Eye on the Hills: Montclair’s beer, wine, music fest happening Saturday
One of Oakland’s headiest events is being uncorked Saturday — the Montclair Beer, Wine & Music Festival.
More than 40 craft beers and 50 artisan wines will be featured along with a serving of local bands playing on a stage with a pedal-powered sound system.
There’ll be festival food including hand-dipped corn dogs and garlic fries, and drink packages can be purchased for $50 in advance and $60 at the door. Visit montclairvillage.com/beer-wine-music-festival for tickets or more details.
Around town: Ruth Stroup is an Oakland hills business owner who supports the city in everything from school fundraisers to the brick courtyard campaign (with one of the bigger sponsorship bricks on Antioch Court). A marketing standout, her latest outreach is giving away colorful shopping bags with her caricature on them.
She says a friend drew the cartoon of her in the toy car when she was looking for a business logo several years ago. If you don’t already know, Stroup is a Farmers agent, selling insurance for your car, home and more.
Speaking of advertising, hills Segway specialist Drew Foster helped film a commercial on the undulating streets of San Francisco recently for a new Tripadvisor app. Viator boasts one site where you can book “over 300,000 experiences you’ll remember” — including Foster’s Segway adventure tours.
Foster calls his fat-tired off-road Segways the most eco-friendly, cutting-edge gizmos around and leads private tours on trails all over the Bay Area. Check out his website at segwayoffroad.com.
Brew news: An authentic Italian coffee shop with a familiar name has opened at 1120 Broadway in downtown Oakland. The Caffè by Mr. Espresso is one of the first retail shops to open in The Key at 12th, an 18-story office tower on Broadway that incorporates part of the historic Key System Railway Building.
Mr. Espresso is a 45-year-old Oakland company founded by Carlo Di Ruocco. His children now run the company, which is still committed to roasting and serving Italian-style oak wood-roasted coffee.
Family fun: What’s more fun than a circus? A free circus, starring a bevy of Bay Area talent that includes acrobats, aerialists, jugglers and clowns all performing to live music.
Circus Bella is putting on free, outdoor shows this summer, including one in Oakland’s Lincoln Square Park at 6 p.m. July 13 and another at 6 p.m. July 14 in Elmhurst Park. The performances run for one hour. Find out more at circusbella.org.
Dinner show: Oakland-based performers are part of the nightly shows at the lively Moroccan restaurant Berber. The cirque show in the two-time Michelin Award-winning restaurant at 1516 Broadway in San Francisco is a treat for all the senses.
Savory dips, breads and dishes like Lamb Tajine and Berber Couscous are paired with reserve wines, craft beer and cocktails — all in a “hidden supper club” setting. While you dine, acrobats, aerialists, dancers and musicians entertain you in the round, so there’s not a bad seat in the house.
Berber is exotic yet quintessentially San Francisco. Visit berbersf.com online for more details.
Animal tales: The Oakland Zoo has a new bundle of joy — a white-handed gibbon born to parents Mei and Rainer, which were matched as a good breeding pair by the Species Survival Plan program.
This is the couple’s first baby since being introduced in 2019. The staff is waiting until the little gibbon’s sex is determined to name it — but I think a good name for either sex would be Mel, as in “Mel Gibbon.”
Ginny Prior can be followed on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and at ginnyprior.com. Email her at ginnyprior@hotmail.com.