Met a friend for lunch at Emeryville’s Koja Kitchen for Korean-Japanese fusion food inside the Public Market, then the two of us joined another friend for a tour of Pixar. The Market was quiet because it was early, but it was similar to the Ferry building in San Francisco, or also Napa’s OxBow Public Market. If you like food, wine and beer and ART you must get yourself to Emeryville.
Let’s begin with the various businesses at the Public Market. I found fourteen choices of places to dine, drink or just hang out with a loved one for a cup of coffee at Peets. I passed since I had already had my espresso w steamed milk while driving to this destination, but Peets is definitely my favorite coffee house. Lucky me I had time for a quick pedicure at The Lounge Nail Spa since I arrived an hour early. How convenient was that?
Pauline admiring the Coco art on the back of an employee’s Jeep in the parking lot.
Pauline is my brother in law Hanson’s niece (that’s a mouthful!) and she had asked if we could spend a day at Pixar a few months ago. Pauline is a HUGE Disney fan and has never had a tour before until today. This was my second opportunity to visit Pixar since several months ago when I took a tour with my niece Jasmine. Here are a couple of pics from our day together.
Jasmine saluting w Woody
This is the building where all the future ideas are being developed. There are seven movies now in the works
Pixar is studded with art from the very famous award winning Movie Coco, The Incredibles and many other Disney favorites. It’s truly an animators playground, of which is why Pauline loves it there. She has a degree in animation, yet chooses to work with children in San Francisco as a teacher since in her words, “it is more rewarding.”
We had a blast walking through the Pixar campus even spotting a famous director. Very cool. The gardens are gorgeous with huge trees and purple blooming irises. One of my favorites since I have them in full bloom in my garden as well.
I am fortunate to have connections and visiting privileges to this iconic institution. You can feel the creative energy inside and out of the buildings and know very special things are coming from the brilliant minds of the people who work there. Coming soon is Toy Story 4 and I will be lining up to see that feature film being released in June 2019. My son Andrew had the action figures Woody and Buzz Lightyear back in 1995 when the movie won 3 oscars.
Well, I thought this blog was going to be all about the restaurants that I stumbled upon at the Public Market. I guess I can get a little excited about Disney/Pixar movies too and get sidetracked. Thou you won’t want to miss checking out these dining experiences either. C Casa, Fish Face poke Bar, Hot Italian, Mayo & Mustard, and Mr Dewie’s Cashew Creamery dairy, soy and gluten free just to name a few. And don’t miss trying Paradita Eatery a Peruvian restaurant and stop by Oui Oui! for a light and airy macaron right after. You will want to bring co workers with you to try The Periodic Table’s huge list of local brews, then Shiba Ramen for an authentic fast casual really delicious Japanese ramen bowl.
Of course, many would opt for a vegan dish and would choose an eggplant curry from Wazwan Indian Cuisine. Or if you are in the mood for sushi, try We Sushi who started out as a food truck.
It was a dream come true to come across this destination before spending the day at Pixar. Our lunch was healthy, reasonably priced, quick and tasty at Koja Kitchen and we had just enough time to make it for our 2PM Pixar tour. I really can’t think of a better way to spend the day.
Maybe you have a favorite new hot spot to hang out in? Are you a Disney fan? Here’s a blog from my recent trip to Disneyland. If so leave your ideas in the comment section below. And thanks for reading this. It means a lot.
Sneak peek from recent Disneyland Adventure
Let's Make Mud Pies 