photo of the week: Reflected Sky

We had interesting clouds in the sky on Wednesday, and they made for even more interesting reflections off the Ask.com building.

Jack London History Walk

Last Saturday, Oakland Urban Paths and Annalee Allen of the Oakland Walking Tours program collaborated on a special walking tour exploring the Oakland of author Jack London. While Oakland has changed a lot since Jack London's time, there are still a lot of connections to the Oakland he would have known. 71 people (and 2 dogs) braved the chance of rain to join us.

The logical place to start on a Jack London tour is Heinold's First and Last Chance Saloon in Jack London Square. Jack studied there as a child, and based some of the characters in his writing on the sailors and others he saw there. And later, Johnny Heinold loaned Jack the money to attend the University of California (though Jack decided after a year that university wasn't for him.) On the back of Heinold's is a large mural called "Hello Jack" that features things from Jack's life: Jennie Prentiss, the woman born into slavery who did much of the raising of Jack; his cabin in the Yukon; the Snark, his boat that he sailed the South Seas on; Wolf House, the mansion he and Charmian had built in Glen Ellen; and more. The cabin from the Yukon is just beyond the deck of Heinold's. Well, part of it, anyway. Part is in Dawson, part is in Oakland, and pieces have been replaced as needed.

From Jack London Square, we went up to the Oakland Grill, where Jack is featured in another mural, along with other figures from Oakland's history. Then it was up to Lincoln Square in Chinatown, where we talked about Jack and Charmian's South Seas voyages, Jack's photography, his time as a war correspondent, and his portrayal of other races in his writing. Jack was raised by a black woman, but wrote about a "great white hope" to defeat black boxer Jack Johnson; he wrote about the "yellow peril" of Asian immigrants, but also wrote full, rich characterizations of non-whites in some of his novels; etc.

We walked past the Hotel Oakland. When it was completed in 1912, Jack and Charmian had moved to Beauty Ranch in Glen Ellen, but it would have been a notable new presence during his return visits to Oakland. A short distance away is the original site of the University of California. By the time Jack attended in 1897, the university had moved to its newly-built campus in Berkeley. But one of the buildings of the original campus became the Dietz Opera House, the first theater in Oakland. Jack later spoke to audiences there, and the local Socialist party had their headquarters in the building.

On the way to the Jack London Oak in Frank Ogawa Plaza, we passed by the Athenian-Nile Club building. Built in 1901, Jack would have known it, because it was home to the "power elite" of Oakland and was just down from city hall and the Oakland Free Library. The oak tree wasn't planted until one year after Jack's death. Further down 14th Street, we stopped between the African American Museum and Library of Oakland (AAMLO) and the First Unitarian Church of Oakland. We talked more about Jenny Prentiss, who took Jack to church at the First African Methodist Episcopal Church (First AME), and about Jack's first wife, Elizabeth "Bessie" Maddern, who attended the Unitarian church.

Around the corner in Preservation Park, we looked at the Remillard House, where a young Jack London may have been tutored by Lillian Remillard (Dandini) in French. We talked about Preservation Park (one of the Oakland Walking Tours focuses on it), the Latham-Ducel Fountain, and the nearby Pardee Home Museum. These homes and ones like them would have been familiar to Jack. A quick walk took us through Old Oakland, where we looked at other buildings Jack would have known and talked briefly about Mayor John Davie (whose autobiography was titled His Honor, The Buckaroo.)

Heading back towards Jack London Square, we stopped to talk about the Hickmott Canning Company and Cole Grammar School in West Oakland. The Hickmott cannery was at 1st and Filbert, and was where Jack had one of his first jobs—stuffing pickles into jars, for 10¢ an hour, working 12-18 hour days. The noisy, dangerous conditions doubtless helped shaped some his views on workers' rights. Jack attended school at Cole, where J.P. Garlick was principal, and Jack's love of books was apparent: according to classmate Frank Atherton, Jack was "occupied with books. Not only did he apply himself diligently to his studies during class, but also during recess and the noon hour, he would sit on one of the benches in the school yard, reading some strange tale of romance and adventure, while other boys and girls were at play. ...he read many books some seeming far beyond the comprehension of a ten year old boy. And it was remarkable how well he remembered the details of so many stories." And Jack was no stranger in principal Garlick's office. Author James L. Haley in The Lives of Jack London wrote: The leader of the Cole School toughs was a budding young thug named Mike Pinella, who called Johnny a sissy, threw a book he was reading across the schoolyard, and was surprised to learn the "sissy" could hold his own. Both boys ended up in Mr. Garlick's office, who ruled that they would not be punished if they would embrace and make up. Mike Pinella was willing, but Johnny, his keen and growing sense of injustice offended, refused. "I'll take the licking, Mr. Garlick," he said. "I know I was in the right, and I'll do it again if I have to."

