show some local love for local food

Along-time part of the Oakland food scene is La Borinqueña Mex-icatessen, which you probably better know through Tina Ramos' alter ego, Tina Tamale. And by long-time, I mean pushing 70 years in the business—her grandmother and mother both operated it before her.

I've eaten Tina's food at numerous Oakland events, from the Vintage Christmas Popup to the Passport to the East Bay Wine Trail and countless street festivals in between, and in the past it's always been a table and canopy. But you may have read a while back that Tina purchased a food cart and transporter truck, to simplify taking her tasty tamales on the road and making them available around more places in Oakland.

And that's where you come in. Tina is doing crowd-sourced funding to help with the costs of acquiring the food cart, truck and associated permits. The campaign ends Monday, so you can still contribute. There are a variety of perks available as a thank-you for your contribution, including gift certificates, a limited edition t-shirt featuring artwork by Oakland artists, Joaquin Alejandro Newman & Eduardo Pineda of Forrealism, a special Underground Canvas dinner, up to a chance to name the cart!

One of the potential perks, and a fundraiser in its own right is "Tamales y Vino". The folks at Urban Legend Cellars and Tina did some careful tastings to find wines that pair well with different tamales. You can come taste the pairings; hear live, original music from Oakland Latin jazz group Carlos Godinez Duet; view an art show from Marlene White of the Hive Studios; and hang out with some cool people in Oakland.

The crowd-sourced funding campaign ends Monday, February 6, so act quickly. "Tamales y Vino" at Urban Legend is Friday, February 10, so you've got a little more time, but not much.

Show some local love for local food!