Search results for: Big Soda
Berkeley vs. Big Soda
Can Berkeley take the fizz out of Big Soda? By Rachel Trachten • Illustration by Nikki Goddard This November, Berkeley voters can stand tall against Big Soda. The City Council has unanimously approved a ballot measure that would impose a one-cent-per-ounce tax on the distributors of sodas and other sugary, low-nutrition beverages like energy drinks,…
Read MoreFilm Screening and Reception on Berkeley’s Soda Tax Renewal: October 1
Ten years ago, Berkeley made history as the first U.S. city to successfully take on Big Soda as the community passed the nation’s first sugary drinks tax with proceeds benefiting healthy equity in our community. The Ecology Center and a broad coalition of community leaders and organizations invite you to a special screening of…
Read MoreBig Book Weekend at Rockridge Market Hall
November 2: Pastry chef, author and Tartine Bakery co-founder Elisabeth Prueitt signs copies of Tartine: A Classic Revisited. The book has been updated and expanded with 67 new recipes, including the most-requested recipe in Tartine history: the Tartine Morning Bun. Have your books signed and enjoy tastings of Cranberry Upside-Down Cake and Gougères (choux pastries…
Read MoreCaamaño Bros. Take Soda Back to its Roots
BY CHERYL ANGELINA KOEHLER | PHOTOGRAPHY BY SCOTT PETERSON Pity the poor bottle of pop in Berkeley. Much maligned for its fake flavors and high-fructose corn syrup, it now drags around an ignoble tax of shame. But that’s another story. We’re here to report on a local triumph in bringing dignity back to the humble soda.…
Read MoreBerkeley Ecology Center’s Big Win
$3.7 million USDA grant expands Market Match to the benefit of farmers and low-income shoppers By Rachel Trachten California farmers’ markets just got more affordable for people on public benefits. In a stunning example of public policy done well, the USDA awarded $3.7 million to Berkeley’s Ecology Center for its Market Match program. Through Market…
Read MoreOff the Charts
Now in its third year, Uncharted is a dynamic festival that features cutting-edge speakers, interactive labs, and pop-up performances. About 40 writers, innovators, and pioneers from across disciplines explore key topics in culture, food, education, public policy, the environment, activism, technology, and the arts. Speakers include Anna Lappé, Alice Medrich, Joshua Johnson, Sandra Gilbert, W.…
Read MoreHistoric Moments
It’s nice to be healthy and 100! This newsletter congratulates the City of Walnut Creek as it celebrates its centennial with a special festival at the farmers’ market. Meanwhile, we’ll all be watching as Berkeley voters go to the polls, where they might make history by passing the nation’s first soda tax. In This…
Read MoreContents Fall Harvest 2014
EDITOR’S MIXING BOWL SIDE DISH Bay Bucks Means Business Tomatoes at the Station Bryant Terry, Vegan Virtuoso Erin Scott’s Yummy Supper Berkeley vs. Big Soda SEVEN STARS OF THE FALL HARVEST KITCHEN SENTIMENTAL LIVERMORE VALLEY WINE ADVENTURES UNDERDOG WINE BAR WILD TURKEY MINIMUM WAGE WHAT’S IN SEASON ABOUT OUR COVER ARTIST Read about Celia Wedding,…
Read MoreRICHMOND RENAISSANCE
Food and farming efforts offer renewed hope to the community BY SARAH HENRY If only Richmond could overcome its reputation. Long viewed as one of the most violent places in the U.S., the gritty city saw its murder rate plummet in 2012. Still, this beleaguered community of some 103,000 reports unemployment hovering around 13 percent.…
Read MoreTasting the California Foodscape
A Fall Agritourism Guide By Cheryl Angelina Koehler | Illustrations by Cathy Raingarden As the throngs flew off to distant destinations in the notorious 2023 summer of revenge travel, artist Cathy Raingarden and I set out into California farm country. Our quest was to find some special spots where readers might have a good…
Read MoreOlive Oil Synergies