A brief rain shower sent a lot of people to their cars or other destinations, but others stuck with us to the end of the walk at the statue of Jack London at the base of Broadway. Thanks to everyone who came out for the walk. We hope to do the walk again later this year, though no date has been set.


Pictures from the walk:

walking tour: Old Oakland

Wednesday I played hooky from work. I started with a walking tour of Old Oakland, one of 8 free walking tours the city sponsors. I've been on the tour multiple times before, but I wanted to hear my friend John Tuttle and I still learn stuff even when I go on the same tour multiple times. One nice addition to the tour that John made was a brief trip into Pacific Coast Brewing to see their historic bar and learn a bit about how beer is brewed. I added in a bit about the history of beer in Oakland. At the time the buildings in Old Oakland were built, beer was a big deal, with multiple breweries (like the Brooklyn Brewery) and countless saloons.

We finished the tour in front of what was the 7th Street train station. One person on the walk was visiting from Canada and expressed interesting in learning more about Oakland in his limited time, so I walked with him past some murals (including the amazing new one on Alice Street), the Tribune Tower, and a few other notable locations. I left him happily checking out the pictures and displays at the Oakland History Room, and returned to Pacific Coast Brewing for some lunch.

The city walking tours are free, at 10AM on Wednesdays and Saturdays through October. They're a great way to learn about Oakland, so check 'em out.

More pictures from the walk and afterwards:

Old Oakland + West Oakland with OHA and Ruben Llamas

Saturday was the 2nd to last Oakland Heritage Alliance walking tour of the summer, "Stepping Into the Past" led by author Ruben Llamas.

While these days people think of Old Oakland and West Oakland as distinctly different places, before the freeways came through they were all one continuous neighborhood. Ruben grew up in the area, and through his stories brought Oakland from pre-WWII to the 1970s back to life. His father ran a music store (and barbershop), La Ideal Music, which was at the corner of 7th and Castro, where the 880-980 connector now runs.

The walk started in front of La Borinqueña Mex-icatessen, where Tina Tamale was busy preparing for a catering job. La Borinquña is one of the oldest stores in the area, although they were forced by eminent domain to move twice for new freeways. Tina is the 3rd generation running the business; her mama still comes in on Saturdays to offer tamale and other advice, and reminisce about the old days.

Our walk took us past Jefferson Square Park, where Ruben and other area youths spent countless hours playing baseball. Ruben told us about getting his first baseball glove, playing on police-sponsored teams, and at least one broken window story. We meandered past the site of La Ideal Music and heard about the once thriving music scene in the area, as well as further down 7th Street.

A nice walk, full of people stories, which is what history is all about. If you're interested in Oakland history, I recommend Ruben's book, Eye from the Edge. He sold and signed copies after the walk, but you can also find it at local bookstores.

More pictures from the walk:

HellaWeen Fun Run 2013 was hella fun

Saturday in Old Oakland was the 2nd annual HellaWeen Fun Run. Hundreds of people turned out to run, most of them in costume. Most people were just out for fun, but a few took the running a little more seriously. The top finishers for the 5K race were Daveon Sadusky (18:21), Connor Waterloo (20:06) and Ashley Clayborne (20:12).

As with last year, the most popular "water" stop was at Linden Street Brewery. Adam and his crew were serving up water, Old Brick Bitter, and Campovida had glasses of wine, too.

The best costume winner was a group dressed as Pacman and five ghosts, but there were lots of great, creative costumes. The winner of the most popular costume (relying in no small part on the cuteness factor) was a little girl dressed as Bat Kid and her mom dressed as Robin.

Congrats to all the racers, whether you ran, walked, skipped, or were in a stroller! I hope you all had lots of fun, and hope to see you out next spring for the Oakland Running Festival in March, whether you run or just cheer the racers on.



