Christina Trimble

Oakland

Lake Chalet Seafood Bar & Grill has a new pier bar that's serving tequila backed by a Bay Area rap legend and entrepreneur.

E-40 — AKA Earl Stevens — unveiled his signature tequila, E. Cuarenta, last night at the lakeside restaurant. In addition to the eponymously named spirit, the bar, which extends into Lake Merritt, also serves chilled oysters, ceviche tostadas, and will host the chalet’s upcoming Taco Tuesdays.

Throughout the NBA finals, Lake Chalet tequila bar is exclusively serving E. Cuarenta in silver, reposado, and anejo styles.

“We will be adding more [tequilas] after the series,” said owner Lara Truppelli. “But right now, we’re super excited to be able to offer this brand.”

“There’s so much pride here in Oakland and it means a lot to us to be here and to be able to work with artists,” she said.

The rapper has prior experience marketing adult beverages. “My name is Earl, that’s E, they call me E, and then I got my name from drinking 40 ounces of Old English back in the days,” he said. “I used to run through eight or nine a day,” he told Hoodline.

“Now, I’m just telling you what I did as a young mustache,” he said with a laugh. “Don’t let me be a mentor on that particular part, OK? Drink when you’re 21, and responsibly.”

In addition to tequila, E-40 markets wine under his legal name with Earl Stevens Selections, pre-mixed cocktail Sluricane, and E 40 beer, a 40-ounce malt liquor with a 10% ABV. There was also 40 Water, a short lived foray into energy drinks. 

“I still do rap, I still do platinum and gold and all that,” he said. “I just wanted to do some other things.” The rapper said he plans to expand his portfolio to include champagne and cognac.

Patrons at Lake Chalet's tequila bar can take their drinks straight, or mixed in new interpretations of classic cocktails, like the E-margarita, E-martini and the 40th Sunrise, an update on a Tequila Sunrise. The menu includes ‘40 is the new 20’, comprised of E Cuarenta silver, campari, absinthe, house simple syrup and lime.

“I’ve become a tequila head because mine is so smooth,” said E-40. “All the other tequilas burn my damn chest. Mine go down smooth, bro. Sincerely, I love it."

“This is my hottest item yet," he added. "I think this has real staying power.”

The Tequila Pier Bar at the Lake Chalet Seafood Bar & Grill (1520 Lakeside Drive) is open Monday through Thursday from 11 a.m. – 10 p.m., Friday from 11 a.m. – 11 p.m., Saturday from 10 p.m. – 11 p.m., and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. 

Photo via: Topshop

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Index Ventures has closed €400 Million fund, which it plans to use to invest in “more of the same” – which for Index Ventures, means global leaders in the industries of FinTech, Mobile, Big Data, Security & Marketplaces.

In conjunction with its announcement to invest in Europe, the US & Israel, Index Ventures has doubled down on its “7 major hubs” philosophy, which underscores its desire to be present in what it sees as the 7 major tech hubs in the world: London, San Francisco, Berlin, New York, Stockholm/Nordics, Tel Aviv and Paris. While it is only present in 4 of the 7, it is building relationships in the other markets, such as in Paris with their investment in TheFamily. I spoke with Index Ventures’ Martin Mignot, who referred to TheFamily as an “Ecosystem builder,” stating that they are “helping companies get financing in an innovative way.”

Within the European tech ecosystem, Index Ventures is among a very elite class of Tier 1 investors, alongside Accel Partners & Balderton Capital. These investors invest across Europe (a feat in its own right), and have a propensity for picking global leaders out of the herd and giving them the necessary funding and access to other forms of capital that are needed.

Part of Index Ventures’ success in the European Tech Ecosystem has been their commitment to it. In addition to lobbying in London for the London Stock Exchange’s (LSE) High Growth Segment, they also helped portfolio company Just Eat become the first company to be listed on the segment earlier this year.

In France, Index’s portfolio’s looks like a groomed list of France’s top current and past startups: Algolia, Capitaine Train, Drivy, Netvibes, Rad, TheFamily, and others. The team’s French investments have most recently been led by Mignot, who has recently been joined by fellow francophone Sofia Hmich, who will hopefully funnel much of this money into the French Tech Ecosystem.