Networking and mentorship make a difference for small producers, from grove adopters to a former governor By Cheryl Angelina Koehler Clockwise from upper left: Olga Orlova in her Olica olive orchard; Kim Null and Jamie de Sieyes during their Wild Poppies harvest; Kathryn Tomijan at work milling a Fat Gold harvest; Susan Ellsworth sorting…
Read MoreA Curious Baker Reinvents Traditional Favorites
Kristina’s Bookshelf Review by Kristina Sepetys Fruit Cake: Recipes for the Curious Baker By Jason Schreiber (William Morrow Cookbooks, 2020) “Fruit cake” conjures images of the alcohol-soaked, dried fruit and nut–studded firm loaves popular around the holidays. In perusing the 75 recipes in Jason Schreiber’s new cookbook, I found that it gives a big nod…
Read More8 Ways to Slow Down and Enjoy the Cocktail Season
Some of us can be overwhelmed with the seemingly endless flow of booze that accompanies the holiday season. But remember, it’s a marathon, not a sprint. Here are some of Oakland’s best low- (and not-so-low) ABV cocktails to slow down with. Try a naturally low-octane highball like the Ramen Shop’s smoky Shop Highball made with…
Read MoreNik Sharma Visits Market Hall
Come meet Nik Sharma, San Francisco Chronicle food columnist and author of the blog A Brown Table, at Market Hall on February 2. You can get a signed copy of his first book, Season: Big Flavors, Beautiful Food, and have a chance to taste some of the book’s recipes like Curry Leaf Popcorn Chicken; Deviled Eggs with…
Read MoreNew Opportunities for Home Cooks
The Future of Food is … Home Cooked? A new California law legalizes sales of home-cooked food, bringing new food experiences and meaningful economic opportunities By Jaspal S. Sandhu | illustrations by Lila Rubenstein Día de los Muertos signals the start of high season for tamales. On a recent Tuesday morning, I’m driving along East…
Read MoreHow Marykate McGoldrick Found Her Baking Groove
Baking Up a Sweet Career From Scratch Pastry chef Marykate McGoldrick’s path to Camino and beyond By Samantha Nobles-Block Photos by Cayce Clifford One spring evening in 2010, a 37-year-old public school teacher named Marykate McGoldrick welcomed three San Francisco restaurateurs into her tiny Oakland apartment. The Lee brothers, owners of Namu Gaji and Namu…
Read MoreA Community of Peach Pickers
The Peachy Time of Year Philip Gelb never really stops thinking about the Masumoto Family Farm peaches, even in the dead of winter. The only difference at the peachy time of year is that he has boxes full of these exquisite fruits stacked up in his West Oakland catering kitchen, where he devises recipes for…
Read MoreHanif Sadr
From the Oilfields to the Kitchen Mechanical Engineer’s Detour Leads to New Life in Food Hanif Sadr, Golestan’s after-school cooking teacher, grew up in Tehran and spent summers on his grandparents’ farm in Northern Iran, where he developed a lifelong love of exploring nature. After earning a college degree in materials science in Iran, he…
Read MoreVote for Your Community!
Voters in Oakland, Albany, and San Francisco can follow Berkeley’s lead in establishing a soda tax. Measure 01 in Albany, Measure HH in Oakland, and Proposition V in San Francisco place a tax of one cent per ounce on the distribution of sugar-sweetened beverages such as soda, energy drinks, and presweetened teas. Consumption of sugary drinks…
Read MoreSips, Ships, and Sparks at the Richmond Shipyard
East Bay folks who like to station themselves on the bay shore for Independence Day fireworks are often rewarded with a show on every horizon. “You can see them going off in Berkeley, Marin, and San Francisco from here,” says R&B Cellars winemaker Barbara Brown of the upcoming fireworks. It’s easy to see how that’s…
Read MoreA Tale of Two West Oakland Farms
Serving top restaurants and diverse community needs By Sarah Henry | Photography By Scott Peterson Continuing our year-long series about relationships between local farms and restaurants It’s around six at night and Rachel Littlefield, 16, purposefully carries a wooden crate with a WOW FARM logo into the kitchen at Flora, a long-time anchor restaurant…
Read MoreWhat Do You Pair with a Reuben?
