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Arcata to Get Wild Hare Tavern

The darkened windows of the Jam may not be dark for too much longer. Her purchase of the business from owner Mike Munson is still pending, but longtime bartender Angela Robershotte has plans to open Wild Hare Tavern in the plaza-adjacent spot.

Robershotte is keeping the specifics of the menu mum for now but says she's planning "a bar with a little restaurant" serving "simple bar food." Customers will be able to belly up to the original mahogany bar top that's been in storage for years, reinstallation of which is among her list of "facelift" improvements. "It's got a great sound system and the stage is all intact," she says, so the live music tradition will carry on.

Starting with tending bar in her 20s at Sidelines, Robershotte has worked at Toby & Jack's, Everett's and Abruzzi over the years, as well as at her current post at the Basement. "I know my way around a bar and I'm learning about restaurants," she says, noting there's a lot to learn.

An opening date is hard to pin down as of yet but Robershotte says she hopes to hire staff and get it up and running ASAP. "I was born and raised in Arcata, so it's the only place I'd want to own a bar." 

Plaza Grill to Make Way for Havana

After 35 years, Arcata's Plaza Grill is closing at the end of September. According to a press release from the restaurant, owners Bill Chino and Chris Smith will give the space over to a new California-Cuban restaurant called Havana, owned by Shona Baum and William González Martí.

Chino and Smith will lease the space to the new restaurateurs. Baum and González Martí co-own California Cafe in Havana, Cuba, navigating the tricky business of sourcing ingredients among supply shortages and other challenges, as detailed in stories from Eater and the San Francisco Chronicle. 

The announcement notes chef Asa Maguire, "who has brought his talents around the world, including New York City, San Francisco and of course, Cuba" will be heading up the kitchen, while Cuban mixologist Yosvany Gonzalez, most recently working in Las Vegas, will be behind the bar. Along with a Sept. 19 pop-up event previewing the new menu, patrons who visit Plaza Grill in its final month will also be offered a taste of the new venture's dishes among specials.

Over the phone, Baum says, "We're collaborating with Bill" for the first six months of transition the restaurant and hoping to work with those Plaza Grill staffers who want to stay on board. The plan is to use the back dining room until the end of January, then shift dining to the plaza-facing room. The back room and bar area, which have already had carpet pulled up to reveal the redwood floor, will offer a smaller menu with drinks and Cuban sandwiches that might appeal to the student crowd. Baum says she'd like to "get DJs in for dancing down the road."

Baum's son, a graduate of Humboldt State University, has been on what she calls "a several-years-long campaign" to get her to move to Arcata, where he still lives. Difficulties in Cuba precipitated looking for opportunities in the U.S., she says, she and González Martí began looking for a spot in Arcata.

"In Havana we did California-Cuban fusion food, and here we're going to do Cuban-California fusion food. It's going to be a little more upscale than we did in Cuba," she says. While the menu is not yet finalized, she says it will highlight simple, natural flavors of Cuban staples like pork and rice and black beans, as well as offer vegetarian options.

Jennifer Fumiko Cahill (she/her) is the arts and features editor at the Journal. Reach her at (707) 442-1400, extension 320, or [email protected]. Follow her on Instagram @JFumikoCahill.