Sprouts & Shutters: Wine Tasting Room, Sushi and Personal Training

Wonder what’s moving into your neighborhood shopping center? Our biweekly Sprouts & Shutters column highlights the latest Tri-Valley retail and restaurant news.

Livermore-based AuburnJames Winery plans to open a tasting room and art gallery in Downtown Danville by late April. The new tasting room, which takes over the gift shop Savignon’s old spot on Hartz next to the clock tower, will feature AuburnJames wines, light food pairings, works by local and national artists, and select wine and kitchen products.

Also coming to Danville is Iron Horse Deli, scheduled to open on Hartz Avenue near right after spring break. The deli will offer traditional cold deli sandwiches as well as hot sandwiches like Chicken Parmesan and grilled Panini. The deli caters to students and teachers needing a quick lunchtime meal and families darting to sporting events. Students can even “text in” their orders and pick up packaged lunches.

Iron Horse Deli will share the space with the Just Fun shop, also owned by locals Diane and Warren Anderson. Just Fun sells clothes and gift items geared toward the tween to teen set. The shop also sells balloons and other party supplies as well as community spirit wear and uniforms, including San Ramon Valley High spirit wear and Danville Little League uniforms.

A few Danville closures to report, too: the clothing boutique Sophie’s at Rue 137 on Hartz, the bead shop Beaded Bliss on Railroad, and the sandwich shop Quizno’s on Hartz all closed recently.

A new Japanese restaurant called Senro Sushi will open in May in the old Quizno’s shop on San Ramon Valley Boulevard in San Ramon. Owner Vincent Li, who also owns Senro Sushi in Pleasanton, says his new eatery will be a full-service restaurant with beer and wine and will offer the same menu as the Pleasanton location. Get a menu preview here.

City of D’Lights became Café Attila after moving into a larger space in the San Ramon Square shopping center in March. The new cafe, still owned by pastry chefs Lynne Kawakami and Attila Gogos, will soon offer bistro fare for lunch plus an expanded bakery menu. In early April the cafe will introduce a daily afternoon tea with scones and jams, curds, pastries, tea sandwiches and Mighty Leaf teas. The bakery will continue to offer its specialty cakes through its new Cake Studio, also located in Café Atilla. Visit the new cafe and bakery at its new location near , across the parking lot from the new Bourbon Street Deli Cafe and Antiques Art & Gifts, covered in our .

Sport Clips opens in San Ramon’s Market Place on April 8. The walk-in salon, which specializes in men’s and boys’ hair, treats guys to sports on television and a scalp and shoulder massage. Sport Clips cuts hair in several other Tri-Valley cities, too: on Crow Canyon Boulevard in Danville, on Amador Plaza Road in Dublin and on Las Positas Road in Livermore.

Koko FitClub, which opened recently in Danville, will open in the Dublin Corners Shopping Center in June, says owner Aman Sandu. The hi-tech personal training fitness studio moves into the spot vacated by another gym, Fitness Together, next to Site For Sore Eyes. Sandu says he’ll also be opening Koko FitClubs in Pleasanton in December or January and in Livermore in 2012. Val Rogers, owner of the Danville club, said she’ll be opening a Koko FitClub in San Ramon later this year after she finds a suitable location.

 will close its San Ramon store on San Ramon Valley Boulevard on April 14 and its Dublin store on Regional Street on May 19. Both stores will be combining and moving into a much larger Jo-Ann Fabric store opening on May 20 on Amador Valley Boulevard next to the new , also set to open in May.

 is putting the final touches on their new location at Hacienda Crossings in Dublin. The restaurant will open later this month.

Also in Dublin, Vito's Express (which is currently working on a website) has submitted plans to the city to break ground soon in Grafton Station across from . At this point, they anticipate opening in May or June. And Cellar 9, a restaurant and bar, is expected to open late April or early May in Grafton Station, as well.

A full-service California Pizza Kitchen will open in the Stoneridge Shopping Center near later this summer and will feature CPK’s signature exhibition pizza oven, plus full bar and patio seating. Also opening in the Pleasanton mall will be the woman’s clothing store Love Culture and a ceramic studio Color Me Mine. Get all the details in Patch’s earlier coverage:

A closure to report in Pleasanton, too: , the Tri-Valley’s oldest aquarium store, closed at the end of March. The store, which had been in business for more than 25 years, was in the Hopyard Village Shopping Center on Valley Avenue.

A Thai restaurant opened in Livermore at the end of February on the corner of Las Positas and S. Vasco Road near 7-Eleven and Starbucks. Jane Manprasong, owner of Tin Thai Kitchen, says her new restaurant serves Thai cuisine “based on chop house and street food.” The restaurant offers quick rice and noodle dishes for the rushed lunchtime crowd and more relaxed dinner service in cozy tables next to warm wood walls and under a rustic old tin roof. See the menu here.

Finally, mark your calendars for Livermore’s 20th Annual Livermore Wine Country Festival on April 30 and May 1. The huge two-day festival shows off Livermore's 30-plus local wineries and also features locally crafted beer, outdoor dining, fine arts and crafts and more.

Visit www.livermoredowntown.com/winecountryfestival and check back on Patch for more information later this month.

Did you miss Patch's last retail and restaurant roundup? Read about these and more in our last Sprouts & Shutters column:

• and in Dublin.
• and in Pleasanton.
• and in Livermore.
• and in San Ramon.
• and in Danville