Business

Bay Area top female chefs cook up $500,000 for local youth

Piles of dishes clatter behind the red big curtains and dozens of waiters, as chefs and their assistants try to move around the small back room, quickly coming in and out of the kitchen. Assembly lines surround three tables, where one by one, each chef adds a piece to the dish. Caramel. Powdered sugar. As they prepare for the finale, they swiftly clean the small white plates. No one hesitates. It’s time for dessert.

From junk to jackets: Oakland retailer upcycles vintage car seats

A brown building with tall doors opened to the ringing sound of sewing machines. Inside were racks of red-and-white leather jackets with pieces of the Cadillac logo, multicolored wrist wallets and leather bags.
It was a typical Thursday night at Platinum Dirt, Page’s leather workshop and storefront on 25th Street. He was turning salvaged material into a duffle bag, part of a resurgence of Oakland-based manufacturing.