Spotted on Locust St. in downtown Walnut Creek:
A Tribute to Ted Gurney
The Mayor of Locust Street
Master of photography – photographic craftsman
President Walnut Creek Chamber of Commerce 1977-78
President Parent Club, Los Lomas High School
Locust Street beautification chairman
Chairman Civic Arts Commission
U.S. Air Corp World War II
Walnut Creek’s business person of the year 1982
It’s been a while since I checked in on the new restaurant Citra Grill in downtown Walnut Creek across the street from the Century Movie Theater, at 1550 Olympic Boulevard. Yesterday I met with the owner to see how the progress was coming and found out that they expect to open in the beginning of June.
The vaulted ceilings really makes it feel spacious. Note the brand new kitchen equipment behind the counter.
At the other end of the counter are the cash registers:
An interesting component will be the combination of self and full service so you’ll order and pay at the counter but once seated, you’ll be able to order an extra dish from your table as well if you wish. The ingredients will be top quality and will serve fresh California cuisine. A private soft opening will be followed by a public opening in early June if all goes well.
Fans of the Walnut Creek Baking Company will be excited to know that the owner, Denise Vickers, has recently published a cookbook, The Walnut Creek Baking Company Cookbook, which contains the actual recipes sold at the bakery, “filled with gorgeous photos and all the recipes for your favorites, plus notes, anecdotes and the story of how the bakery came to be.”
You can order the book online here, or drop by the bakery and pick up the cookbook directly. The price is $55. I glanced through a copy and thought it was really well put together with amazing photos throughout. As someone who has enjoyed eating the pastries for many years I think it’s great there is now a cookbook available with recipes and stories about the bakery itself.
What’s your favorite pastry? I enjoy eating almost everything here that I have a hard time choosing what I like best. The Chocolate Crackle cookie would rank highly though.
Spotted in downtown Walnut Creek, note the old-style coke bottle and container at top. The text on the side of the car says, “Endeavor to be Adequate”.
photo by Flickr user soyunterrorista
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:
View Contra Costa County Energizer Stations for Bike to Work Day 2012 in a larger map
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
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.
Go get your free ice cream cone at Haagen Daz in downtown Walnut Creek next to Macy’s. This is for today only, until 8pm.
Back in March I pointed out the bizarre bathroom situation at the newly remodeled Peet’s Coffee shop in downtown Walnut Creek. I recently had a chance to revisit, and am slightly amused that although the same bathroom lock is in place, the instructions are gone. If you look closely at the photo, there is just a red arrow pointing left. What this means is, to lock, do nothing. To open, turn left. Obvious, right?
I spoke to an employee there who laughed when I asked him about it. He said they’ve had “nothing but complaints” about it, and that “corporate is aware of the situation”. I wonder if anything will be done about this. Note that I think the token usage is reasonable. It’s the door locking mechanism that I find bizarre.
From a Walnut Creek Police press release:
On 5/8/12, at 1:53 am, Walnut Creek Police stopped a white van for a vehicle code violation on N. Main Street at Penniman. The officer quickly learned the vehicle had been reported stolen from Mill Valley in an armed robbery on May 4th. Other officers responded and the driver (later identified as Jorge Estrada) was arrested. During the arrest an officer found a loaded firearm on Estrada, narcotics and stolen property related to other robberies and carjacking in Mill Valley.
Estrada was transported to Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office Martinez Detention Facility and is being held on $165,000 bail.
Anyone with information regarding the Mill Valley cases is encouraged to contact Detective Sergeant Paul Wrapp at (415)389-4100.
I’ve been meaning to switch the header of this blog to something more appropriate for all of Walnut Creek and surrounding areas, and while browsing Flickr I found a great shot of Mt. Diablo taken from Walnut Creek. The photographer, Dave Brinda, graciously gave me permission to use it for the new header. He’s an amazing photographer so check out his other photos if you have a chance.
Since I also began focusing on Lafayette I decided to add that to the tagline as well. I was thinking of using Lamorinda instead since I also focus on Orinda and Moraga, but I feel Lafayette deserves to be represented as a standalone city.
I still love the design of the Neiman Marcus building, check out the previous headers below:
As always, any suggestions for improving the header, tagline or anything else are always appreciated.