Lots more pictures from Saturday:

Oakland Urban Paths: Old Oakland and West Oakland

A special thank-you to Robert Perricone and Fran Estrada for the use of their photos. For a variety of reasons, OUP was short-handed for Saturday's walk, and I've found it difficult to lead a walk and take pictures of it at the same time, so I'm very grateful to them for the use of some of their photos.

---

These days it's easy to think of Old Oakland and West Oakland as separate areas of Oakland because of the freeways, but in the past they were connected into one continuous neighborhood. Saturday about 35 people and two dogs joined Oakland Urban Paths for a walk exploring these areas.

Tina Tamale
photo by Robert Perricone

We started the walk in front of La Borinqueña Mex-icatessen, where Tina "Tamale" Ramos told us about some of the changes in the area. Tina is a 3rd generation Oaklander and 3rd generation running a business in Oakland, so she and her family have seen a lot of the changes over the years. Her mom, "Mama Tamale", is retired from running the business, but still comes in on Saturdays and for special events, to give tamale advice and talk about the old days.

In front of Tina's tamale shop is a marker for the 10,000 Steps Project. It's an art project highlighting the historic parks of downtown Oakland. We passed by a number of other markers on the walk, including ones at Lafayette Square Park, the Pardee Home, and Jefferson Square Park. There are 37 markers total, and more than half of them have an associated audio segment, including interview clips with Tina and her mother.

We headed up to Lafayette Square Park, which was the original location of the Chabot Observatory. It was a gift of Anthony Chabot, who is probably best known as the founder of the water company that eventually became EBMUD. The observatory was in downtown Oakland from 1883 until 1915, when increasing light pollution from the growing city required a move to the hills.

A short walk from the park took us to the Pardee Home Museum. It was the home of Enoch Pardee, who was mayor of Oakland from 1876–1878, and later the home of his son, George Pardee, who was mayor of Oakland and later governor of California. Besides preserving the historic house, it also serves as a museum. George and Helen Pardee's daughters, Madeline and Helen, lived in the house their entire lives, changing very little over the years, so it is well-preserved. George Pardee was also involved in the creation of EBMUD and somewhat indirectly the creation of the East Bay Regional Park District.

Across the street is Preservation Park. There are 16 historic buildings there, but 11 were moved from elsewhere to save them from the wrecking ball when the freeways were built. The park is now run by a private company and houses offices for different non-profits as well as a small restaurant. Unfortunately there was an event so the park was closed, preventing us from getting a closer look at the homes and at the Latham-Ducel fountain in the middle of the park.

First Unitarian Church
photo by Fran Estrada

Around the corner from Preservation Park is the First Unitarian Church. The lovely brick structure was damaged in the 1906 earthquake and again in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. The church was started when Presbyterian pastor Laurentine Hamilton was charged with heresy for his teachings. He left the Presbyterian church, and much of the congregation went with him.

Our next stop was further away, on the other side of I-980. Blocks and blocks of homes and businesses were destroyed for the construction of the freeway, but some of the homes were saved and moved to Preservation Park. A block or so south of our route was the original location of Oakland High School, but it was gone long before the freeways came through.

We eventually came to de Fremery Park. The park is a hub of West Oakland, with a recreation center, picnic tables, tennis courts, and a skateboard park. It hosts a variety of events, including the annual Black Cowboy Parade, which has been around almost 40 years. Even more years ago than that, the Black Panther Party held rallies and food giveaways at the park. But originally it was the grounds of the de Fremery family house known as "The Grove". James and Virginie de Fremery were a wealthy couple and had numerous descendants in Oakland. But what is less well-known is that Viginie was the child of a Dutch merchant and a former slave he purchased then later married.

We discussed gentrification and the broader sweep of West Oakland's history. Although there were exceptions like William Shorey, the largest number of African Americans came to Oakland during WWI and WWII. Some had found work as Pullman Porters, and Oakland was the end of the line for the transcontinental railroad. Many settled in West Oakland, not necessarily because they wanted to, but housing covenants as well as unspoken rules made it so West Oakland was the only place they could live.

From there, we walked past the former site of the Miller home. Keeping with our earlier utilities theme, Albert Miller and his son C.O.G. Miller were involved in the creation of Pacific Gas & Electric. There were questions about the food mill across the street. Although there are no signs, it's still an active business. It began back in 1915 as the Pacific Coast Shredded Wheat Company; now it produces organic rice flour, crisp rice, and corn flakes, most of which goes to Japan.

