Another growing segment is wineries and breweries, customers that Zeldner and Harris’ son Josh have cultivated since he started working for the company a few years ago. They ship bulk honey as an ingredient to brewers and wineries around the nation.
Earlier this year, Z Specialty Food more than doubled the size of its warehouse to 9,000 square feet. If you want to see what it’s like to have all this honey in one place, check out one of their open houses from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday or Dec. 14 at 1250-A Harter Ave. in Woodland.
California Pizza Kitchen is spending $1 million-plus to remodel its Arden Fair restaurant, adding reclaimed wood to the exterior and interior as it stresses sustainability and a California casual ambiance in its new decor.
Tabletops are made from reclaimed barn doors, chief executive G.J. Hart told me, and LED lighting reduces the electrical drain. A new bar welcomes guests who want a more adult-oriented experience, he said, while the restaurant area remains family-friendly.
Hart is the leader brought in by Golden Gate Capital, the private equity firm that bought California Pizza Kitchen for $470 million and took it private in June 2011. The company’s share price had dropped by 14 percent that year by the time Golden Gate made its offer. In the two years since Hart took over, he’s met with thousands of employees and customers before undertaking a rebranding effort or making massive menu changes.
The company has nearly 300 locations around the world. The Arden eatery is the third to get the new design, largely because the restaurateur agreed to freshen up the look as it renewed its lease.
After the commercial real estate market imploded in 2007, Dreyfuss & Blackford Architects were looking at how they’d survive as a number of other firms disappeared. Health care clients provided a lifeline, and they now make up about 40 percent of the firm’s business.
Dreyfuss recently shepherded Dignity Health’s plans for an extensive medical campus through the approval process in Elk Grove. One building, filled with medical offices, now sits on the site on Elk Grove Boulevard and Wymark Drive, but Dignity won’t proceed with the hospital, parking structure and a second office building until it sees a need. Meanwhile, Dreyfuss & Blackford is renovating Adventist Health’s St. Helena Hospital.
His firm has also done a lot of work for UC Davis Medical Center, where even a parking structure it designed has won notice. Finished just last year, the $23 million Parking Structure III essentially created a new front door for the center. The International Parking Institute named it the most innovative parking structure for 2013.