Food

The cold, gray skies and wind didn’t deter people from riding through Oakland’s Fruitvale district on Saturday to partake in the Tour de Taco.

There are those who say that every beer has a story. A growing number of women in the Bay Area say that every story…should have a beer.

Coffee shops used to be the social hub of the community until laptops and wireless Internet turned them into libraries that serve food. In North Oakland, one coffee shop is trying to get the conversation started again. Shilanda Woolridge reports.

Many other Oaklanders have a feverish attachment to the famed Bakesale Betty’s fried chicken sandwich and to the cheerful Temescal corner where it is currently housed. But in April, Betty will have a new way to serve her faithful patrons, a second location on the corner of West Grand and Broadway.

In an effort to keep Actual Cafe an actual cafe, starting this weekend owner Sal Bednarz will embark upon a month-long social experiment to create the kind of social atmosphere that existed before wireless internet and mobile computers. Bednarz wants people to step away from their Facebook profiles and connect face-to-face.

When it comes to food systems, there are as many definitions of “local” as there are varieties of apple. Given federal, state and local regulations, what reforms are truly feasible? Activists gathered Thursday evening in the Oakland Unified School District’s administrative hub to plan and define their healthy food campaign.

By September, the Oakland Food Policy Council hopes to tell city government officials how Oakland can produce more of its own food and help citizens eat healthier.

Kobe and Miyazaki beef producers are secretive about their methods. But many ranchers in Japan massage cattle daily. Some cows listen to classical music, a method used to relax them. “They are treated as kings,” says one Oakland chef.

Since opening in 1926, Genova’s Delicatessen has served pasta, soups and traditional deli sandwiches to residents of North Oakland’s Temescal district.