Cypress Freeway Memorial Park

To the west we came to the Cypress Freeway Memorial Park. More recent arrivals to Oakland may not know that where Mandela Parkway is now was originally the location of the Cypress Structure which collapsed in the 1989 earthquake. The park is a memorial to those who died, and features a sculpture recalling the twisted wreckage of the freeway, the dust rising from the debris, and the ladders that people in the neighborhood brought to help reach the victims. There is also a mural called "15 seconds" which is a trace of the seismograph of the main temblor of the earthquake. Unfortunately part of it has been damaged and painted over.

We headed down Mandela to 7th Street. We didn't have time to walk there, but I pointed out where Esther's Orbit Room and other music clubs in West Oakland made up what was once known as the "Harlem of the West". Noted jazz and blues musicians from all the U.S. came to Oakland to perform, and some even got their start here.

We walked past The Crucible and talked about its art programs, as well as the Oakland Running Festival that passes through the area. Then it was down to Linden Street Brewery. The brewery itself is in a building that was originally cable manufacturing plant. But we were there to see the former location of the nearby Moore Dry Dock Company, which built ships including ferryboats for the Key System, as well as structural steel for projects like The Paramount Theatre, the High Street Bridge, and caissons for the Bay Bridge.

Our return journey took us past Urban Legend Cellars, one of Oakland's wineries. Turns out one of the people on the walk works for a winery in Alameda [ sorry, don't remember name ]. Both of them are members of the East Bay Vinter's Alliance, which holds a number of fun wine events in Oakland and Alameda. Then it was through Jefferson Square Park and back to La Borinqueña. A number of us stayed for lunch and for a sneak peek of the new garden space behind the restaurant. It was featured the next day at the Viva Tamales! fundraising event.

Thanks to Tina for her hospitality, special thanks to Robert Perricone and Fran Estrada for the photos, and thanks to everyone and everywoof that came out for the walk.

October's walk will be on the second Saturday, October 12th, and will feature the new Bay Bridge Trail and pathway.

Lots more photos from the walk:

yummy tamales at Viva Tamales! fundraiser

Today was the first ever ¡Viva Tamales! event, raising funds for the pregnancy education program at La Clinica de la Raza, which has been providing affordable healthcare in Oakland and the East Bay for over 40 years.

Lots of people turned out and were having a great time. I only tasted the non-meat tamales, but everything I tried was great. I haven't heard the official winner, or how much was raised, but the event seemed like it was a huge success.

Thanks to Tina Tamale for hosting the event, to all the competitors, to Tim and Chris for creating La Borinqueña's new garden and to everyone who came out to support the event.



Lots more pictures from today's event:

Old Oakland Dishcrawl

Last week K and I joined a bunch of food enthusiasts for a Dishcrawl of Old Oakland. A Dishcrawl means you don't know which restaurants you'll be going to, just the general location.

We started at El Gusano for some tasty Mexican food, then walked down the block to Breads of India. There they had a small buffet set up where we could sample some of their food. Then it was around the block to Miss Ollie's for some Carribean tastes. Then for dessert we headed over to Tamarindo. At each location we had a chance to try a variety of foods, chat with each other, or order drinks. One thing that makes a Dishcrawl different is that we also got a chance to hear from the owners and/or chefs of each restaurant about the food, and what inspires and motivates them.

I also met some people in person that I've only met online or on the phone before: Christina of the wonderful East Bay Dish site, Geneva of Savor Oakland Food Tours (a recent Oakland Indie Award winner), and Lindsay and her co-workers from Visit Oakland. I also met several other people who are regular Our Oakland readers! (Despite knowing from site stats that I get lots of visitors, it's always nice to meet them in person.)

All in all, it's a great experience, which K and I will try again. A word of warning: pace yourself. We were offered up lots of tasty food to try at all four restaurants. But it's hard to remember there are three more restaurants when you find something really tasty at the first!

More pictures from the Dishcrawl:


Also check out the post on Dishcrawl, and the Facebook album with some great pictures from Jonathan Fong.

