Food
For the first time in the Oakland Unified School District’s history, parents of all low-income children eligible to receive a free or reduced lunch must apply for the program by February 6 — or the system could lose government subsidies for the next school year.
Oakland chef Crystal Wahpepah specializes in traditional Native American cuisine, which is otherwise a rarity in the Bay Area food scene.
When Jenny Schwarz decided that she was ready to start a new restaurant in Oakland, she took to the Internet, rather than the banks.
The storefront is simple—black tinted windows with bamboo shades and the words “Ramen Shop” emblazoned in white on the front door. No Japanese characters, no large flags.
Restaurants across the city are offering special, fixed-price menus for Oakland’s third annual Restaurant Week. The ten-day event began on Friday and will run until January 27, offering diners an array of choices from seafood to Mexican, Vietnamese or Ethiopian cuisine.
The Linden Street Brewery is small and unpretentious, but its owners are proud of their brewing tradition, which goes back to the early 1800’s, when settlers from Germany first made Oakland their home.
The West Coast tradition of brewing, or the California lager, is a steam-brewed ale that is made at a temperature closer to that of lagers. This method creates a “hoppy, more bitter taste”, says Andrew Ritter, lead brewer at Linden Street.
Happy holidays, Oakland friends! As our gift to you, here’s a video tutorial on how to make the perfect gingerbread cookies. Have a wonderful holiday season, everyone. We’ll be back to our regular programming on December 26.
When word spread that there was half a box of Twinkies still on a shelf at the A&A Market on Sunday afternoon, people of all ages gathered to get their hands on a small cellophane-wrapped piece of what was left of the Hostess legacy, and reflected on what the Twinkie—the “snack with a snack in the middle,” as the ads used to say–meant to them.
When Brad Lubeck, 11, and his mother Stacey showed up at the Alameda County Community Food Bank for an afternoon of volunteering with his Boy Scout troop, he didn’t expect much in the way of thrills. Food bank staff showed Brad and the others what to do with the broccoli and carrots they’d be unloading, and said it would be the Scouts’ job to teach the process to another group of volunteers arriving shortly.
Then the surprise was sprung. Six giants in black and silver strolled up to the boys and asked for instructions. The Oakland Raiders had arrived.