Jack London Square: With all due respect to the Chalet people, the most ambitious development of the Oakland food scene is the multitude of projects in and around Jack London Square. Here's the rundown of the current state of affairs at some of the more notable entries:
1) The JLS Mega-Market: The renderings were revealed last month, but though the exterior already looks the part, the Ferry Building-esque two-story endeavor is still pretty much an empty shell at this point (see above). The latest ETA for the marketplace is next summer. [PRE-PLYWOOD]
2) Bocanova: Not too far away, the first restaurant to open in the area will be the Pan-American eatery by MarketBar's Rick Hacket. The Weekly shared a wealth of conceptual details on Bocanova the last week, but as seen above, Bocanova is easily the closest of the next generation of JLS eateries, and in all likelihood, will definitely be the next one to debut in a few weeks. [PLYWOOD]
3) Blue Bottle: Finally, just on down the street at 300 Webster, the sizable Blue Bottle headquarters, roasting facility and future cafe is still in full-on construction mode, though they've already announced themselves to the neighborhood with some big logo magic. Sources say it's still several months away, at the earliest. But as you can see above, it's going to be a biggie; note the size of the truck to get an idea of the scale. [PLYWOOD]
· Renderings: The Jack London Square Mega-Market [~ESF~]
· Oakland Rising: MarketBar, 14 Other Restos Involved in JLS [~ESF~]