BY CHERYL ANGELINA KOEHLER | ILLUSTRATIONS BY MARGO RIVERA-WEISS Long before the Caamaño Bros. started making and marketing their sodas, Peter Levitt, owner of Saul’s Deli in Berkeley’s Gourmet Ghetto, was looking for a non-imitation-flavor wild black cherry soda. “It goes really well with our Reuben,” he says, referring to that quintessential New…
Read MoreContents Summer 2015
EDITOR’S MIXING BOWL SIDE DISH Berkeley Ecology Center’s big win for farmers and shoppers Nurturing young lives at Tender Greens The Spice Whisperer makes house calls Caamaño Bros. take soda back to its roots What do you pair with a Reuben? SEVEN STARS OF SUMMER THE SEED-SAVING CONTROVERSY GREEN WALNUTS: An elegantly bitter harvest Recipes…
Read MoreSowing Change
Farms touch our lives in surprising ways. Opportunities are coming up this week to view a new documentary film about Occupy the Farm as well as to enjoy a local harvest dinner featuring dishes made with freshly harvested foods from farms in the Capay Valley. In This Newsletter: ● Occupy the Farm film premiere…
Read MoreNewsletter Archive
Edible East Bay Appetizer Archives January 6, 2024 Obsessed Bakers and Eaters Edition December 27, 2024 The World’s Greatest Comfort Food December 19, 2024 Local Gifts | Holiday Recipes | Flowerland Solstice Market December 5, 2024 A Ten-Stop Bakery Walk for a Sunny Day November 22, 2024 Ideas for Your Rainy Week November 15, 2024 …
Read MoreAugust 28, 2014
Soda: The Series Brings Conversations on Sugar-Sweetened Beverages to Berkeley Soda: The Series offers conversations about sugary drinks and their impact on the health of our families, community, and environment. At six different events, experts will discuss the science of sugary drinks, tactics of the soda industry, and disease prevention efforts. These events take place…
Read MoreSeven Stars of the Fall Harvest
By Jessica Prentice Jessica Prentice, Maggie Gosselin, and Sarah Klein created the Local Foods Wheel to help us all enjoy the freshest, tastiest, and most ecologically sound food choices month by month. Here are seven of Jessica’s seasonal favorites. You can learn more about the Local Foods Wheel and the group’s other ventures at localfoodswheel.com.…
Read MoreLivermore Valley Wine Adventures
A Visit to Livermore Valley Wine Country By Christy White • Photos by Annie Tillis • Map by Nikki Goddard A few years ago when I was dating a guy from Pleasanton, my Oakland and Berkeley friends often asked dubiously “Pleasanton?” as they glanced at each other in alarm. “You could never live in Pleasanton.”…
Read MoreSharing the Pie
Local caterers take the boss out of the kitchen BY RACHEL TRACHTEN Whipping up 200 empanadas is all in a day’s work for the women of Fusion Latina. At Richmond’s Artisan Kitchen they’re a synchronized team, chopping zucchini and onions, rolling out dough for tortillas, and slicing poblano peppers. Although the kitchen work is typical…
Read MoreSide Dish ……
TASTING THE EAST BAY A Food Tour Sampler BY SAM TILLIS Food tourism is one of the fastest growing travel trends today, and this is not least the case here in the Bay Area, where numerous companies have sprung up to fill the niche. Curious to see what the fuss was about, I signed up…
Read MoreFood Forays in Fremont
Like many who dwell in the northern reaches of Alameda County, I can go for months on end without giving much thought to the south-county city of Fremont. If I do call up a vision, it’s of the endless subdivisions and strip malls that replaced former farms and vineyards when the region became a bedroom…
Read MoreSunshine, good cheer, and a gorgeous tomato!
