Palo Alto Weekly 08.31.2012 - Section 1 by Palo Alto Weekly

Eating Out is not a bakery, though; it’s an assembly outlet. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, since the product is trucked down Highway 101 from South San Francisco daily. This allows for a greater selection of delicacies that wouldn’t be feasible to manufacture in a prime location. This spot at 150 University Ave. most recently housed Facebook. La Boulange has spiffed up the courtyard into an inviting street-side patio, partially shaded, with tables and awnings. There is comfortable indoor seating as well. In total, space for about 100 patrons at any time. Currently, La Boulange serves the highly regarded Equator Coffees

from San Rafael, but that’s unlikely it will continue into the future. Starbucks, love it or not, says it plans to keep the La Boulange identity and, ideally, the very-high-quality products it manufactures. This will be a formidable problem as the scale of manufacturing balloons in the future. Coffee/pastry/sandwich shops inspire fierce loyalty. The new kid on the block will attract its adherents. Without a big jump in our population, someone in the vicinity is bound to forfeit market share. We will watch the University Avenue corridor for developments. Good luck to all. N

La Boulange 150 University Ave., Palo Alto 650-323-3332 laboulangebakery.com Hours: Daily 7 a.m.-7 p.m. Reservations

Credit cards Lot Parking Alcohol

Banquet

Takeout Highchairs Wheelchair access

Catering Outdoor seating Noise level: Low Bathroom Cleanliness: Excellent

Shop Talk

NOTICE OF PUBLIC MEETING of the Palo Alto Planning &Transportation Commission Please be advised the Planning and Transportation Commission (P&TC) shall conduct a public meeting at 6:00 PM, Wednesday, September 12, 2012 in the Council Chambers, Ground Floor, Civic Center, Palo Alto, California. Any interested persons may appear and be heard on these items. Staff reports for agendized items are available via the City’s main website at www.cityofpaloalto.org and also at the Planning Division Front Desk, 5th Floor, City Hall, after 2:00 PM on the Friday preceding the meeting date. Copies will be made available at the Development Center should City Hall be closed on the 9/80 Friday. NEW BUSINESS. Study Session 1.

Capital Improvement Project (CIP): Discussion of Changes to the CIP Document

Transportation Citywide Survey: Transportation staff will be presenting the citywide Transportation Survey to the Planning and Transportation Commission at a study session on September 12th. The purpose of the survey is to collect comprehensive data on travel and transportation patterns in Palo Alto. The survey will gather trip related information such as mode of transportation, duration, distance, purpose and also demographic and geographic data for analysis purposes. This surveywill be conducted on a yearly basis and will be used to quantify travel behavior and analyze changes in travel characteristics over time.

San Francisquito Creek Joint Powers Authority (JPA) Initial Flood Protection Project: Request by City of Palo Alto Public Works Engineering for Study Session review of preliminary plans for 1% (100-year) ﬂood protection improvements, riparian corridor enhancements, and recreational opportunities along San Francisquito Creek between Highway 101 and San Francisco Bay and review of the Draft Environmental Impact Report prepared by the JPA (public comment period on the EIR runs July 30 through September 13 and document may be viewed at www.sfcjpa.org).

by Daryl Savage

ESTRELLITA STRUGGLING ... Russell Clark is not going down without a fight. As the 33-year owner of Estrellita Restaurant at 971 N. San Antonio Road in Los Altos, he has spent the majority of his life working in his Mexican eatery. His family opened the restaurant in 1958, and it has grown into a labor of love for Clark, a Mountain View resident born in a far southern region of Mexico. Now it could all crumble. “The building was sold and the new owner increased the rent by 50 percent last April,” he said. “It came as a real shock.” But Clark is trying to hang on. “I had to reduce our staff,” he said. As a result, Clark serves as the greeter, the waiter, the bartender and the cashier on several nights each week. “Times are really tough. Sales are way down. It’s a drastic situation. I fell behind in my rent. ... So two weeks ago, I reached out to my customers. I wrote to them asking them to please consider coming here for lunch or dinner. I sent out nearly 1,000 postcards,” he said. Clark’s actions had an impact. As he spoke, he was visibly moved. “People came. Business is up. I am so touched and so gratified by the response from this community,” he said. Although the future of Estrellita is still uncertain, Clark remains hopeful. BEAUTY BOOM IN MIDTOWN ... There is no reason for anyone to have a bad hair day in Midtown Palo Alto. With the recent opening of two new hair salons, there are now a total of five salons, all on Middlefield Road, and all within one block of each other. SoHo Salon, which opened in mid-August, is the newest entry, tucked into a 500-square-foot space in a building at 2799 Middlefield Road. Owner Kim Keyak, who has been in hair design for 22 years, specializes in coloring and Japanese hair straightening, and says she does not view the nearby salons as competition. “I have my own clientele and I give individual attention to my customers.” The other newcomer, appropriately named Midtown Hair Studio, is at 2786 Middlefield Road and owned by veteran hair stylist

Dziem (pronounced Zim) Le, a Palo Alto resident. “I had always dreamed of having my own business, so when this opportunity came up, my dream came true,” she said, adding, “You need competition to survive.” In addition to offering hair cutting and color, Le’s salon provides nail, makeup and waxing services. These two salons join the remaining three: Classy Salon, Monica Foster and TL’s Hair Salon. Meanwhile another Palo Alto hair salon, which offers a blow-dry for a flat $35, is expanding. “We’re more than doubling our space,” said Halo Blow Dry Bar owner Rosemary Camposano. The 2-year-old blow-dry bar in Town & Country Village is moving from its current spot facing Embar-

cadero Road to the interior of the shopping center in the former location of Williams Cutlery. “People were squashing into our tiny 450-squarefoot spot,” Camposano said. The move is scheduled for Dec. 1. Camposano has two other Halo shops, in Menlo Park and Burlingame, with three more in the works in the next few months. The success of the Palo Alto store, the first Halo, has not surprised Camposano, she said. “This is a huge, growing market.”

Heard a rumor about your favorite store or business moving out, or in, down the block or across town? Daryl Savage will check it out. Email shoptalk@ paweekly.com.

Back by Popular Demand... Historic Walking Tours of Palo Alto Palo Alto Stanford Heritage (PAST), as part of its commitment to support the preservation of historic architecture of the greater Palo Alto-Stanford area through education, is again offering walking tours in Palo Alto.

NEW BUSINESS. Public Hearing 4.

Comprehensive Plan Amendment: Review of Vision Statement, Goals, Policies and Programs of the Natural Environment Element

Questions. For any questions regarding the above items, please contact the Planning Department at (650) 329-2441. The ﬁles relating to these items are available for inspection weekdays between the hours of 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM. This publicmeeting is televised live on Government Access Channel 26. ADA. The City of Palo Alto does not discriminate against individuals with disabilities. To request accommodations to access City facilities, services or programs, to participate at public meetings, or to learn more about the City’s compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), please contact the City’s ADA Coordinator at 650.329.2550 (voice) or by e-mailing ada@cityofpaloalto.org. *** Curtis Williams, Director of Planning and Community Environment

Beginning on September 8th and continuing on two more consecutive Saturdays, interested parties are invited to join these docent led tours. The tours will include identifying architectural points of interest as well as colorful tales of some of its early residents. Tours begin at 10:30. September 8th – Professorville meet at Addison/Bryant September 15th - Downtown Palo Alto

Sept. 28

meet at City Hall September 22nd- Historic Homer Avenue meet at Homer/Cowper