Dine B'game: The old, the new and the future

It was a big week for Burlingame dining news starting with a nice piece in the Daily Journal about CJ's Deli celebrating 25 years of local sandwich making.  

CJ’s came under new management in 2017 when Gus Kiniris — a longtime restaurateur and manager at community staple Westlake Original Joe’s — purchased the shop from its original owners, the Winters family.  After purchasing the establishment, Kiniris slimmed the menu down to streamline the ordering process — but retained the well-loved staples.

“There were 60 items. Guests would walk in, first-timers … and [get] kind of overwhelmed by the menu,” he said. “So I changed the menu a little while back, dropped it down to about 15 signature items, the top items that have sold over the last 20 years.

And CJ's has been holding the line on prices--$9.99 and $10.99.  That's rare and gratifying to see.  Next up was the opening of Backhaus--not to be confused with someone's ADU.  The first location in San Mateo has been getting rave reviews for some time, and this piece in the DJ describes the addition of the new B'game location last Tuesday.  In addition to baked goods, breakfast will be served on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.  CEO Anne Moser noted

“When we found this space, we decided if we move our pastry team over here, we then have space still for a kitchen to do the sit-down food for people that we want to do, and then our bread team can take over the other location,” Moser said. “So we still bake everything and make everything within our two locations.”

The new storefront building has a long history in the community, originally as Burlingame’s first movie theater, and the Backhaus team is excited to “bring new life to the space” for the Bay Area community.

I have heard the "first movie theater" claim before, but I think it needs more research.  Neither my 1928 nor 1941 city directories list the address, but by 1952 it was The Tropics cocktail lounge.  The Peninsula (later Fox) Theater on the Avenew opened in 1926.  Early in my time in the Bay Area (which started in 1981) the Backhaus building was Route 66 which I really miss.  Here is a fun blast-from-the-past out of the DJ archives.  I'm glad to see it put to good use now.

Continuing on into the future, the talk of a new, upscale restaurant in the partially preserved Old Post Office was confirmed by a press release from the developers, Dostart and Sares Regis, this week. Bacchus Management Group have signed a lease for the historic space that was the classic PO lobby.  Bacchus operates Spruce, Selby's and the Village Pub so expectations are running high for the yet-to-be-named B'game operation.  We are just past two years into construction as noted here.  The lease is for 8,000 square feet, but I was unable to get an estimate of how many indoor and outdoor seats that will translate into.  Rendering are getting better every year--check out how realistic this one is from Dostart!  The marble walls are accurate and notice the outdoor seating!

Comments

[Jennifer Pfaff]

Wow, that Post restaurant rendering looks super...

Re: George Roy's Photoplay Theatre. It opened in 1913 as the first purpose-built theatre in town. The opening of the fancier Gates Garden Theatre in 1918 (where Pottery Barn is today) made it tough on Roys, and that's why you (Joe, I mean) cannot find it in your late-1920s City Directory;)

As far as we can tall, until today's new use as a bakery, the building has ALWAYS been used for entertainment / recreational purposes-- I'd consider various bars, lounges, yoga and boxing, etc. in that category. Remember Blush??--I think that was the name. Nightclub, I remember there was a lot of trouble there back in the day, and I'm thinking there is probably a story about that place buried here in the BV, too.

[HMB]

So happy to have Backhaus closer to home -- their breads and pastries are excellent. The line Saturday morning was long but it moved quickly. Was disappointed the signature breakfast board for two was not available -- the guy at the counter said they didn't have enough staff yet to serve it despite it being on the menu.
And what's the deal with all the dogs inside? These were clearly NOT service animals. Nothing against dogs, but in a busy restaurant with excitable kids running around and adults staring at their phones and not paying attention it just doesn't seem like a good idea -- not to mention being against the health code. (Though I'll agree a lot of dogs are cleaner and better behaved than a lot of humans.)

[Mom]

It's the usual situation of who will clamp down? Just like Target telling the sheriff to hustle shoplifters outside before cuffing them and reading them their rights, no restaurant wants to kick Fluffy out.

[Joe]

Selby's and the Village Pub keep their single Michelin stars for this year.

https://www.mercurynews.com/2023/07/18/all-xx-of-the-bay-areas-michelin-starred-restaurants-for-2023/?utm_email=945A740F8485348253E6F395EF&lctg=945A740F8485348253E6F395EF&active=yesD&utm_source=listrak&utm_medium=email&utm_term=https%3a%2f%2fwww.mercurynews.com%2f2023%2f07%2f18%2fall-xx-of-the-bay-areas-michelin-starred-restaurants-for-2023%2f&utm_campaign=bang-mult-nl-wednesday-morning-report-nl&utm_content=manual

[Joe]

The Michelin stars are out and the Merc covered the award ceremony at the Ritz in Half Moon Bay. The ownership group bringing a restaurant to the new Post Office, Bacchus, has held onto theirs again this year:

In the South Bay/Peninsula, George Aviet’s Chez TJ of Mountain View was again awarded with a star; the restaurant has been honored by Michelin for 17 years under a succession of chefs, including current top toque Stan Michalski.

Both the Plumed Horse in Saratoga, with chef Peter Armellino at the helm, and the Village Pub in Woodside, under the direction of chef Mark Sullivan and the Bacchus group, retained the one-star status they have held since 2009.

The other one-star honorees from this region include Protégé in Palo Alto from executive chef Anthony Secviar and master sommelier Dennis Kelly; Wakuriya, the contemporary Japanese restaurant in San Mateo from executive chef and owner Katsuhiro Yamasaki; and another Sullivan/Bacchus restaurant, Selby’s dinner house in Atherton.