August 15, 2013 Celebrate this week’s break in the Bay Area’s foggy weather with whatever suits your fancy . . . In this newsletter: Wild Boar Tomato Poster At Edible East Bay, we love luscious tomatoes and gorgeous art about equally, so when they come together, we’re over the top with excitement! Check out this…
Read MoreTHE CALIFORNIA HOMEMADE FOOD ACT
Super slow food: the pros and cons of AB1616 BY JILLIAN LAUREL STEINBERGER ILLUSTRATIONS BY HELEN KRAYENHOFF Tiny is beautiful. You may have seen those efficient new tiny cars out on the road and read about tiny houses, 100 square feet where owners choose to live simply. Now, welcome to the new-old super-micro slow-food economy,…
Read MoreThe Making of a California Olive Oil Culture
THE MAKING OF A CALIFORNIA OLIVE OIL CULTURE BY CHERYL ANGELINA KOEHLER WITH KAREN YENCICH “Here in California, we are at the beginning of a serious olive oil culture.” —Pablo Voitzuk, olive miller and expert olive oil taster There’s a new devotion growing in many local restaurant kitchens these days. The inamorata is the golden-green…
Read MoreSchool Lunch 2.0
School Lunch 2.0 Oakland Headed for a School Food Overhaul By Sarah Henry Jennifer LeBarre, Oakland Unified School District’s nutrition services director, has a dream. Looking ahead 10 years, she imagines visiting the district’s central kitchen where fresh food is prepared from scratch for all district campuses using organic produce from the onsite farm. Each…
Read MoreGMO LABELING
GMO LABELING: Do we have a right to know? By Kristina Sepetys Illustrations by Otto Thorsen Genetic engineering promises food crops that can resist drought, insects, and disease; crops that can produce more bountiful yields at lower costs while helping to address hunger across the planet. But as with many new technologies, there are unknowns and…
Read MoreFarm to Shaker
Farm to Shaker: Latest front on the local, seasonal sourcing movement We’ve all grown accustomed to the local “farm to fork” menus that highlight locally grown “organic,” “seasonal,” “artisanal,” and “sustainable” ingredients. But who expects to see those words on a cocktail menu? Oh, you do? Well, then, you may have been haunting Easy Lounge…
Read MoreFORAGING FOR THE GREATER GOOD: Why and how to target invasive aliens
FORAGING FOR THE GREATER GOOD: Why and how to target invasive aliens By Carol Rice, Illustrations by Cheryl Miller Did you know that California has been invaded by aliens? It’s true, and it’s been going on for a few centuries. Invasive aliens—species from other parts of the globe—are present in every habitat in the East Bay, whether…
Read MoreThe Urban Homesteading Movement Comes of Age
Ruby in her backyard with a newborn bunny (photo by Jess Watson). K. Ruby Blume is in her element. Standing in front of a packed cheesemaking class, she waves her arms, jokes, asks questions, and calls for volunteers. She is all coiled energy and dynamic movement. Within the first 15 minutes, one student is…
Read MoreA life in Food Made By Hand
Lessons with Rosetta Costantino Story and photos by Cheryl Angelina Koehler Rosetta Costantino tends a tomato plant on the deck portion of the garden at her family’s home in Oakland’s Montclair district, where the terrain is as steep as it was in her native Calabria. We’re making orecchiette, a pasta shape that translates from the…
Read MoreWhat’s in Season: Squash & Squash Blossoms
By Barbara Kobsar Summer is the time to sing praises to the great cucurbit family. These vine-y annual plants, indigenous to the Americas, all produce large white or yellow flowers, which, when left on the plant to mature, grow into an amazing array of squashes, gourds, cucumbers, and melons. Anyone with a zucchini vine in…
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