Skates recently underwent a dining room revamp
Article & Photos By Andi Berlin
To celebrate an extensive, month-long revamp, Berkeley Marina institution Skates on the Bay staged an evening of old school decadence.
“Raw” was the word of the night: although more comfortable furniture and updated carpeting had been put in, mouths were buzzing about the new raw bar offering fresh Miyagi oysters, Dungeness crab and nigiri sushi. To crown the affair, bartenders poured hard lemonades straight through an ice carving of a leaping salmon (the liquid came out from a tube inside its tail). White-shirted waitstaff circled the room carrying silver platters of Bloody Mary oyster shots and miniature crab cakes.
Most drinks were simple – sparkling wine, a house red, Dark & Stormy cocktails – but plentiful. A jazz band complete with vibraphone carried the evening along until the ceremonial “lifting of the blinds,” when employees lined up to let in the evening light offering spectacular views of the shimmering bay and distant SF skyline. Familiar cocktails and seafood aside, when the wind is pulsing and your heart aflutter, there’s no sunset like the scene from Skates on the Bay.
Small bites: salmon with creme fraiche and capers
White-buttoned waiters are a classy throwback
Cocktails: Dark & Stormy and hard lemonade with Finlandia grapefruit vodka
Yummy tuna tartare with yuzu sauce on a housemade chip
Best bite of the night: Crab cakes with celery remoulade, topped with radish
The soaring salmon sculpture
A scene from the new raw bar: shrimp and Dungeness crab
Stunning sunsets through the dining room windows
Skates at night: a parting view from the outstretched pier