Magical History Tour
The Alameda Museum Houses Classics and Curiosities of the Island’s Past
“What’s that?” the 9-year-old demands, equal parts exclamation, surprise, wonder and giggle in the question. She’s staring at a boned and laced corset. Surely women didn’t really used to wear those things resembling objects of torture?
The museum, which opened in 1951 in a portion of the basement of the old Carnegie Grant Library on Santa Clara Avenue, grew out of a historical society, founded in 1948. “In 1981 the museum moved to the old Alameda High School on Oak Street,” says Gunn. After 10 years there, it relocated to its present home, as a tenant of the Masonic Lodge on Alameda Avenue, a building listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The museum closed for nearly three months this year for refurbishment after a boiler in the building burst in early February, causing a flood.
The museum’s collection includes more than 200 gowns worn by notable Island women, all of the city’s historic records and numerous historical objects and art pieces. Everything has been donated, says Gunn, and connects directly with the city’s past. Among significant people honored is Robert L. Lippert Sr., whose memorial collection pays tribute to the Alameda native who owned a chain of movie theaters before he got into film production. Dubbed “The Quickie King” by Time magazine in 1951, referring to the speed at which he turned out movies, Lippert was reputed to be the first theater operator to introduce a popcorn machine into a movie house. “Lippert lived most of his life here and died here [in 1976],” says Gunn. “His family gave us some of his motion picture memorabilia.”
The historic Meyers House and Garden, also on Alameda Avenue but on the opposite side of Park Street, is administered by the Alameda Museum. An example of Colonial Revival style, the house was designed by noted architect Henry H. Meyers, whose work includes the Alameda portal of the Posey Tube, and was left to the city by his three daughters, with the provision that it be a house museum.
“We see it as our decorative art exhibit,” says Gunn.
The museum’s gift store is filled with donated goods for sale. “That’s a bicycle?” the 9-year-old, grateful that corsets have gone the way of the guillotine, inquires, once again amazed. She’s seen the penny-farthing that’s part of the permanent exhibition. It doesn’t quite beat the lethal undergarment and appears to rank only slightly less astonishing than the fact that kitchens have not always had microwaves.
The Alameda Museum, 2324 Alameda Ave.; 1:30 p.m.–4 p.m. Wed.–Fri.; 11 a.m.–4 p.m. Sat.; 1:30 p.m.–4 p.m. Sun. Free admission. (510) 521-1233, www.alamedamuseum.org.
The Meyers House, 2021 Alameda Ave., open the fourth Saturday of the month, $3 admission. For house tours call (510) 521-1247, www.alamedamuseum.org.
—By Wanda Hennig
—Photography by Amy Perl
BETTER BREW FOR A BETTER WORLD
When Kenneth Davids brews coffee, it’s anything but an average cuppa Joe. The cupboards in his Alameda home are stocked with samples from growers and roasters who seek his approval. His stash includes coffees such as Hacienda La Esmeralda Gesha from Panama, a variety so distinctive and highly rated that the raw green beans sold for an astronomical $130 per pound at auction. “Which is kind of silly,” Davids says of the price, but in his view, it’s good for the coffee trade because it expands the limits of the premium market.
Davids is a professional cupper (one who evaluates coffee), author and consultant who publishes the online Coffee Review (www.coffeereview.com), an influential source of coffee ratings and industry news founded in 1997. He began his love affair with coffee and espresso when he opened La Salamandre, one of Berkeley’s first Telegraph Avenue coffeehouses in 1973. Since then, he has written three books that cover virtually everything about coffee, from crop to cup and caffeine to café culture, including Coffee: A Guide to Buying, Brewing, and Enjoying.
His mission for the past three decades has been to get you, the consumer, to appreciate the complexities of specialty coffee—and to pay more for it. “One of the problems with high-end coffee is people just want to keep spending $10 a pound, max,” so growers have less incentive to cultivate quality and boost wages. He aims to build an audience of aficionados who will elevate the coffee market “to the point where it’s not a commodity product that drives the face of Third World people into the dirt year after year.”
To that end, Davids says he hopes “to defeat or reduce the tyranny of the latte.”
Say what?
The problem with those frothy concoctions, he explains, “is it doesn’t matter, to some degree, what coffee you put in them, so it really doesn’t help the growers that much.” He compares lattes to wine coolers, which use low-grade grapes because the flavor is masked.
“I’d like everybody to be able to taste a really splendid, naturally sweet, medium-roasted coffee so they knew what that tasted like. If they genuinely say, ‘Well, that coffee is no better than this garbage I’m drinking’—this over-roasted, bitter stuff—then that’s fine, that’s their problem.”