Mignot & Hmich will be joined by Dom Vidal, an Index Ventures partner who has built a reputation through his annual Index Ventures party at his Paris apartment in December in conjunction with LeWeb, will be speaking at France Digitale Day today in Paris.

Jokingly, Mignot asked me earlier this week how I was going to “spin” the new Index fund. He was, of course, referring to my article on their 6th fund from 2012, where I stated that French startups shouldn’t hold their breath on getting any of the company’s €350 Million fund. I, of course, ate my words on that comment, as Index has doubled down on France to a point where Index is no longer a London fund investing in Paris – they themselves refer to London & Paris as one ecosystem, rightly so – but a European fund with a significant stake in the Paris ecosystem.

I’m not sure I have a cheeky comment about this next fund – I think “more of the same,” as Mignot put it, is exactly what we can expect – more investments, more global leaders in Europe, Israel & US, and more competition among VCs to get in on deals like Algolia’s first fundraising.

I have been a big proponent of French startups going to London for their first VC round (though there are downsides to having Index be a seed investor), as I believe it creates competition within the French VC ring, and ultimately raises access to capital and valuations for startups. We’ve seen this in the past few years, with Index as well as with Accel (their latest investment in PeopleDoc, as well as their hiring Fred Destin, long-time investor in many of France’s most well-known startups) & Balderton, and I think that we’ll only see more of this in the future.

Starting in September, the California DMV will begin issuing special licenses for driverless vehicles and their human test pilots/passengers. The news means Google's chrome-plated future, wherein robot cars are widely available and no one ever crashes, is right on schedule. [ more › ]

You can't take Jennifer Lawrence anywhere. Not even to a fancy shindig after the Academy Awards, because apparently all she does is barf on things. Oh Jen.

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National Small Business Week is wrapping up this weekend, and merchants along Clement Street will celebrate it with their own event, Sidewalk Saturday.

Stroll down Clement between Arguello and Park Presidio Boulevard and visit the stores to find special sales, activities, food and drink, and community art.

Seedstore Clothing (212 Clement) is offering 20% off all purchases, and The Tidy Shoppe (4050 Geary) will also be at Seedstore offering tanning and waxing packages.

Just up the street, Foggy Notion Boutique (275 6th Avenue) is hosting local woodworker Zach Bruce, a custom furniture maker specializing in one-of-a-kind, live edge woodworks.

So get out there and support your local businesses in honor of National Small Business Week – they’ll appreciate it!

Sarah B.

We've talked plenty about the importance of learning basic keyboard shortcuts , but if you really want to dig into some of the more obscure navigation shortcuts of OS X, writer Matt Gemmell has you covered.

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Illustrated by Emily Turner. If you were a liberal arts major, you were probably reminded from the first day of freshman year that your degree would mean a paltry paycheck — at least compared with that of your engineering friends. You know, the whole starving artist thing. But, does that really pan out in the long run?

A new report claims otherwise. The Association of American Colleges and Universities — a group that advocates for a comprehensive liberal arts education — examined U.S. Census salary data and found some pretty surprising results.

It’s true that, between the ages of 21 and 25, grads with degrees in the humanities or social sciences make just 84% as much as their peers in professional and pre-professional fields, like nursing or business, The Wall Street Journal reports.

But, during the peak earning years (56 to 60 years old), American workers with liberal arts degrees actually end up raking in, on average, about $2,000 more than their counterparts. In other words: Patience is the key to a liberal arts career, at least when it comes to your paycheck.

One reason these grads might be catching up in the long term? About 40% of liberal arts majors eventually head to grad school or earn professional degrees, like J.D.s or M.B.A.s., which helps to boost their annual salaries by nearly $20,000.

RELATED: How a College Degree Pays Off After Age 75

“Recent attacks on the liberal arts … have painted a misleading picture of the value of the liberal arts,” AAC&U President Carol Geary Schneider said in a press release. “As the findings in this report demonstrate, majoring in a liberal arts field can and does lead to successful and remunerative careers in a wide array of professions.”

While these findings are promising, footing a grad school bill now for the promise of a higher salary later might not be worth the loans you’ll have to take out to cover tuition. Use our Grad School Calculator to determine whether an advanced degree is worth it.

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The charming Outer Sunset restaurant Outerlands finally reopened last week after an expansion into the former takeout Chinese spot next door. The remodel is aesthetically seamless, a beautiful extension of the reclaimed wood interior with a new 10-seat bar and more cozy handmade tables that the owners hope will alleviate the wait for this perpetually popular spot. (Good luck, there was at least an hour wait when I was there over the weekend.)

