our founders.

Jean-Yves Charon honed his sweet tooth as a boy in Brittany, France where he spent his time away from his family’s farm sampling as many treats from local bakeries as he could afford. At 16, he pursued his dream of becoming a pastry chef and began training amongst renowned chefs in Brittany, Rennes, Paris and London. Many opportunities, and the chance to balance French and California cuisine, brought Jean-Yves to the Bay Area, where he eventually started his own individual dessert company, Paris Delights, in 1988.

Five years later, in 1993, Jean-Yves met Paul Levitan, a fellow bakery owner, at a national food show. The Cheesecake Lady, Paul’s Hopland, California-based company, and Paris Delights were a natural fit and the two created Galaxy Desserts in 1998 to make the most of it.

Since then, the rest is icing on the cake, or dark chocolate and European custard, in this case. We hope you enjoy our desserts as much as we enjoy making them!

Merce Cunningham Dance at the Craneway

Tonight was the inaugural performance of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company’s Legacy Tour, which will travel the world (Rome is next, according to the salesman from whom I bought a couple of postcards) performing works from Merce Cunningham’s repertory of modern dances. I was so honored to be in the audience tonight; to see MCDC perform live for the very first time, to be a tiny part of this historic tour and most of all, honored to have seen Cunningham choreography. It was a very special occasion (even though I didn’t have time to eat dinner and was starving throughout the show…which I didn’t really notice until after it was over), highlighted by a preperformance talk with Ohio State University’s very own, Karen Eliot (a former dancer with the company) and David Covey (former lighting director) as well as a question and answer session with a couple of the dancers, David Vaughan, the company’s archivist and…a guy with a mustache (regrettably, I didn’t catch his name or role with the company). There were even showings of Tacita Dean’s Craneway Event earlier in the day (which unfortunately I missed…I had no idea they were even happening) so it was quite the exhaustive Cunningham crash course. And I was loving every moment (and not missing watching the 2010 Olympic opening ceremonies!).

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Mas Vino

MÁS Wine Company, based in Mendocino, makes award winning, cafe style wines that are available in traditional bottles or 100% reusable packaging. MÁS means more, and MÁS Wine Company believes in more quality, more value and being more environmentally friendly. Since the idea of putting high quality wine into re-usable mini-tanks was born in 2006, over 80,000 bottles have not been used.

MÁS Wine Company currently makes five wines:
+ MÁS Vino, a 2007 North Coast Cabernet Sauvignon blend
+ MÁS Vino Blanco, a 2006 Sauvignon Blanc from Napa Valley and Mendocino County
+ MÁS Merlot, a 2006 “bang for your buck” California Merlot
+ MÁS Chardonnay, a 2007 un-oaked California Chardonnay
+ XMÁS, a seasonal Zinfandel released only from October through January each year

For more information about MÁS Wine Company, go to www.maswinecompany.com or call 707-921-9260.

Drakes Brewery

DRAKE’S BREWING COMPANY is an urban craft brewery operating from the former powerhouse of a long-gone Caterpiller plant in San Leandro, California. Established in 1989, Drake’s was one of the nation’s earliest urban craft production breweries. The Drake’s brewers have always been admired with the industry leaders for creating unique and extreme beers — from the early days of its original founder, right up ’til today. In 2010 Drake’s Brewing celebrates over 20 years of making exciting and extreme ales & lagers for distribution in the San Francisco Bay Area & Southern California.

www.drinkdrakes.com
1933 Davis Street, Building 177
San Leandro, CA 94577
Voice: 510-568-BREW
Fax: 510-568-9857

TCHO Chocolate

TCHO.
Deep chocolate.


TCHO is a new kind of chocolate company for a new generation of chocolate enthusiasts.

TCHO is where technology meets chocolate; where Silicon Valley start-up meets San Francisco food culture.

TCHO is obsessively good dark chocolate.

TCHO is direct, transparent connection between the farmers and the consumers, from the pod to the palate, from high concept to sensual experience.

TCHO is an innovative method for you to discover the chocolate you like best.


The Company.


TCHO is serious about chocolate. We aren’t just re-melters (like the majority of people who work with chocolate), we are manufacturers, with our very own factory – joining only a dozen other major manufacturers in the US.

TCHO was founded by a Space Shuttle technologist turned chocolate maker and a grizzled industry veteran who set up chocolate factories for 40 years from Costa Rica to Germany.

TCHO’s team has deep experience from Silicon Valley to Berlin, from Fair Trade to Ferraris, from chocolate start up to Web start up.

TCHO is funded by friends and families brought together to invest in a dream. And every employee is an owner.

TCHO is scrappy and high tech – recycling and refurbing legacy chocolate equipment and mating it with the latest process control, information, and communications systems.

TCHO’s social mission is the next step beyond Fair Trade – helping farmers by transferring knowledge of how to grow and ferment better beans so they can escape commodity production to become premium producers.


The Factory.


TCHO is located in the heart of San Francisco, at Pier 17 on the legendary San Francisco waterfront, between Fisherman’s Wharf and the Ferry Building, and five minutes from SF landmarks the Transamerica Pyramid and Coit Tower.