—Sarah Lavender Smith
—Photography by Amy Perl
R&B Cellars
SAXY SYRAH AND SAUVIGNON SERENADES
It’s music to winemaker Kevin Brown’s ears when someone takes a sip of one of his R&B Cellars vintages, and he observes it striking a harmonious chord that blends conviviality, celebration and pleasure. The musical overtones are no coincidence. Brown is a musician. He plays jazz piano. His wife, Barbara, sings. In fact, it was the challenge of earning a living as a jazz musician in New York City nearly 20 years ago that got him into the wine business. “A friend told me about a wine-marketing job and said, ‘you’re a good salesman. Who don’t you apply?’ ”
He did—and subsequently worked for 14 years as Rosenblum Cellars’ director of sales and marketing. During that time, he and Kent Rosenblum jointly bought a vineyard in the Russian River and, as a side project independent of Rosenblum Cellars, they formed R&B Cellars, initially to produce a high-end reserve Cabernet Sauvignon. “At first R&B was a hobby,” says Brown, who bought out Rosenblum’s interest in 2003. Brown has subsequently grown the boutique winery by increasing production to include affordable Zinfandel, Syrah, Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Franc.
It was three years ago that Kevin and Barbar a, with their sons, Ivan and Ryan, moved into an 1880 Victorian on San Jose Avenue. Brown had been making his wine at Rosenblum Cellars’ Alameda facility. Space constraints led him to move R&B Cellars production to Santa Rosa, but their Alameda residence remains the R&B headquarters, where they play their music and offer tastings by appointment. Not only that, but they have fully embraced the Island community with wine dinners and help with sponsorship of, for example, the Alameda Meals on Wheels annual wine-tasting fundraiser.
R&B, in case your feet aren’t tapping, stands for “rhythm and blues.” The wines have musical names, the labels musical images, and the Browns want the grapes to carry music from our taste buds to our hearts. Blow the trumpet and drink to happy times.
To arrange a tasting and find out where you can find R&B Cellars wines, call (510) 749-8477. Read more and order online at www.rbcellars.com.
—Photography by Amy Perl
About a Coffee Guru
Kenneth Davids
When Kenneth Davids brews coffee, it’s anything but an average cuppa Joe. The cupboards in his Alameda home are stocked with samples from growers and roasters who seek his approval. His stash includes coffees such as Hacienda La Esmeralda Gesha from Panama, a variety so distinctive and highly rated that the raw green beans sold for an astronomical $130 per pound at auction. “Which is kind of silly,” Davids says of the price, but in his view, it’s good for the coffee trade because it expands the limits of the premium market.
Davids is a professional cupper (one who evaluates coffee), author and consultant who publishes the online Coffee Review (www.coffeereview.com), an influential source of coffee ratings and industry news founded in 1997. He began his love affair with coffee and espresso when he opened La Salamandre, one of Berkeley’s first Telegraph Avenue coffeehouses in 1973. Since then, he has written three books that cover virtually everything about coffee, from crop to cup and caffeine to café culture, including Coffee: A Guide to Buying, Brewing, and Enjoying.
His mission for the past three decades has been to get you, the consumer, to appreciate the complexities of specialty coffee—and to pay more for it. “One of the problems with high-end coffee is people just want to keep spending $10 a pound, max,” so growers have less incentive to cultivate quality and boost wages. He aims to build an audience of aficionados who will elevate the coffee market “to the point where it’s not a commodity product that drives the face of Third World people into the dirt year after year.”
To that end, Davids says he hopes “to defeat or reduce the tyranny of the latte.”
Say what?
The problem with those frothy concoctions, he explains, “is it doesn’t matter, to some degree, what coffee you put in them, so it really doesn’t help the growers that much.” He compares lattes to wine coolers, which use low-grade grapes because the flavor is masked.
“I’d like everybody to be able to taste a really splendid, naturally sweet, medium-roasted coffee so they knew what that tasted like. If they genuinely say, ‘Well, that coffee is no better than this garbage I’m drinking’—this over-roasted, bitter stuff—then that’s fine, that’s their problem.”
—Sarah Lavender Smith
—Photography by Amy Perl
Alameda Made
R&B Cellars
SAXY SYRAH AND SAUVIGNON SERENADESIt’s music to winemaker Kevin Brown’s ears when someone takes a sip of one of his R&B Cellars vintages, and he observes it striking a harmonious chord that blends conviviality, celebration and pleasure. The musical overtones are no coincidence. Brown is a musician. He plays jazz piano. His wife, Barbara, sings. In fact, it was the challenge of earning a living as a jazz musician in New York City nearly 20 years ago that got him into the wine business. “A friend told me about a wine-marketing job and said, ‘you’re a good salesman. Who don’t you apply?’ ”
He did—and subsequently worked for 14 years as Rosenblum Cellars’ director of sales and marketing. During that time, he and Kent Rosenblum jointly bought a vineyard in the Russian River and, as a side project independent of Rosenblum Cellars, they formed R&B Cellars, initially to produce a high-end reserve Cabernet Sauvignon. “At first R&B was a hobby,” says Brown, who bought out Rosenblum’s interest in 2003. Brown has subsequently grown the boutique winery by increasing production to include affordable Zinfandel, Syrah, Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Franc.