The eventual plan is to serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner and to be open in the interim between lunch and dinner, with a happy hour and cocktails that won’t be available later in the evening. For now, Outerlands is offering weekday lunch and weekend brunch only. (You can get the most up to date info on hours from their Facebook page – for example, they're closed today for touch-ups but open tomorrow from 10 a.m.-3 p.m.)

One of the highlights of Outerlands' rotating lunch menu has always been the grilled cheese sandwich, served on housemade levain bread. Owners David Muller and Lana Porcello and new chef Greg Kuzia-Carmel have the sense to keep that item, along with the tried-and-true mix of salads, soups, cold sandwiches, and hot open faced sandwiches. Kuzia-Carmel is making his mark with what actually goes between the slices of bread: current selections include a cold sandwich with charred zucchini, Japanese togarashi chili pepper blend, and feta cheese, and a hot open faced sandwich with pork that the chef has braised all day and serves with sultana relish and cabbage slaw.

The new brunch menu is properly stacked for those who think of this meal as a sport. It’s easy to swing sweet or savory, or mix it all up with a little of both. 

Pro tip: Order a Dutch pancake right when you sit down, before you figure anything else out. These guys move fast and take 20 minutes to make. If you’re fiending for sugar, order the version with sweet strawberries; otherwise, go for the maple-sage sausage variety and add a side of housemade ricotta cheese. 

Good items to split: The hot open faced sandwich with smoked chicken confit and pickled onion or fried eggs, bacon, provolone, and pickled green tomatoes is a solid choice. The pork hash with two sunny side eggs and the surprisingly creamy and rich quiche is another good option. (We also had serious breakfast envy over an eggs-in-jail dish with asparagus and bacon that another table was eating across the room.) 

Yummy nibbles: You won't regret side orders of such baked goods as a lemon-spiked brioche with broccoli and feta and a miso-butterscotch glazed coconut donut.

Boozy breakfast: You won’t find Bloody Marys on the menu, but if you’re having brunch, you don’t want to miss the ginger lemon apple cider, which can be served iced or hot and with an optional shot of Four Roses bourbon. 

Outerlands had a huge cult following before the big remodel, and reservations are not being accepted at the moment (which should change next month), so arrive early and consider grabbing coffee at Trouble before hitting the edge of the world.

Oakland’s overall Walk Score is a respectable 69, just one point shy of the Very Walkable designation. Oakland has so many great, walkable spaces that it’s impossible to list them all.  Here the most inviting places to walk in Oakland, based on our very biased sampling:

• Chinatown: Chinatown not only has some of the highest pedestrian density in Oakland, it also has the most beautiful pedestrian scramble crosswalks and an almost perfect Walk Score of 97.
• Fruitvale: The neighborhood near Fruitvale BART offers not only great amenities within walking distance but vibrant culture and arts that add a rich texture to the street life. Walk Score: 90.
• Rockridge, Temescal, and Piedmont Avenue: These three neighborhoods have commercial strips with everything you need within easy walking distance. You can get coffee while your shoes are being repaired, pick up a few groceries on your way home from a matinee, browse for books or clothes while you are waiting to meet your friends for dinner: the essence of walkbility. Rockridge: 86,  Temescal: 90, Piedmont Avenue: 93.
• Grand Lake: Like the three neighborhoods above, Grand Lake offers a host of amenities, from the mundane to the extravagant, in a compact area, but with the added bonus of proximity to the natural beauty of Lake Merritt. Walk Score: 91.
• Adams Point: Although this neighborhood doesn’t have the highest Walk Score (82), it has to be declared the winner among Oakland’s residential neighborhoods because of its proximity to just about everything in the center of the city. Residents can walk to Lake Merritt, Grand Lake, Downtown, Uptown, and Chinatown, without breaking a sweat.
• Downtown: New residents and businesses have reinvigorated street life in Oakland’s urban core. Plus, it’s an easy walk to many desirable destinations, including Lake Merritt, Jack London Square, and Old Oakland. Great transit makes Downtown Oakland a true hub for the city and the region, with a deservedly outstanding Walk Score of 97.

Where do you like to walk in Oakland? Let us know!

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