TCHO is the only chocolate factory in San Francisco.

TCHO’s tasting room will be as gracious as a European Grand Cafe and a remarkable space in which to experience TCHO’s chocolates and drinks.

TCHO’s factory is large enough to enable us to have impact with the growers in order to acquire the best beans, and is small enough to lavish attention on creating obsessively good chocolate.


The Chocolate.


TCHO’s obsessively good dark chocolate is limited edition varietals and origins, in original, innovative packaging.

TCHO chocolate is currently available on our website.

TCHO encourages our customers to help us develop our products, as we launch limited run, “beta editions“ available on our website.

TCHO is a new way to discover your chocolate. “Dark,” “percentage cacao,” and recently “varietal” and “origin” have been placeholders for knowing what the chocolate you are about to put in your mouth actually tastes like. TCHO has developed a new method (taxonomy) to help you find the chocolate you like, using common sense descriptors like Nutty, Fruity, or Chocolatey.


The Experience.


TCHO is about helping you become a knowledgeable enthusiast, since without context and meaning complete enjoyment of chocolate is impossible.

TCHO’s website connects our customers to the minds making TCHO, as well as to each other.

TCHO’s tour is a multimedia exploration of how chocolate is made, how TCHO makes chocolate, and of chocolate culture.

TCHO creates new rituals for sharing chocolate.

Vice Chocolates

We make hand made chocolates and confections for your guilty pleasure. We use only the highest quality couverture chocolate from Venezuela. Our chocolates are made fresh in small batches without preservatives to ensure that your palate will always be pleased. So go on...just give in.

Vice Chocolates is now available at the Oakland Temescal Farmer's Market on Sundays from 9am to 1pm. Be sure to stop by our booth for a free sample!

More info about Vice Chocolates

The Beehive Spirit

More about The Beehive Spirit:

Facebook

My Space

Blog

Y Studio Photography

Barbara and Wayne met in the beginning of 2006, they immediately became the best of friends and they discovered many combined interests, as well as many NON-coincidences, photography being one of them.

Wayne himself, with over 30 years in film photography inspired Barbara to return to her own original love of the art which started back in 1971. Her mother Delia Martínez was a photographer in Havana, Cuba prior to arriving in the U.S. in 1960, and began to coach her at the ripe age of 6!

Along with her mother's teachings and her husband's encouragement, it did not take long for Barbara to get behind the lens and in front of people, places and things. The happy couple LOVES to work together and they feel this is "Y" they are so successful.

Barbara and Wayne were engaged and later hosted a 3-day wedding event in December of 2007, which they both feel was the inspiration to launch their business. It is obvious they re-live their own wedding each and everytime they capture a client's special day. It is as organic as it gets, they LOVE what they do and this is "Y" they are doing what they love!"

"It's not just a shoot, we want our clients to have an EXPERIENCE!".

--Barbara & Wayne Yasuhara, YStudio Photography

Perfect Circle Photography

Curtis has been photographing weddings, people and events for over 10 years. We are centered around attentive, friendly service and a better product. We are happiest when we are shooting and love our "job". Consequently, people we photograph are relaxed and this shows in the images.



Check out our website to see more: http://www.perfectcirclephoto.com

Juke Joint

Juke Joint is an experienced six-piece “horn” band playing Memphis Soul and R&B, a shimmering, sultry and funky style produced in the 1960s and 1970s at Stax and Hi Records in Memphis, Tennessee, featuring soulful vocals, dynamic horn lines, tasteful guitar, and a driving beat by the drums and bass. We flavor ours with some blues harp as well!

Plays the music of James Brown, Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, Ray Charles, Sam & Dave, Al Green, Cannonball Adderly, Horace Silver, Little Milton, Louis Jordan, Albert Collins, Muddy Waters and many, many more Soul, R&B, Blues and Jazz greats!

More info www.jukejointband.com

Saffron Strand of Richmond, CA: Finding Solutions for the Homeless

Saffron Strand: Getting the homeless back to work

Saffron Strand, Inc. is a young Richmond-based, nondenominational, 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization which focuses on getting West Contra Costa homeless residents back to work. Using a unique volunteer membership approach, Saffron Strand builds the job and social skills of local homeless adults so they can achieve and sustain gainful employment and economic independence. Highlights of Saffron Strand success so far:

● June 2009 debut of job-readiness services at Project Homeless Connect 4 in Richmond, including volunteer services of salon professionals from 12 businesses to provide haircuts, manicures, and other personal care and wellness services to more than 100 homeless people

● Volunteer service at the Hot Meal Ministry in Richmond to help provide breakfast to more than 50 local homeless people

● Membership in the National Health Care for the Homeless Council (www.nhchc.org), a leading resource for research and technical assistance on homelessness issues

● December 2009 opening of Saffron Strand’s new office in professional office space at 124A Washington Avenue, Point Richmond, with job and work-related social skills training for homeless adults.

Funds raised through donations from collaborative events, such as our recent Chocolate & Beer Festival, go toward expanding Saffron Strand’s mission of achieving employment-focused solutions to homelessness.

