Party with Ella Baker Center & Oakland Grown next Tuesday

Next Tuesday, April 26th, there are two great opportunities to get out and meet community members, leaders, business owners, and artists at the Ella Baker Center Change-Maker Party and the Oakland Grown Party. The best part is that they’re nearby and not at the same time so it will be easy to stop by both.

I hope you’ve checked out the Ella Baker Center blog since I featured it on Monday, but if not, check it out now to find out about the great work they’re doing and why you should attend their event. As for Oakland Grown, I’ve written about the organization extensively before (and if you’ve ever run into me shopping, you’ve seen me carrying their bags). Oakland Grown is a member driven non-profit program that encourages people to consciously support those unique locally-owned independent businesses and artistis that have their roots in Oakland.

I’m proud to say that this week I became the first blogger member of Oakland Grown so I’m extra excited about next week’s event. (Disclosure: As part of my membership, I’ve agreed to write a few blog posts about Oakland Grown events and Oakland Grown members, though this really won’t be a change from what I’ve already been doing here.)

Here’s some info on the events. I hope to see you at one or both of them on Tuesday night!

Disco Volante opens for dinner this Wednesday!

If you went to the blogger party a month ago, you know how awesome Disco Volante is. And if you missed the party, chances are you’ve heard about what you missed out on and wished you could drop by Disco Volante another night but couldn’t because they were only open for lunch. Well, this is your chance to finally check it out or stop back in, as Disco Volante opens for dinner this Wednesday night.

Disco Volante is in an incredibly beautiful building on the corner of 14th and Webster, and the owners have done a great job renovating it. Their vision includes more than a restaurant – several nights a week they plan to feature jazz bands and other live music. If Alt Tal, the band that played at the blogoaksphere party, is any indication of what’s to come, we should all be very excited because they were very talented and the perfect accompaniment to the night. And they’ll be playing again at Disco Volante on February 25th.

But don’t worry – the focus on atmosphere and music does not detract from the food. Everything I’ve eaten there has been delicious. I absolutely love the avocado tacos – the perfect small plate to accompany a cocktail, and Disco Volante serves up some very tasty cocktails. For the blogger party, they came up with this special menu:

I somehow managed to make it through the night without tasting a Living in the OJ, probably because I quickly got hooked on Dirty Eighth Notes. My guess is that their regular cocktail menu is not quite as entertaining but is equally delicious.

Here are some photos from the blogger party to give you a taste of Disco Volante’s style. First, a couple taken by Jimmy Kwong of the beautiful stained glass and the band from above:

And some photos taken by Genie Gratto of Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan and AC Trasit Director Elsa Ortiz, and of the bar:

For more photos of the blogger party, check out Genie’s Flickr collection.

Stop into Disco Volante soon for dinner or drinks and to enjoy some music. Starting tomorrow night they’ll be open until midnight Monday-Wednesday and until 1:30am Thursday-Saturday. Soon entertainment will be listed on their website, but until then, they update their Facebook page frequently.

I’ve known a couple of the owners for a while and am so excited about what they’ve done with this place so I’ll definitely drop in soon, and I’m sure I’ll be adding Disco Volante to my regular bar/late night restaurant rotation.

Join us for the 2011 Blogoaksphere Party!

When I first started this blog, I could have never imagined the incredible community I was about to join and help foster. Three and a half years later, so many Oakland bloggers and blog readers know each other well, have worked together on policy issues and political campaigns, and have become good friends.

Some of these relationships grew online, but others grew and developed in person, many at the blogger parties I’ve co-hosted with V Smoothe and dto510. Somehow, we let 2010 pass by without hosting a blogoaksphere party (I blame the elections), so we’ll need to make the 2011 party even better.

Please join us at the 2011 Blogoaksphere Party:

Disco Volante exterior. Photo by V Smoothe.

When: Thursday, January 6th from 6-9pm

Where: Disco Volante, 347 14th Street in downtown Oakland

Why: To meet and hang out with the Oakland blogging community, have some drinks, eat some delicious food, celebrate Oakland, and to reflect on the past year.

 

Whether you’ve been blogging for years or just started reading Oakland blogs last week, you’re welcome at the party and we’d love to have you there.

Disco Volante is one of Oakland’s newest restaurants, and will soon be Oakland’s newest bar and nightclub. If you haven’t checked it out yet, this is a great chance to support a new local business.

If you plant to attend and have a Facebook account, please RSVP via the Facebook event. And while I’m on the subject of Facebook, I finally created a Facebook page for Living in the O today so that’s another way to follow this blog. A Better Oakland is also on Facebook, so please “like” that page too.