Chef Chao, located at 343 Rheem Blvd. in Moraga, next to 24 Fitness, is one of two highly rated Chinese restaurants in Moraga, Asia Palace being the other. You can see their menu here.
I don’t know why but when I entered and looked around, I thought I had been transported back to the ’80s eating as a kid with my family in the suburbs. That being said, the decor is quite nice inside, and the food was really good. Are there any other fans of this place? Any must-order items? Chef Chao vs. Asia Palace? What do you prefer?
The Moraga Community Faire will be held at the Rheem Valley Shopping Center this Saturday, May 12th starting at 11am. In addition the entertainment listed below, there will be a classic car show and wine tasting. From the Moraga Chamber of Commerce website:
Activities for the whole family:
Entertainment Schedule 11:00am Campo Chamber Singers
11-1:30pm Chalk Drawing Contest
11:15am Dunk Tank Moraga Celebrity
11:30am The Saklan School Musicians
11:30-2pm Fingerprinting with Moraga PD
12:00pm Dunk Tank Moraga Celebrity
12:15pm Oak Grove Bluegrass Family
1:15pm Dunk Tank Moraga Celebrity
1:30pm EE and Friends (Littledog2)
2:30pm Dunk Tank Moraga Celebrity
2:45pm Peter Pan Foundation Kids
3:15pm Faire Passport Prize Drawing
3:30pm Carshow Trophies
3:45pm Dunk Tank Moraga Celebrity
This Thursday is Bike to Work Day and there will be Energizer Stations in both Walnut Creek and Lamorinda serving refreshments and promotional items throughout the day. From their website:
Come help celebrate National Bike Month and California Bike Commute Week in May with Bike to Work Day. Bike to Work Day is a promotional event to encourage non-bike riders to try commuting by bicycle. Bike to Work Day in the San Francisco Bay Area is primarily funded by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission with the help of financial donations from event sponsors and volunteers.
Here is a map of the Walnut Creek and Lamorinda-based Energizer stations:
The US News & World Report has come out with their latest high school rankings, and Campolindo High School in Moraga has come out on top in Lamorinda and Walnut Creek, just edging out Miramonte High School in Orinda. The rankings for the Acalanes Union district can be viewed here, and for California here.
State Rankings
#20 – Campolindo (Moraga)
#21 – Miramonte (Orinda)
#51 – Acalanes (Lafayette)
#92 – Las Lomas (Walnut Creek)
#227 – Northgate (Walnut Creek)
Northgate received a silver medal while all Acalanes Union high schools received a gold medal. Nearby Dublin High School was ranked #4 in California but that may be an error as it shows a 7:1 student/teacher ratio which seems too low for a public school.
On Friday, 5/4/2012, a 13 year old student brought a 4″ device to Joaquin Moraga School and was discovered showing it to other students by school staff. The device was taken to an office and Moraga Police were called at 2:45 PM. Upon arrival, the device was inspected, the area secured, and the Walnut Creek Bomb Squad was called to respond.
The Bomb Squad verified the contents qualified it as an explosive device. The device was disassembled and removed from campus. Possession of the explosive device on school grounds is a felony and the student was deteained by MPD after searching the student’s residence for any additional devices with none found.
The 13 year-old was released to parents and the case will be referred to the Contra Costa County DA for disposition.
4th Annual Cinco de Mayo fiesta sponsored by the Hacienda Foundation of Moraga. Live mariachi band, authentic Mexican food carts. Pinatas and games for children. Presentation by the National Park Service.
Free parking and shuttle to the Hacienda at AAAAA Storage on Moraga Road.
The festival will take place at 2100 Donald Drive, Moraga.
The Moraga Triathlon starts this Saturday, April 28th at 6am and although pre-registration has closed, there will be a limited number of same-day registrations available according to their website. This triathlon will have a 400 meter swim, followed by a 14 mile bike ride, finishing up with a 3.1 mile run. More information is available here. There are also easier 5-7 and 8-11 youth divisions.
A map of the race is available here. For those concerned about the traffic, the Moraga Polic Departement issued this statement:
Next Saturday morning hundreds of bicyclists and runners will be impacting traffic in Moraga. The area around Campolindo High School will be congested with parking and Moraga and Canyon Roads will be used as the bicycle route out to the Canyon Post Office. Camino Pablo will also be impacted as part of the race route. The residential area streets in the Campolindo area will be impacted with runners.
Please mark your calendars and try to adjust your schedules to avoid these areas. Roads will be impacted so please drive slow, heed traffic control monitors, and be safe.
Is anyone planning on doing this triathlon? If so, good luck!
On 02-28-12 at approximately 6:55 PM, Moraga Police responded to the parking lot of the Rheem Valley Shopping Center to investigate an armed robbery report. Officers met Yang Chen, a 25 year old Walnut Creek resident, who reported that he had just been robbed at knifepoint by a black male in his 30’s, reportedly wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and blue jeans. Chen reported that the suspect had brandished a large knife, and demanded Chen’s money. Chen said he handed the suspect $200 in cash and the suspect was last seen running north towards the intersection of Moraga Road and Rheem Blvd. Officers from Moraga, Lafayette, and Orinda Police departments responded immediately and conducted an intense, but unsuccessful, search for the suspect.
After a thorough investigation, including the creation and dissemination of a composite sketch of the suspect to all police agencies in Contra Costa, Alameda, and Solano Counties, inconsistencies in Chen’s report led Moraga PD investigators to re-interview and challenge Chen’s account. Chen eventually admitted the event was entirely fictitious, and stated that he had concocted the story to observe how police react to an armed robbery.
The initial response by three police agencies, Moraga PD’s investigative time, and the cost of a sketch artist represents a significant and unnecessary use of public funds. Additionally, the sketch of the fictitious black suspect unnecessarily caused local law enforcement to focus on any look-alike as a potential armed suspect. The false report also caused safety concerns for local citizens and, as a result, may have negatively impacted the retailers in the shopping center.
The Contra Costa District Attorney’s Office has filed a misdemeanor charge of violating section 148.5 of the Penal Code (False Reporting of a Crime) against Chen, with an initial court appearance scheduled on May 7th at 8:30 a.m. in Walnut Creek Superior Court.
I suppose it wouldn’t be appropriate to have a horse’s ass award on this site, but if it were, surely this would warrant it.
Walnut Creek gets Neiman Marcus, Lafayette gets Whole Foods, and Moraga gets… Dollar Tree. Before it opened last year, there was quite a debate as to whether it should be approved or not, but obviously it was, and the result is the store pictured above. Some people argued that it would lower property values while others proclaimed that it would increase tax revenue for the city, as well as supporting the notion of a free market.
So if anyone from Walnut Creek, Lamorinda and elsewhere is looking for a marijuana drug test, the Moraga Dollar Tree has you covered:
And if you just can’t find a masculine enough aftershave at Target or The Art of Shaving, come down to the Moraga Dollar Tree for this:
Any opinions on the Moraga Dollar Tree? Are you happy with how it turned out, or would you have rather waited for another retailer?
Some news off the beaten path: Moraga now has an alternative produce store besides Safeway. Located at 576 Center St. in the Rheem Valley Shopping Center, Moraga Produce offers a wide variety of vegetables and fruits, including an organic section as well. Take a look at the inside below:
I think I noticed Mexican Coca Cola being sold which is great as it uses real cane sugar instead of corn syrup. If the quality of the produce is good I can see this being a popular place to stock up instead of Safeway or a trip to Orinda or Lafayette.
Moraga Produce also has stores in Walnut Creek and Concord, has anyone been to one of them? How is it?