Old Oakland Dishcrawl

Afun-sounding food event that's coming up is an Old Oakland Dishcrawl on Wednesday, June 19th at 7pm. In the Dishcrawl format, participants don't know which four restaurants they'll be going to until right before the event itself. Dishcrawl focuses on introducing food lovers not only to restaurants' signature dishes, but also to the chefs and owners behind those dishes. This creates a better understanding of the restaurant and develops a connection between the diners and the food they are eating.

While the restaurants are unknown, you can specify that you want a vegetarian option. It costs $45 per person, and tickets for this particular event are selling out. If you're interested, check out the Dishcrawl page for the Old Oakland event. K and I have our tickets, so we'll see you there!

Bike to Work Day 2013

Yesterday was the annual Bike to Work Day, and thousands of people all over the Bay Area took part. I volunteered with the East Bay Bicycle Coalition near Coast Guard Island along the estuary.

I don't know the overall stats, but we had over 250 bicyclists go past the energizer station. Not all of them stopped, as some had already been to other energizer stations, but it was awesome to see so many people out biking. There were young and old (though technically the very young were biking to day care, not work); first-timers and regular bike commuters; and people of all shapes, sizes and colors. Hopefully some of them will start biking to work on a regular basis!

I also volunteered at the hella fun after-work bike party in Old Oakland. It included live and DJ'ed music, food trucks including Tina Tamale and Liba Falafel, and beer from New Belgium, and a variety of bike-related activities. The bike parking was so popular that we had to set up extra racks and temporarily slow down the incoming rate! Local businesses were also getting a lot of love; people were checking out the new Spokes bike shop, Marion and Rose's Workshop, and heading for restaurants as the party started winding down.

Check out the coverage of the after work party on Oakland North.

More pictures from Bike to Work Day:

photo of the week: Old Oakland Farmers Market

Imet with some fellow Oakland history buffs to plan a future Oakland history bike ride. We had lunch at Rosamunde (which has several vegan sausage options) and talked about Jack London and Julia Morgan, well-known past Oakland residents who share a January birthday. But before lunch, I wandered around the adjacent Old Oakland Farmers Market and found this scene.

MLK filmfest at AAMLO

The following is from an email from the African American Museum & Library of Oakland. But I also wanted to call attention to the marrow donor drive in support of Bay Area journalist Kevin Weston. Read more about Kevin's battle at Oakland North.

---

AAMLO Annual MLK
Film Festival
January 21, 2013
11AM-4PM

The African American Museum & Library is honored to continue its traditional Martin Luther King, Jr. film festival by presenting a selection of critically acclaimed documentaries that put into historical perspective the nation defining-movement of the 1950s and 1960s for African American civil rights:

• The History Channel Presents: Voices of Civil Rights
• The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement
• Let Freedom Sing: How Music Inspired the Civil Rights Movement

AAMLO/FAAMLO welcomes Be The Match
Operated by the National Marrow Donor Program
4–6PM

Be The Match helps to find un-related (not blood related to the recipient) marrow and blood stem cell donor matches for patients suffering from leukemia, lymphoma and other life-threatening blood diseases. Our goal is to educate, recruit and sign-up new registry members from a wide range of ethnic and racial backgrounds in order to give all patients a better chance of finding their match. Please get involved to help the many African American families we work with.

One of our current patients is Kevin Weston. Mr. Weston is a 44-year-old news media journalist living in the San Francisco Bay Area. He is father to 1-year-old Lelah, stepfather to 16-year-old Aminah and the husband of Lateefah Simon. As a long-time mentor to aspiring journalists of color, Kevin's life has touched many. Now, Kevin and his family need our help. In August 2012, Kevin was diagnosed with an extremely rare form of leukemia. A bone marrow match can help save his life. Kevin is African-American. Only about 8% of the nation’s 10 million registered bone-marrow donors are Black, which makes his chance of finding a bone marrow match quite slim. You are the key to helping Kevin change these odds.

---

Registering with Be The Match is as simple as a cheek swab. And it can help safe a life.

signs: Oakland Police

Oakland Police HQ

Istarted writing a post the other week when the big news was that the federal judge had approved the deal between Oakland and the civil rights attorneys that stops just short of federal receivership for the police department. Instead, there will be a "compliance director", with the power to fire the chief and demote deputy and assistant chiefs. And ironically but not surprisingly, Oakland proceeded to hit 122 homicides for the year. (Now we're at 127, and the year isn't over yet.)

