Spring 2024
Editor’s Mixing Bowl
“In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.” —Margaret Atwood, Bluebeard’s Egg With spring on the way, I find myself craving those moments when the full regenerative power of nature steps out to smack me with wonder. And while it may seem that I would have to…
Read MoreCheap Dates
The Moveable Feast Story and photos by Meredith Pakier You’re looking forward to that date, but your budget tells you to keep it under 16 bucks. Does that have to mean dining on a cold bench next to a food truck? Here are six comfy eateries that check all my boxes (before tax and…
Read MoreGrowth Mindset
At its Oakland rooftop farm, Deep Medicine Circle digs into revolutionary food access and landback By Mark C. Anderson There’s a lot to see from the rooftop farm on the Logan Building at Telegraph and 51st in Oakland—the downtown skyline and San Francisco Bay, fist-sized strawberries and towering artichokes, injustice behind and equity…
Read MoreEternal Shelf Life
Antimicrobial by nature, raw honey lasts forever and can also preserve food treasures caught within it By Francine Spiering | Photo by Elizabeth Vecchiarelli You may have heard of how the daring archeologists who opened King Tutankhamun’s tomb in 1922 found an ancient jar of honey and tasted it. They discovered the honey was…
Read MoreGarden of Generosity
At Fertile GroundWorks, volunteers grow food to help ensure that neighbors have full plates By Rachel Trachten | Photos by Zach Pine On a December morning, the rising price of straw is on Brenda Kusler’s mind as she deftly spreads straw mulch around baby cabbage plants. She takes a break from the cabbages…
Read MoreThe Spring Table
THE SPRING TABLE: a community of makers Hosted by ACRE Kitchen and Bar 5655 College Ave, Oakland ACRE is where Chef Dirk Tolsma’s California Rustic fare comes together with the local food community: “ACRE represents my relationships to the land, the farms, the produce, the makers,” he says. “It’s the meeting place between that and…
Read MoreThat Hausa Vegan
How Sitalbanat Muktari brought her Nigerian traditions into her vegan kitchen By Anna Mindess | Photos by Scott Peterson Sitalbanat Muktari’s life made a turn on a vegan donut. Born in Utah, Muktari (now 32) lived for many years with her family in Northern Nigeria, steeped in the local Hausa culture. Sital—as she…
Read MoreGuide to Good Eats Spring 2024
Alameda Alameda Marketplace Sit down for a meal of wood-oven chicken or pizza, local oysters, house-made bread and pasta, and inventive small dishes, plus more substantial fare at East End. Relax with coffee, pastries, or gelato at the Beanery. Find enticing take-out foods at Greens & Grains, Sushi King, or Tahina Fresh Mediterranean. 1650 Park…
Read MoreA Spring Risotto from the Garden
By Roberta Klugman | Photo by Judy Doherty I never quite understood the unbridled excitement about fresh fava beans in restaurants—until I grew my own. I find such joy in these substantial beans that I can cook within a few hours—even minutes—of harvest. And while prepping them does take time, it is well worth…
Read MoreSweet & Hot
By Francine Spiering | Photo by Raymond Franssen Hot honey is the swicy marriage between chile peppers (anywhere on the Scoville scale) and honey, and the popular trend of infusing honey with chile heat has been spreading like syrup on a hot pancake. Sweetness doesn’t have to come from honey—agave, date, and maple syrups are…
Read MoreWhat’s In Season?
By Barbara Kobsar | Illustrations by Charmaine Koehler-Lodge Spring is all about green with fresh leaves, new shoots, dainty blossoms, and crisp pods of all sorts coming to the farmers’ market for us to admire, ponder, prepare, and enjoy. Spinach is ubiquitous through every season, but I enjoy it most in the early spring…
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