It was three years ago that Kevin and Barbar a, with their sons, Ivan and Ryan, moved into an 1880 Victorian on San Jose Avenue. Brown had been making his wine at Rosenblum Cellars’ Alameda facility. Space constraints led him to move R&B Cellars production to Santa Rosa, but their Alameda residence remains the R&B headquarters, where they play their music and offer tastings by appointment. Not only that, but they have fully embraced the Island community with wine dinners and help with sponsorship of, for example, the Alameda Meals on Wheels annual wine-tasting fundraiser.R&B, in case your feet aren’t tapping, stands for “rhythm and blues.” The wines have musical names, the labels musical images, and the Browns want the grapes to carry music from our taste buds to our hearts. Blow the trumpet and drink to happy times.
To arrange a tasting and find out where you can find R&B Cellars wines, call (510) 749-8477. Read more and order online at www.rbcellars.com.
—Wanda Hennig
The Underground
A Dollar a Day Keeps After-School Troubles Away
A safe friendly place for teenagers and they actually think it’s cool? That’s right, and it only costs a buck. Middle schoolers pay $1 to be picked up from Lincoln, Chipman or Wood middle schools, but hanging out at The Underground is free. Aptly named for its location, nestled into the basement of the Veterans Memorial Building, The Underground has been an after-school destination for Alameda’s 11- to 15-year-old population since 1997.
Organized through the Alameda Recreation and Parks Department, The Underground gives teens a place where they can buy snacks and register for excursions (like going to Disneyland during spring break), but otherwise the program is completely free. “It’s a place for them to unwind and interact with kids from other schools,” says teen-program coordinator Andy Wong. “It’s a safe place to be and a safe place to learn.”
First-timers must register by agreeing to house rules and getting a parent’s signature, and The Underground strongly encourages teens to get their homework done before playing pool or ping-pong or dodge ball or games on the computer, yet it’s an environment where teens genuinely like to hang out. Most kids who frequent The Underground will spend their afternoons here for all three years of middle school and drop by to say hello once they are in high school. “I like that it’s a place where I can do my homework, and I have lots of friends that come here,” says Rania McCarthy, age 11, a newcomer to The Underground from Lincoln Middle School.
Some Underground veterans stick around to become staff members. Dale Yun wanted to work here because of the laid-back camaraderie. Blanca Cardenas, staff member of four years, says that if The Underground weren’t available, the kids “would probably get in trouble. It’s their domain,” she says. The kids have taken ownership of The Underground by painting murals on the walls, lounging around like they’re at home and paying attention when equipment is mistreated, and their parents appreciate being able to trust the program and the staff with their children.
It goes back to being a small town community. “I’ve changed the diapers on some of these kids,” says Cardenas. You don’t get that kind of personal attention just anywhere. All for a dollar a day.
The Underground, room 170, downstairs, Veterans Memorial Building, 2203 Central Ave., is open 3 p.m.–5:30 p.m. Mon.–Fri., closed on school holidays. For more information call (510) 748-9466, or visit www.ci.alameda.ca.us/arpd/teens.html.
The Underground
A Dollar a Day Keeps After-School Troubles Away
A safe friendly place for teenagers and they actually think it’s cool? That’s right, and it only costs a buck. Middle schoolers pay $1 to be picked up from Lincoln, Chipman or Wood middle schools, but hanging out at The Underground is free. Aptly named for its location, nestled into the basement of the Veterans Memorial Building, The Underground has been an after-school destination for Alameda’s 11- to 15-year-old population since 1997.Organized through the Alameda Recreation and Parks Department, The Underground gives teens a place where they can buy snacks and register for excursions (like going to Disneyland during spring break), but otherwise the program is completely free. “It’s a place for them to unwind and interact with kids from other schools,” says teen-program coordinator Andy Wong. “It’s a safe place to be and a safe place to learn.”
