American Alley is new food, music, art center

Downtown Petaluma’s iconic American Alley, named for the American Hotel, which was opened in 1873 and razed in 1966 (to make way for what is known today as Putnam Plaza) is back in the business of being a bustling city-center hot spot for music, food and the arts.

Best known in recent years by restaurant delivery trucks, teens and tattoo artists, American Alley boasts an indisputable allure of yesteryear, forming the quintessential urban chic of a backdrop for more student photo shoots than probably anywhere else in the area.

A new era of entertainment and enterprise is currently dawning in the narrow alleyway that runs parallel to Petaluma Boulevard, connecting Western Avenue and East Washington Street.

Stroll by the plaza fountain toward steps leading up to Kentucky Street and look to your left. You might not have noticed the alley in passing, but much activity has been brewing behind the scenes with the launch of a new jazz club and banquet room, a sister business for Roger Tschann and Amber Driscoll’s nearby, pint-sized Speakeasy Bistro. The Big Easy lives up to its name - spacious and sophisticated with wooden booths and a beautifully handcrafted bar.

The Big Easy has had a couple of recent soft-openings. It will be fully up and running this winter.

Take a left along American Alley and peruse sleek and stylish new Prince Gallery, Photographer Nathan Larimar’s alternative exhibition space for multi-media artists.

Larimar’s mission is to provide space for emerging and local artists to display self-curated solo and group shows, installations, performance art and film screenings in a “blank canvas” gallery.

“Small Works 2014” is the gallery’s first group show juried by Carlos De Villasante, running through Dec. 29. The show features over 20 artists from around the country working in a variety of media.

Next door to Prince Gallery, posters in the window of 122 American Alley have my fellow British/American contingency in town all a-twitter.

I tracked down Sonoma resident Sue Grixti of Two London Foodies to find out more about her upcoming foray into the realm of a British tea room and import shop.

“My sister, Kate (Grixti Neubig), sold her food business to travel the world and I stopped traveling the world to start a food business,” said Grixti, a nurse/midwife who was born in the United States and was raised in England.

“I moved back to the states 12 years ago, after traveling the world with my work. I decided to create Two London Foodies after missing the edible delicacies of the U.K. and seeing how successful my sister had been in her own international food business. She is the source of my inspiration,” she said.

“When I found the property in American Alley it seemed fitting that I should create a little piece of Britain in the alley.”

Two London Foodies is in the works as a suitably small, hole-in-the-wall sandwich, cake, tea and coffee shop with select English, Scottish, Irish and Welsh groceries set to grace its shelves. Sausage rolls and scones will, of course, be on the menu.

This is not a high tea, silver service sort of tea room. Set to serve Petaluma’s large ex-pat and casual tea-drinking crowd, Grixti’s gearing up for a grand opening to be announced in the New Year.

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This Saturday, Dec. 6, downtown merchants invite us to peruse holiday wares during the annual Holiday Open House.

Festive treats and hot cider await those who make the rounds for sourcing gifts locally.

One of the day’s most well-attended events in the downtown boutique shopping district is Vine and Barrel’s annual Champagne and Oyster Tasting, starting at 3 p.m.

This ticket-only event is typically a sell-out, though there are a handful of spots still available in advance. Thirty-one houses of sparkling wines from around the world are set to be paired with 1,000 oysters caviar and other delicacies. Call tasting host and storeowner Jason Jenkins at 765-1112 for those final few tickets.

­(Frances Rivetti’s South County Notebook column appears every two weeks. Her e-mail address is francesrivetti@gmail.com.)