Strawberry Peach Agua Fresca

From ‘Flavors of Mi México Querido’ By Chef Enrique Soriano of Cocina del Corazón What better way to wash down our smoky, spicy guisado than with a sweet agua fresca. Serves a crowd 1 pint strawberries, hulls removed 4–5 peaches, halved, pits removed 3–4 quarts water Zest of 1–2 limes Sweetener of choice (to taste)…

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Opening Wine Cellar Doors

How mentorships, scholarships, and other outreach programs widen access to the wine industry By Mary Orlin   Bâtonnage Forum mentee Shannon Holbrook is now the wine manager at Oakland’s CoCo Noir. (Photo courtesy of Shannon Holbrook) Want a life in wine? In addition to pouring tastes at Longevity Wines, Tracey Dyson is developing their wine…

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Editors Mixing Bowl

  My entrepreneurial predilection emerged early in life. As an inventive kid favored with cupboards full of supplies and carte blanche permission to set up operations all over the property, I had a steady stream of ideas for low-tech startups that held promise within the kid economy. Some concepts were flawed, and that was the…

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Weedos

The specialty cuisine of the Malcolm X Elementary School Garden By Nora Becker   At the height of recess, six-year-old Ozmo walks the tidy paths between well-tended raised beds in the Malcolm X Elementary School Garden. He stops at a towering plant. “This is tree kale,” he says, picking off a big leaf. “A leaf…

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What’s in Season? Nectarines, Blueberries, and Sweet Corn!

  Recent rains and ongoing floods are causing immense worries for farmers, but they are a resilient bunch, and summer is a great time to support them since it’s when more varieties of produce come to market than at any other time of year. Fresh-picked cherries, buckets of blueberries, lugs of peaches and nectarines, and…

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Fermented Finds

Story and photos by Meredith Pakier   Part art, part alchemy, and pure patience, food fermentation is an ancient process that humans have relied on and reveled in throughout the ages. Here are some notable East Bay spots where food artisans keep the microbial process percolating. Look for unique applications of fermented foods throughout the…

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The Missing Flavors of Home

  How Kula Nursery and Diaspora Co. bring heritage ingredients to diaspora communities and beyond By Cheryl Angelina Koehler     On a rainy day in March, faint afternoon light filters into Zee Husain’s greenhouse on the southwest corner of the O2 Artisans Aggregate compound in West Oakland. It glints off a disco ball and…

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Create Moisture Microclimates on Your Property

Gardener’s Notebook by Joshua Burman Thayer | Illustration by Charmaine Koehler-Lodge Microclimates matter when it comes to what will grow well on your property, but did you know that you can manage the moisture diversity around your property by reshaping its topography? Even if you have a small or flat piece of land, you can create…

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‘Flavors of Mi México Querido’

Chef Enrique Soriano enjoys the aroma of a smoky chile morita before adding it to his salsa. My mother’s guisados By Chef Enrique Soriano | Photos By Scott Peterson   My mother made many guisados (stews): chicharron en salsa roja, fluffy fried whisked eggs in red salsa, fried chicken drumsticks simmered in red salsa, seared…

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Guide to Good Eats Summer 2023

  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…

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Cocina del Corazón

Where Community Tops the Menu By Rachel Trachten | Photos by Scott Peterson   When Jazmin Villalta met Enrique Soriano in 2016, she had recently left an emotionally draining paralegal job with an immigration law firm and was canvassing for Amnesty International while contemplating what to do next. She noticed how Enrique always brought his…

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David Lance Goines: A Remembrance by L. John Harris

    When I met Berkeley’s celebrated printer and poster artist in the 1970s, it was during those ecstatic early days of our fledgling food revolution. Of course, we didn’t know it was a revolution; we were just enjoying ourselves, each other, and great food like we had tasted on trips to Europe in the…

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