Oakland Bites

A friend of mine was recently telling me how her CSA (community supported agriculture) membership had changed her life. Even if she can’t make it to the store or the Farmer’s Market, she always has a fridge full of fresh fruits and veggies. Given that my fridge is basically down to Tobasco and wine, I’m thinking it’s about time I get my own membership. And, according to my friend, my fears of signing up for a box of just kale…

A burger-loving friend of mine came to town over the weekend, and I struggled for a little while with where to take her. She’s an East Coaster who likes her burgers so rare she asks the waiters to “just walk them through a warm kitchen,” and I wasn’t sure I could find a burger joint in the East Bay that would accommodate her. When I first moved to the East Coast from California, I had to adjust the way I…

Some Bay Area college students are saying goodbye to their burgers. In an effort to reduce Greenhouse Gas emissions, the food service company that runs USF’s cafeteria is trying to reduce their use meat and cheese by 25 percent. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, this means that the USF caf and 400 additional food service cafes are losing cheese from their turkey burgers and their pizza. Hospital service providers are also cutting foods to reduce their carbon footprint. When…

A friend of mine was recently in at the San Francisco Civic Center watching an argument before the California Supreme Court, when she stopped by the building cafeteria and it was called…the Justice Served Cafe. Chances are, you’re either gagging or giggling, but count me among the gigglers. I love punny restaurants, with the exception of Brandon Davis’s inappropriately-themed taco joint—you probably know what I’m talking about, but I’m not linking to it—and here’s hoping you can Google if you…

In today’s Trib, Cecily Burt reports that despite the woes of the economic downturn, the Oakland waterfront has become “an epicurean’s delight.” As the Slow Food Movement takes a stronger hold on the Bay Area, smaller artisan food producers are replacing old factory giants like Granny Goose, and the City is banking on local, sustainable food production becoming a new economic growth area. Oakland’s economic team even organized a tour of the “Waterfront Food Trail” to highlight the local companies. Read…

After weeks of grocery store, mealy tomatoes, I headed to the farmer’s market in hopes of finding some that were miraculously delicious. This far from peak season, it proved impossible, and I just couldn’t get excited about the booths of kale, lettuce, honey, and a whole lot of citrus. After wandering the market gauntlet for a while, I noticed that one booth had a regular line of two or three customers. At 10:45, Andy and Cindy Thai Cuisine was handing…

For all those Zachary’s Pizza fans out there, great news: the 2009 art contest is on. Design a poster for the Oakland classic, and your original art could grace the pizza parlor’s walls for all eternity…okay, well at least for the foreseeable future. Head to one of the locations–Oakland, Berkeley or San Ramon–to pick up contest rules and a 36” by 48” inch paper for your contest entry. Zachary’s loves bold color, so they recommend that you say away from…

I was in Safeway over the weekend when I noticed that the Valentine’s Day clearance candy was sitting right next to a brand new crate of Cadbury Eggs. Now I know, I know, they are few things more disgusting than a chocolate egg filled with a sugary mock yolk, but I don’t care. I also like the movie “Roadhouse” and some select Michael Bolton songs. Sue me. But, anyway, as I was looking at the display, I realized Lent must…