Tea Leaf Salad Joins the Party at Starline Social Club

In a move that rings true with their constantly evolving nature, Starline Social Club is shaking things up with the addition of Burmese food from Oakland's Grocery Café. The collaboration with Grocery Café's William Lue arose after the Starline Crew found themselves constantly craving the food from Lue's out-of-the-way Oakland restaurant. "We were like, we need to be able to eat this whenever we want," said co-owner Sam White.

Tonight is the first night of our newest menu and partnership with William from the Grocery Cafe! His Tea Leaf Salad is sooooo legit! Also Samosas and what the heck FRIED chicken #tealeafsalad #starlinesocialclub #latenightfood #grocerycafe

A photo posted by Starline Social Club (@starline_social_club) on Dec 9, 2015 at 4:56pm PST

The bar, restaurant and music venue opened last spring serving a menu of small plates and larger shared plates from chef-partner Austin Holey (previously of Bones in Paris, as well also East Bay spots like Pizzaiolo. Holey is now taking an advisory role, making room for more pop-ups and Burmese food on the menu; no word yet on what he plans to do next. Lue will be providing about three dishes at time, starting with the exceptionally craveable tea leaf salad and veggie samusas, with rainbow noodle salad on the way. The dishes will be integrating into the existing menu, which will likely see some changes as well, though there will still be some of Holey's signature items like onions rings dusted with nori salt and buttermilk fried chicken. The idea is that Lue will give the kitchen at Starline guidance on his dishes, leaving the door open for their team to add their own twist. "We trust his cooking and he trusts our cooking," said White. "It will definitely result in something super interesting. Plus no one is doing it with really great ingredients, like produce from Riverdog Farms."

The Burmese items have already hit the menu, which will be available Wednesday-Saturday, as long as the kitchen is open from 6 p.m.-midnight (the remaining days will be reserved for pop-ups and other events.) And, Starline is now open seven days a week, starting at 5 p.m. To celebrate their new days and hours, they're offering a happy hour special wherein guests receive an order of onion rings with the purchase of a drink from 5 p.m.- 7 p.m.