First-timers must register by agreeing to house rules and getting a parent’s signature, and The Underground strongly encourages teens to get their homework done before playing pool or ping-pong or dodge ball or games on the computer, yet it’s an environment where teens genuinely like to hang out. Most kids who frequent The Underground will spend their afternoons here for all three years of middle school and drop by to say hello once they are in high school. “I like that it’s a place where I can do my homework, and I have lots of friends that come here,” says Rania McCarthy, age 11, a newcomer to The Underground from Lincoln Middle School.
Some Underground veterans stick around to become staff members. Dale Yun wanted to work here because of the laid-back camaraderie. Blanca Cardenas, staff member of four years, says that if The Underground weren’t available, the kids “would probably get in trouble. It’s their domain,” she says. The kids have taken ownership of The Underground by painting murals on the walls, lounging around like they’re at home and paying attention when equipment is mistreated, and their parents appreciate being able to trust the program and the staff with their children.
It goes back to being a small town community. “I’ve changed the diapers on some of these kids,” says Cardenas. You don’t get that kind of personal attention just anywhere. All for a dollar a day.
The Underground, room 170, downstairs, Veterans Memorial Building, 2203 Central Ave., is open 3 p.m.–5:30 p.m. Mon.–Fri., closed on school holidays. For more information call (510) 748-9466, or visit www.ci.alameda.ca.us/arpd/teens.html.
—Sara Mesing
—Photography by Craig Merrill
—Photography by Craig Merrill
TAKE FIVE With Robb Ratto
With Robb Ratto
Entering his ninth year as executive director of the Park Street Business Association, Robb Ratto, who comes from a deeply rooted Alameda family, doesn’t hold back in sharing with us his favorite hot spots in town.
1 WHERE ELSE BUT PARK STREET?
I can’t help but say that Park Street is the place to be! Seriously, I think it is terrific how our new and established businesses are getting better by the day. The restaurants, the coffee shops, the retail stores are all meeting everyone’s needs. We’re really lucky to have a street that offers so much. It’s no wonder people don’t want to leave Alameda.
2 THE ALAMEDA THEATRE
I’m a little ahead of the game, but even in its unfinished form, one of my favorite spots is our new theater. I’ve had the opportunity to see the inside during construction, and I’m thrilled with what’s happening. When I go in there, I get flashbacks to my childhood. The explosions of art deco in the lobby, the candy counter, the stadium seating and the gigantic screens are going to knock everyone’s socks off.
3 PAGANO’S HARDWARE
I love this hardware store because I can find anything I want there. It’s a fixture in this town that never lets me down. The staff is so helpful and accommodating, and they are all really great community people. The only problem is that I go in there looking for something particular and come out with so much more.
4 ALAMEDA CITY PARKS
I really believe we have one of the very best park and recreation programs in the Bay Area. It’s better than any city I’ve ever seen. The services and opportunities that are offered to all ages are pretty amazing. Until you’ve seen what other parks don’t have, you might not appreciate what we do have.
5 CITY HALL
I’m at City Hall a lot, and I think this is definitely the hottest spot in town. It’s where everything happens. The boards, commissions and City Council are working hard for all of us and are what make this town tick. Without this dedicated group, we’d be lost. If you have questions and you want action, City Hall is where to go..
—Gina Jaber
—Photography by Craig Merrill
1 WHERE ELSE BUT PARK STREET?
I can’t help but say that Park Street is the place to be! Seriously, I think it is terrific how our new and established businesses are getting better by the day. The restaurants, the coffee shops, the retail stores are all meeting everyone’s needs. We’re really lucky to have a street that offers so much. It’s no wonder people don’t want to leave Alameda.
2 THE ALAMEDA THEATRE
I’m a little ahead of the game, but even in its unfinished form, one of my favorite spots is our new theater. I’ve had the opportunity to see the inside during construction, and I’m thrilled with what’s happening. When I go in there, I get flashbacks to my childhood. The explosions of art deco in the lobby, the candy counter, the stadium seating and the gigantic screens are going to knock everyone’s socks off.
3 PAGANO’S HARDWARE
I love this hardware store because I can find anything I want there. It’s a fixture in this town that never lets me down. The staff is so helpful and accommodating, and they are all really great community people. The only problem is that I go in there looking for something particular and come out with so much more.
4 ALAMEDA CITY PARKS
I really believe we have one of the very best park and recreation programs in the Bay Area. It’s better than any city I’ve ever seen. The services and opportunities that are offered to all ages are pretty amazing. Until you’ve seen what other parks don’t have, you might not appreciate what we do have.
5 CITY HALL
I’m at City Hall a lot, and I think this is definitely the hottest spot in town. It’s where everything happens. The boards, commissions and City Council are working hard for all of us and are what make this town tick. Without this dedicated group, we’d be lost. If you have questions and you want action, City Hall is where to go..
—Gina Jaber
—Photography by Craig Merrill