They've got a lovely sign, but as the article in Oakland Local says, it's been "A bad year for the Oakland Police Department". Here's hoping for all our sakes that 2013 is better for OPD, and brings reduced crime and particularly reduced violence for Oakland.

HellaWeen Fun Run

Saturday was the first ever HellaWeen Fun Run put on by the organizers of the Oakland Marathon. The 5 mile run started and finished in Old Oakland, and most of the runners were in costume. It looked like people had a lot of fun, before, during and after the run. Besides water stations, there was a beer stop at Linden Street Brewery. And after finishing, the runners and their fans were treated to a street party with live music. All in all, it was hella fun!

Lots of pictures from the HellaWeen Fun Run:

10,000 Steps: A Profile of Four Squares

I've written about the 10,000 Steps project before when Oakland Urban Paths hooked up with the project artists to learn about it during a walk. The 10,000 Steps project explores Oakland's historic parks and marks points of interest around downtown Oakland. There's an accompanying audio tour, with interviews of different people in the neighborhoods and explanations by local historians.

Sue Mark

Artists Sue Mark and Bruce Douglas researched Oakland history, interviewed people, and spent countless hours designing and placing fifty sidewalk markers around 4 of the 5 remaining parks from the 1800s. While 2 of the original 7 parks are gone, many of the historical points of interest are still around, and the husband and wife team captured stories of people who know and lived the history of those areas.

A short film was made about the project, 10,000 Steps: A Portrait of Four Squares. On Friday, July 20th at 8pm, there will be a showing of the award-winning film, along with a question and answer period with Sue Mark and Bruce Douglas after the showing. The free event will be held at Swan's Cohousing in Old Oakland, and you can register for it here.

The event is also a fundraiser for their next project, Mãos dos Sete Ofícios (Hands That Do All), which will take them to Portugal. As with their earlier projects, they'll be putting people's stories and history into an unusual format, in this case hand portraits of craftsmen, farmers and those who still work with their hands.

Bruce Douglas

Read more about 10,000 Steps and the artists on Grass Routes Travel and listen to a podcast interview with Sue Mark. Serena talks with her about art, history, food security and more. And come see the film on Friday evening!

Tamales y Vino

Last Friday was a fun little event with Tina Tamale at Urban Legend Cellars called "Tamales y Vino". It was a thank-you for the crowd source funders of Tina's new tamale truck and cart, as well as a change of pace for folks coming to Urban Legend for wine tasting. It was a lot of fun, with live music from Carlos Godinez, sweets from Semita Dulce, and of course, Urban Legends wines to taste and Tina's tasty tamales, sopas, and salads to eat.

pictures from the event:


Also check out Paula Wirth's great photos from the event, including a couple with me in them.

walking tour: New Era, New Politics

Saturday was a specially scheduled walking tour as part of the celebration of Black History Month in Oakland. It's the "New Era, New Politics" tour, and focuses on the more recent history of Oakland.

There was a great turnout, 23 people plus our guide, Renate. As when I took the tour last summer, it starts a little slow, with a lot of names and facts in front of the African American Museum and Library of Oakland (AAMLO). But I did learn some new things, such as the identity of the young boy pictured on one of the banners at the museum.

The banner shows Royal Townes, who became the first African American firefighter in Oakland, and was instrumental in helping desegregate the fire department. Royal was born in Oakland in 1899, and when denied union membership in his factory job because of his race, went to work as a railroad porter. He took the fire department application test and easily passed (he was an intelligent young man, and spoke three languages), but because of his race, his application needed a nudge from his former employer. He helped train many other black applicants to pass the test, and was scoutmaster for a Boy Scout troop that included Sam Golden, who went on to become the first African American fire chief in Oakland. There's an interesting paper at UC Berkeley about the desegregation of the Oakland Fire Department (.doc)

There was lots more we heard about, including people that should be familiar to Oaklanders, including: Delilah Beasley, C.L. Dellums, Lionel Wilson, Elihu Harris, Henry Gardner, Morrie Turner, Byron Rumford, and judge Donald McCullum. To read more about some of these names, click the links, and see my post from last year's New Era, New Politics walking tour.

more pictures:


some of the books referenced:

Oakland Fire Department

The Pullman Porters and West Oakland

Special shoutout to @kenyaw who was there with lots of friends celebrating his birthday. Happy Birthday, Kenya! And a reminder to support the Oakland walking tours program—it's one of the things possibly on the budget chopping block.

