On the Burger Beat with the Moveable Feast

Story and photos by Meredith Pakier   I LOVE A GOOD BURGER, and with a mind to wrap my hands around the East Bay’s best, I assembled a crew of discerning friends to help me put a bunch to the test. Paper-thin patty lovers will fall hard for The Burger Shop food truck’s halal smashburgers…

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Editor’s Mixing Bowl

since the thing perhaps is to eat flowers and not to be afraid                                 —e.e.cummings   “Our culture ferments fear,” says my morning walking partner as we skirt around the spiky blackberry brambles reaching out from the wild growth of a front-yard food garden kept by a neighbor who always welcomes us in to graze.…

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Mohka House

Yemen’s most gracious cultural ambassador to Oakland Story and photos by Yolanda Romo   Mohka House owner Hamza Ghalib steps behind the bar during rush hour to make his specialty, a Mohka House Latte. You may know mocha as a chocolate-flavored coffee drink, but did you know that the name comes from Mohka, the old…

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Snack Parade

Story and Illustration by Bri James Can’t decide between pizza and poke? Koobideh or karaage? With a choose-your-own-adventure at these East Bay food halls, there’s no need. In our house, we call this sort of eating—where you get to share a little of a lot—a snack parade. So, grab a few of your favorite people…

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What’s In Season? Squash and Squash Blossoms!

By Barbara Kobsar | Illustration by Charmaine Koehler-Lodge   The flower stalls at the farmers’ markets offer many beautiful bunches and bouquets, but I’m interested in another type of blossom found a little further down the aisle. The edible flowers of squash plants, better known as squash blossoms, come in stunning oranges and yellows, and…

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A Landscape of the Imagination

Creativity blooms on the Mills Community Farm By Rachel Trachten | Watercolor by Karen Fiene | Photos by Zach Pine     Julia Dashe has an expansive vision for the 2.5 acres she manages on the grounds of Oakland’s Mills College (which merged with Northeastern University in 2022). “Farms are landscapes of the imagination,” says…

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Basil, Cress, Mint, & Dill

Sama Mansouri dreams up an Iranian sabzi garden at Reyhan Herb Farm By Anna Mindess     A vibrant bouquet of locally grown parsley, mint, dill, and green and purple basil holds a secret: The seeds for these herbs came all the way from Iran. The grower, Sama Mansouri, 26, started farming only last year,…

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Beautiful Bites

On a quest for summertime edible flowers? Flowerland delivers! By Claire Bradley | Photos by Clara Rice   Flowerland owner Carly Dennett (center) and Nala the dog join managers Sunny Johnson (left) and Billie Dennett (right) for a pineapple-sage mojito break (recipe here). The shop’s marquee message gets renewed when inspiration strikes. Morgan Smith is…

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Pineapple Sage Mojito

By Claire Bradley | Photo by Clara Rice   Editor’s note: After writer Claire Bradley visited Flowerland nursery in Albany, California, for her Summer 2024 story on edible flowers, she created this recipe to show how to use some of the flowers in a cocktail. When it came time to photograph for the story, Bradley…

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Guide to Good Eats Summer 2024

Alameda Dragon Rouge Waterfront Vietnamese eatery offers exciting, inventive, delicious, locally sourced cuisine and a lively bar scene with a wide selection of spirits. Newly renovated, and available for private parties up to 120 people! 2337 Blanding Ave | 510. 521.1800 | dragonrougebythebay.com   Mosley’s Café Join us in the Grand Marina for a peaceful…

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A Ligurian Summer Repast

By Francine Spiering | Photography by Raymond Franssen     My first crisp slice of farinata came flaming hot straight from a wood oven. The baker slathered it rapidly with a seductively aromatic Genovese pesto and handed it over. This was on the Ligurian coast in northwestern Italy many moons ago, and as is often…

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