Lara's Fine Foods opens for business in the remodeled Saluté building in Marina Bay

   MARINA BAY - Lara's Fine Foods has opened in Marina Bay at the site of the former Saluté restaurant.

     After a grand opening at the harbor side site 1900 Esplanade Drive, the restaurant has had steady stream of customers for lunch and dinner.

     The restaurant is open from Monday through Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.
     A few of the reviews on the social media website Nextdoor grumbled about the pricing - similar to that of the Hotel Mac, owned by the same entrepreneurial woman.
     But the food and drinks on the wide-ranging menu got almost entirely thumbs up - at least on Nextdoor.
     In addition to the food, drink and view of the harbor, the Arts of Point Richmond has a display up that is attracting plenty of customer attention.
     The link to the website for the new restaurant is: LARA'S FINE FOODS.
     The phone number for information or to make a reservation is 510-234-1860.

Holiday Faire and ongoing exhibits featured by Arts of Point Richmond

   POINT RICHMOND - Arts of Point Richmond will be holding its annual Holiday Faire Saturday, Dec. 14 from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Point Richmond Community Center on Washington Ave.
     The event will feature the works of local artists and authors and is always a great one-stop shopping spot for Christmas gifts.
     Paintings, drawings, photographs, jewelry, books and all manner of artwork will be on display.
     The artists and authors will be on site to chat with attendees, also.
     The Arts of Point Richmond also has ongoing exhibits including "Portraits of Life", paintings by Cherie Carter showing at the Post Office through January 6.
     Also showing is  "Critters," oil paintings by Jeanne M. Hendrickson and photographs by Sharon Taylor Ward showing at El Sol Restaurant, 101 Park Place.
     The El Sol exhibit runs through Jan. 27.

Book Passage author event in SF Monday

David Downie

   SAN FRANCISCO - Left Coast Writers will be hosting a special book event Monday at 6 p.m. at Book Passage - a conversation with David Downie, author of the newly released book, The Gardener of Eden and Linda Watanabe McFerrin of the Left Coast group.
     The book event will be held at the Book Passage storefront in the Ferry Building. The public is invited.
     Copies of The Gardener of Eden will be available for purchase and signing by the author as part of the event.

Linda Watanabe McFerrin

    Downie is also the author of A Taste of Paris and has called Paris home since 1986. He has written for more than 50 publications worldwide, including the LA Times, Salon.com, and Town & Country Travel. He is also the author of several cookbooks and crime novels.
    Watanabe-McFerrin is a poet, travel writer and novelist. She has won awards in multiple genres for her poetry and fiction. A collection of selected works by the author will be forthcoming this year from Alan Squires Publishing.

Artist's reception March 9 at Kaleidoscope

   POINT RICHMOND - A public reception to celebrate a new exhibit at Kaleidoscope Coffee (109 Park Place) will be held Saturday March 9 from 4-6 p.m.
     The work on display - from today until the end of April - is that of Sharon Goods, part of an exhibit titled Mostly Talking Heads.
     The works are considered to be a departure from the artist's typically abstract, figurative art.
     Goods described the work in this exhibit as "more graphic novelesque."
     "Favorite quotes, collected over the past few years, have landed with images of slightly offbeat characters to depict the humor, angst, absurdity and vulnerability of the human drama," she says.

El Sol, AOPR inaugurate special art gallery

   POINT RICHMOND - A special exhibit of illustrations and paintings by the late Linda Lee Calvan Drake begins Wednesday and runs until March 28 at El Sol Restaurant at 101 Park Place.
     Drake was President of the Arts of Point Richmond from 2010 until 2013 when she passed away.
     "Her enthusiasm and joyous approach to art was contagious and inspiring," Rita Gardner, communications director for AOPR said in a press release.
   The exhibition will include works in a series called "Vintage Views of Old Point Richmond Town."
     The special exhibit also marks the inauguration of the Linda Lee Calvan Drake Memorial Gallery at El Sol and will feature artwork by AOPR members. It also marks a collaboration between AOPR and Linda Lee Calvan Drake's sister, Josephine Orozco of El Sol.
     As part of the collaboration, a professional art display system has been installed with funding coming from the Gateway Foundation and AOPR.
   For more information about AOPR, click on this link: www.artsofpointrichmond.com

Book launch party Saturday at Kaleidoscope for 'The Devil's Pipeline'

   POINT RICHMOND - A book launch party to celebrate publication of The Devil's Pipeline - the third eco-thriller novel by Point Richmond resident Michael J. Fitzgerald - will be held Saturday,  from 2-4 p.m. at Kaleidoscope Coffee, 109 Park Place.
     The open-to-the-public event will include a brief presentation by Fitzgerald about the novel, a reading from The Devil's Pipeline, copies of the novel for sale and a book signing.
     Kaleidoscope will have coffee, other beverages and snacks for sale.
     The Devil's Pipeline chronicles the crusading work of Jack Stafford, an investigative columnist whose writing focuses on the environment and particularly the energy industry. Stafford's work - and that of fellow journalists - was also the focus of The Fracking War (2014) and Fracking Justice (2015).
     "Fitzgerald’s novel may be fiction, but the conflict between big energy companies and grassroots
defenders of land, water, and a livable planet is very real," Point resident Steve Early says. Early is  author of Refinery Town: Big Oil, Big Money.

AOPR Holiday Faire set for December 8

   POINT RICHMOND - The annual Arts of Point Richmond Holiday Faire will be held Saturday Dec. 8 from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
     The event will be at the Point Richmond Community Center, 139 Washington Street.
     The public is invited to come by to chat with local  artists and authors as well as browse their paintings, drawings, books, photographs, cards and other artwork on display.
     Many of the items will also be for sale and would make good gifts for the holiday season.
     In addition, AOPR will be providing homemade cookies for attendees.