Oaktown Crawl: Oaktown Crawl # 16 - Tribune Tavern (7/10/13)

Top row: Susan, Andrea, Heidi, Lorna, Bonnie, Diane
Bottom row: Erica, Holly

In 1907, the first six stories of the Tribune Tower (not called that then, though!) were completed (designed by D. Franklin Oliver). In 1918, the Oakland Tribune moved its offices there, and a square frame with the word "TRIBUNE" on each side was erected, along with 4 clocks. Plans for a tower were announced. In 1923, a 20-story tower was added (designed by Edward T. Foulkes, who happened to be born the same year that the Oakland Tribune was established), and Houdini escaped from a straightjacket while dangling upside down from the 9th floor while it was still under construction. In 1976, the building was declared a City Landmark. In 1989, it was damaged in the Loma Prieta earthquake, and the Oakland Tribune moved to (or near) Jack London Square. The building was eventually renovated, and in 1999, the Oakland Tribune returned to the Tribune Tower. In 2006, the Oakland Tribune once again moved out, this time moving out to near the Oakland International Airport. That same year, the clock tower was repaired and the tower re-lit. The building is now home to a call center, and a few law firms (one of which I interviewed with 11 years ago!), and other small businesses. In April of 2013, a restaurant, Tribune Tavern, opened on its ground floor, in the old "local room," where reporters from different departments reportedly worked together side-by-side and shared tips on the news stories of the day. On July 10 of that same year, Oaktown Crawl enjoyed dinner its first dinner there, at the recommendation of Lorna Dare (thank you, Lorna!).

Out of the 8 of us (Andrea, Bonnie, Diane, Erica, Heidi, Holly, Lorna, and Susan), evenly divided between crawl-experts (Diane, Holly, Lorna, and Susan) and first-time crawlers (Andrea, Bonnie, Erica, and Heidi) - a great combo!

One of us ordered independently, and she enjoyed Shepherd's Pie ("lamb mince, braised beef, English peas, and broiled Parmesan mash"), which she said later was great. Here's a photo:

Shepherd's Pie ($16)

The remaining 7 of shared a total of 7 dishes, all from their "Smaller" menu:

Potted Rabbit
Pork Trotter Crepinettes: with dandelion greens, turnip cream, pistachios
Mussels: beer-steamed mussels, linguica, potatoes, herbs
Trout Salad: smoked trout, escarole, beets, dill dressing
Kale Salad: kale, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, pickled onion, walnuts, clothbound cheddar
Goat Cheese Toast: with roasted corn, romano beans, summer squash, cherry tomatoes
Chocolatey TCHO Decadance: toasted marshmallow, walnut streusel, and blueberries

Potted Rabbit ($9)

Pork Trotter ($11)

Mussels ($12)

Kale Salad ($10)

Trout Salad ($9)

Goat Cheese Toast ($9)

Chocolate TCHO Decadence ($7)

And here's how the ratings stacked up: (the scale is 1-5, with 5 being the best)

Food and Drink: 3.37 average (range:3-5)
Ambiance: 3.0 average (range: 2-4)
Service: 3.87 average (range: 3-5)
Overall: 3.90 average (range: 3-4)
Comments:

"service good; would come back"
"wouldn't come back; nothing awful, but not much very good; crepettes and goat cheese toast the best; very loud"
"very noisy; very good service; food different and tasty"
"beautiful atmosphere, good food; way too noisy!"
"kale, rabbit, mussels, and company - delightful"
"parking was easy; drinks were strong"
"beautiful visually, but too noisy; food was good, not great; $ was ok; company was great!"

My quick take-aways on this place might be:

Lovely ambiance and décor. Old-school clubby-classy, with new-school perks. Elegant. Refined, but not white-tablecloth or stuff in any way. Beautiful ceiling, light fixtures, etc. Darkish, but not too dark to read the menu.
Way too loud. Affected our ability to hold conversations (felt like I had to shout). Definitely could not talk to folks more than 1 or 2 away from you (but no worries, we solved this by playing swap-your-chair partway through our meal - thanks to Bonnie and Holly for instigating this!).
Of all the foods we tried, my favorites, by far, were the Goat Cheese Toasts and Chocolate TCHO Decadance. I would definitely go back for those. I was definitely afraid to eat the Potted Rabbit (what the heck?!) and the Pork Trotters. But I like challenging myself to try new things (in food and in other parts of my life), so I succumbed. And while I wasn't a fan of the Pork Trotters (it was the texture thing, mostly, I think, plus my mind might have played a role in it), I actually enjoyed the potted rabbit on its toasts quite a bit (surprises are fun!). I thought that the kale salad was okay, but nothing out of the ordinary, and I'm a fan of kale salads (and it was probably just my bite, but it seemed like I got mostly kale, and none of the other promised goodies - cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, walnuts, cheddar). The trout salad was fine, but nothing special (for me). But I really, really enjoyed those goat cheese toasts! And I thought that the dessert was fabulous - I could have eaten the whole thing (well, or at least half!).
They had beer, wine, and cocktails. I ordered the "Stolen Afternoon" ("Hibiscus Cactus Noble Blanco Tequila, Earl Gray Tincture, and Lemon Confiture") (at $11, one of their most expensive) (one of their three specialty cocktails that our server recommended based on me telling her that I like margaritas and gin-and-tonics). Honestly, not my favorite, but then again, my palate might just not be up to snuff with fancy cocktails. Some of the other folks in our group had cocktails as well, while others had a glass of wine instead (or abstained altogether). Honestly, I didn't hear much chatter about the drinks.
Our server, Chelsea, was very friendly, accommodating, and knowledgeable. She graciously put up with our sharing, questions, and changes of mind. She was constantly smiling, and very happily took a group photo at the end of the night. My only complaint was the timing of the meal. We ordered our first round of food (5 items) with the idea that we would check those out, and then order another round if we still had room in our tummies. She thought this was a great idea. However, when it seemed to be about the right time to order our second round (just one item, as it turned out), it was a tad hard to find her (my guess is that she simply had a few too many tables to cover, and so couldn't constantly be around when we decided that we needed her!). The pace just seemed a little slow, but not unbearably slow. So when we did place our "second round order," I asked her at that time if she could please bring some dessert menus at the same time, which she did. And then, when we ordered our (one, sharable) dessert, I asked her at that time if she would also bring us her check, which she did. So again, she was extremely accommodating, helpful, and friendly - just wish we had seen a little bit more of her!
The company, as always, was FABULOUS!!!

Heidi shared an idea that I thought might be fun to try sometime. I'll call it "Give the Power to the Restaurant!" Call ahead and tell the restaurant how many of us there will be and how much we'd like to spend per person, and have them select and bring out the food that they think we should try." We'd know in advance how much it would cost (as we'd tell them that), and it might be kind of fun to walk in and just be served their specialties! Let me know what you think...

Bonnie also shared an idea, which I think that we should definitely try. That is, ask for two checks. One for food and one for drinks. At the end of the night, we total up the food check and divide it by the number in attendance. We then pass around the drink check, and ask everyone to pay their portion of the food check plus their portion of the drink check. To me, this seems like a fair and EASY way to total up our costs at the end of the night. I like it, but again, let me know what you think...

Thank you ALL for such an enjoyable evening. It was great to see you (and meet for the first time some of you!). Thank you for making these crawls so fun, and so good for me!

[like last time, no editing, as life is too short, so thanks for putting up with my live-giving errors!]