Summer 2016

Arts, Education, & Entertainment EAST BAY WALDORF SCHOOL  Where Children Thrive. Located 20 minutes from Berkeley at 3800 Clark Rd, El Sobrante. eastbaywaldorf.org FLAX ART & DESIGN  After 80 years in SF, the flagship store is now at 1501 M.L.K. Jr Way, Oakland. flaxart.com/oakland-store FOOD CRAFT INSTITUTE  Classroom and hands-on education in traditional food-making techniques…

  The word on our cover came to mind several months ago while I was sorting through a greater-than-usual number of dessert recipes as possible content for this issue. Was it just the season’s sweet berries and stone fruits—nature’s ready-made desserts—demanding the limelight (so to speak)? After all, we do have plenty of fantastic vegetables…

PREPPED FOR SUCCESS Cooking up a business at the Food Craft Institute By Rachel Trachten   It could be said that having two great-uncles who were jailed as moonshiners during Prohibition would lend some unique cred to a current-day maker of alcoholic beverages, but Dana Bushouse intends to keep it all on the up-and-up. In…

A delicious and heartbreaking tale of planting, cooking, and desire Book review by Cheryl Angelina Koehler Gabrielle Myers, a young author who has lived and worked in and around the East Bay for the past 15 years, stands bravely at a weather-beaten intersection of art and life. Wind, rain, insistent sun, weeds and bugs, troublesome…

CUESA lands at Jack London Square In Oakland’s controversial boom times, sometimes there’s a win for everyone. That’s the case as the nonprofit CUESA (Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture) follows the ferry from its home base at the San Francisco Ferry Plaza to a new outpost at Jack London Square. In taking over…

ELDERFLOWER A fragrant declaration of summer’s approach from the elder tree Story and photos by Kristen Rasmussen The gifts from the elder tree bookend summer: The elegantly refined flower blossoms of Sambucus aromatically communicate the end of spring, while the tree’s wild, dark berry clusters mark the shift into autumn. The plant is likely called…

    When Jill Keiken found herself “marooned” in Livermore, courtesy of her husband’s government job, she thought, “We’ll just have to go to San Francisco when we want some decent food!” Then she realized an opportunity had fallen into her lap: She could explore her new town just the way she had when she…

ANCIENT FLOURS RISE AGAIN Growing interest in traditional grains —buckwheat, sorghum, and teff— goes far beyond their gluten-free credentials Story and photos by Anna Mindess T he enticing aromas of warm honey, cinnamon, and butter waft through Emeryville’s Bacano Bakery one early morning as workers carefully remove hot pans of banana muffins and pinwheel Danish from…

Fabrizio Cercatore is a real Italian pizzaiolo. Hailing from Verbania in Italy’s Piemonte region, he’s also the co-founder of Hot Italian pizzeria in Sacramento and Emeryville, where he serves up pies like the Fiori, a combo of prosciutto di Parma, mozzarella, mushrooms, tomato sauce, arugula, and Bariani truffle oil. “At Hot Italian, I love the…