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!

food: Caffe 817

Sunday morning I joined a number of other Bay Area food bloggers and writers for a special tasting at Caffe 817 in Old Oakland. I'd been there some years back, but I heard new owners had purchased it and it was definitely worth checking out again.

Oakland owner/chefs Emily and Scott Goldenberg previously worked at Zuni Cafe, so they're not new to the food business, but they are new to ownership. Because Caffe 817 has been around a while with a loyal customer base, they didn't swoop in and change everything, but have been making smaller changes over the past year.

owner/chefs Scott and Emily

At first glance, they're doing things some other new Oakland cafes and restaurants are: sourcing from local, sustainable farms; simpler menu; rotating displays from local artists; open, airy space with an Old World vibe to hang out; etc. But they're passionate about local, sustainable food. They know not only where their ingredients come from, they know the people behind them. The grass-fed beef for their homemade corned beef hash, for example, comes from a ranch cooperative in Marin county and a similar cooperative in South Dakota. The Gruyere cheese is made locally, and the coffee comes from Oakland's Mr. Espresso, and they know all the people there.

homemade preserves

But they go a step further than local and sustainable, they go slow, too. Rather than poach the eggs, they have an old Italian-made egg steamer. The orange juice is fresh-squeezed. Emily makes the preserves (which are also available for sale by the jar) and the extremely delicious chocolate chip cookies. Scott makes the mostard di frutta spread that takes 2 days to prepare, and the slow-cooked corn beef hash.

OK, the food is local, sustainable, slow, but how does it taste? I only tried the items without meat, but it was all delicious. The Italian steamed egg, toasted levain, and olivada was amazing. The homemade honey yogurt and granola was simple but flavorful and not overly sweet. The coffee (they roast it over oak wood fires at Mr. Espresso) was extremely good, and a Prosecco mimosa made with fresh-squeezed orange juice is a whole different experience than your average brunch accompaniment. And did I mentioned the chocolate chip cookies? K agrees they're extremely delicious.

Italian toast

The food is also beautiful to look at, as evidenced by how much fun Paula Wirth was having photographing it. Even the dishes with meat looked appealing to me, a long-time vegetarian.

In short, I loved it. I'll definitely be going back.

more pictures:


coverage by other Bay Area bloggers and writers:
(I'll be updating this as other coverage comes online)

• Zennie62.com
• Eat Drink Oakland
• food socialist
• KQED Bay Area Bites

If you're an Oakland Local advertiser and interested in a similar event, or interested in advertising with Oakland Local, contact Susan Mernit.

Popup Hood grand opening

The Popup Hood in Old Oakland had its grand opening on Friday. Popup Hood is the brainchild of Alfonso Dominguez (of the bar and restaurant Tamarindo) and Sarah Filley, and fills some long-empty store fronts in Old Oakland.

Unlike most popup markets, this one (like the Montclair Collective) hopes to become permanent. Currently the shops are operating rent-free for six months, but the founders are hoping the shops are successful and become permanent stores. Current retailers include Manifesto Bikes, Marion and Rose’s Workshop, Sticks + Stones gallery, Piper and John General Goods, and Crown Nine jewelry. Part of the idea is that by having a critical mass of shops, they can help support each other and existing businesses by drawing more foot traffic to the area.

K and I headed down to 9th and Broadway in Old Oakland on Friday evening. When we got there about 6, there was a good crowd checking out the shops. By the time we left (after dinner and drinks at Tamarindo), the shops were packed. There are a wide variety of items for sale, including jewelry, clothes, art and bicycles, but the common theme is that they're locally and lovingly made. It's also great to see that part of Old Oakland filled up with people in the evening. Friday afternoons there's a farmers market that closes down the streets, and they kept 9th between Washington and Broadway closed for the evening. For the grand opening, you could get tickets punched by each of the popup retailers, and other businesses in Old Oakland gave various discounts for collecting them all.

Check out the Popup Hood in Old Oakland, and shop local!

More pictures:


Check out the great video about the Popup Hood by Eva Kolenko:

Popup Hood from Eva Kolenko

More coverage:
New York Times
Oakland North
SFGate
East Bay Express
Smart Planet