25752 Tue Sep 16 12:47:51 -0700 2003 5 1 San Francisco Bay Area 0 103526 I was excited to see a sign for La Farine bakery in the window of the new building on Solano (near Colusa). There was a table for La Farine at the Solano Stroll, where I learned that they hope to open in January or February. Currently, the paperwork to approve the opening is in order but final approval is yet to come (there was a sign-up sheet at the stroll to express support for this opening). Given that I don't get a chance to get over to the Rockridge location as often as I'd like, I for one would be thrilled to have La Farine nearby. It's certainly far better than Noe Valley Bakery, the only other full bakery choice on Solano. Tue Sep 16 12:47:51 -0700 2003 0 amyd 1 103553 It was cute at first that Solano and College/Rockridge shared so many businesses, but this is getting a little silly. Do we need two identical streets within 14 minutes of eachother? But La Farine is so good... ads in rockridge, just jealous of the solanoids having the better cactus... Tue Sep 16 17:33:52 -0700 2003 103526 0 ads 2 103563 You have to be having a really good traffic day to get from Solano to College in 14 minutes. La Farine will be a welcome addition on Solano, though I sometimes can get over to Rockridge. What is better about the Cactus on Solano vs. the Cactus on College? Tue Sep 16 19:37:35 -0700 2003 103553 0 Nathan Landau 3 103584 What is better about the Cactus on Solano vs. the Cactus on College? 1. More consistent quality in my experience. The college ave location had good and bad days before the move, now it has more bad days (though it's been improving). You can get a wonderful burrito on college, but you can get a lousy one too. Never had a lousy one on Solano. 2. Your individual burrito assembler makes your burrito in front of you. The abandonment of the original "buffet" style system at the college location sucks. Although their throughput has improved, accuracy has suffered - and you can't make minor modifications to the burrito as you go along (for instance, the carnitas look dry today, add guac - or spoon a little of that mole on there would ya?) You are right. It does have to be a good day to get there in 14 minutes. La farine is welcome anywhere, I was being randomly bitter. It's funny though, when I first moved here I was so impressed that there weren't chains and that all the neighborhoods were different - but really, we just have our own unique (and high quality) chains and many of our neighborhoods are very similar. Which is nice and all... just noting. Tue Sep 16 23:56:56 -0700 2003 103563 0 ads 4 103608 Yes, you're right, there is a lot of duplication along College and into Berkeley (I've lost track of how many Filippos exist now, for instance). But I'm still happy about La Farine coming to Solano. I have to disagree about the Cactus on Solano versus the location in Rockridge: I far prefer the one in Rockridge. I like the salsa bar, and it feels a lot cleaner. I also think the food tastes better. I've never been able to figure out why the menus and pricing differ from one location to the other, however. But I guess that means there's less duplication than it seems at first glance. Wed Sep 17 11:43:22 -0700 2003 103584 0 amyd 5 103677 I take the point about uniqueness. It strikes me as bit like what's happened with independent bookstores. In order to compete with these chains, they've had to do joint marketing, set up websites etc. that make them more alike (but still better than the chains). If you really want to see Berkeley eateries reproduced, go out to downtown Walnut Creek. There's also a big difference between a "chain" of 2 or 3 branches a la Cactus and thousands of McDonalds or even hundreds of Chipotles. With a mini-chain, personal involvement and quality control by an owner is possible, not so once a business goes beyond a single region. And of course most eating places and food stores on Solano and College are still different. Thu Sep 18 01:50:20 -0700 2003 103608 0 Nathan Landau