Saffron Strand also has a professional and public education component, which includes West Contra Costa’s first conference on homelessness, scheduled for May 10th at the Craneway Pavilion.

The First Annual Saffron Strand Conference -- “Bridges Out of Homelessness: Vocations, Health and Housing” – features local, regional, and nationally-recognized speakers to engage local stakeholders in developing new solutions for homelessness in Richmond and other West County communities. The Conference offers continuing education credits and attracts professionals whose work involves homeless persons, including medical and emergency personnel, government and nonprofit agency staff, law enforcement and judicial authorities, and others. Homelessness impacts many public health, safety, and economic issues, so concerned members of the public also are welcome to attend.

Contra Costa College and Richmond Works and the City of Richmond are co-sponsors of the Conference, which will help turn Richmond’s challenges into opportunities. This new event will attract new visitors, generate new business, and boost community energy and civic pride.

For more information about Saffron Strand, please visit www.SaffronStrand.org. or, contact Yvonne Nair (tel. 510.778. 9492 or e-mail info@saffronstrand.org).

Craneway is now on twitter!

We have created a Twitter page for you all to follow us at. Check it out here https://twitter.com/CWPavilion

SF Beer Week: Chocolate and Beer Festival at Craneway Pavillion

For most of us, the only time chocolate and beer end up in the same sentence, is when someone requests our Sound of Music rendition of "These Are a Few of My Favorite Things."

Apparently, someone overheard.

Five chocolatiers and five breweries have decided to give the people what they want this coming Saturday, February 6th as a part of San Francisco Beer Week. And what a part it is.

Chocolatiers include Bittersweet Café (Oakland, SF, and Danville), Galaxy Desserts (Richmond), Teeny Cake (San Francisco), Vice Chocolates (Oakland), and TCHO (San Francisco). Brewers include Drake's (San Leandro), Trumer (Berkeley), Napa Smith (Napa), Triple Rock (Berkeley), and Linden Street (Oakland).

And while your palette settles on Cloud 9, the rest of you can enjoy the live music from local bands and raffles with valuable prizes, including gourmet chocolate, specialty desserts, outdoor gear, sailing lessons, dinner cruise tickets, and BoilerHouse Restaurant gift certificates. Nevermind the waterfront view and Pavillion architecture to keep you company.

Tickets are $25, but $18 in advance, and include six tastings each of beer and chocolate as well as either free parking or a free shuttle to the pavillion from the Richmond BART. But FOR TODAY ONLY you can get your pre-ticket for only $10 by signing up for Groupon HERE - the $10 ticket is today's side deal.

Proceeds from the Chocolate & Beer Festival benefit Saffron Strand, Inc., the non-profit membership organization dedicated to employment-focused solutions for homeless persons in Richmond and other West Contra Costa communities

Better than happy hour prices, and all in one place? Almost too good to be true.


http://www.examiner.com/x-8788-SF-Bars-Examiner~y2010m2d2-SF-Beer-Week-Chocolate-and-Beer-Festival-at-Craneway-Pavillion

Chocolate and Beer Fundraiser on Yelp

Celebrate San Francisco Beer Week 2010 with a ticket that gets you into one of the more crave-worthy pairings nature can offer on Saturday, February 6, from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Craneway Pavillion in the Richmond Marina. The festival ticket gets you free parking or free BART shuttle service from Richmond and ushers you into a world of beer and chocolate sampling, live entertainment, and raffle entries to thoroughly cement your adoration for brews and bonbons.

Peruse and sample the flavors of five chocolatiers, five breweries, and two bands. Chocolatiers include Bittersweet: the Chocolate Café, Galaxy Desserts, , TCHO, Vice Chocolates, and Teeny Cake. Brewers include Trumer Pils, Drake's Brewing, Triple Rock Brewery, Napa Smith, and Linden Street. Bands such as The Beehive Spirit and Tornado Rider will entertain during the festivities. Also featured at the event will be a booth accepting charitable donations for Saffron Strand Inc., a non-profit dedicated to finding employment solutions for the local homeless.

From Yelp.com event listing.

Chocolate and beer festival in Richmond

RICHMOND — Sample the gourmet creations of local gourmet chocolatiers and local craft breweries at the first Chocolate and Craft Beer Festival at 2 p.m. Feb. 6 at the Craneway Pavilion, 1414 Harbour Way South.

The afternoon gala, which includes live music by local bands, is a benefit for Saffron Strand Inc. (www.saffronstrand.org.), a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping homeless people in West Contra Costa become employable and self-sufficient. Admission to the event includes six tickets each to sample beer and chocolate from Bay Area crafters in the waterfront setting at the expansive Craneway space in the landmark Ford Point building, which has a panoramic view of the Bay.

A raffle will include prizes of gourmet chocolate, specialty desserts, outdoor gear, sailing lessons, dinner cruise tickets and BoilerHouse Restaurant gift certificates. Admission is $18 in advance or $25 at the door, with a $5 parking fee without an advance ticket. Details and tickets are available online at www.craneway.com/chocolatebeer or call 510-215-6000.

http://www.contracostatimes.com/richmond/ci_14296361?source=rss