Week 4, August 2010
This week’s highlighted local treasure is
Oakland’s “Eat Real Fest”
From the East Bay Express:
It’s a wonder this is only the second iteration of Eat Real Fest. The East Bay is, after all, an area notoriously saturated with foodies, farmers, and do-it-yourselfers; where Alice Waters, Michael Pollan, and urban farmsteader Novella Carpenter are elevated to celebrity status; where food trucks slinging artisanal tacos, sandwiches, and cupcakes attract around-the-block lines on a regular basis; and where a festival-happy populace manages to throw events celebrating everything from salmon to beer to tomatoes. Suffice it to say that pooling all of that enthusiasm for fresh, local, affordable food into a three-day celebration was a bit of a no-brainer.
At least that’s what Susan Coss and Anya Fernald thought, and it turns out they were more right than they ever imagined. The two had worked together to organize Slow Food Nation, a festival of artisanal food in San Francisco in 2008, and though they were inspired by that event’s success, Coss said they wanted to do something a little more casual and accessible, a celebration of the cheap, tasty street food they loved. What Coss said was originally conceived as a laid-back tribute to taco trucks and beer quickly morphed into something bigger and more ambitious. But, Coss said, “always, at the heart of it was this whole idea that good food can be accessible and affordable — and more than that, that it should be. “Full article here…
If you’ve ever been through parts of town where a grocery store is nowhere to be found, but where liquor stores are on every corner, you know how important it is that we bring this good food knowledge and preparation to the streets. And why not have a fun time doing it too? Have a fun visit to the Eat Real Fest in Oakland’s Jack London Square this weekend!
So, let’s find some fun ’round the bay…
Beres Hammond and the Harmony House Musicians, Inner Circle, and Culture featuring Kenyatta Hill: Friday in San Francisco. Three shows in one Friday night at The Independent. This is a great venue for live music and these three look like some fantastic musicians to see. From the description of Beres Hammond on the website: “And oh, what a voice it is! Beres’ delivery, as rich and flavorfully bittersweet as dark chocolate, embodies the spiritual passion heard in the secular ballads of Sam Cooke, the laid back cool of Marvin Gaye and the gut wrenching “Pain In My Heart” grit of Otis Redding.”
Gardening and Cooking Class with the Pros: Saturday in Berkeley. From their website: Join us for a Saturday afternoon of cultivating, cooking and eating. Berkeley’s Kitchen and Friends of Kenney Cottage Garden (FKCOG) are joining forces to bring you a class on urban gardening and summer cooking. The class covers the basics of urban gardening from seed planting to harvesting; and also includes a hands-on cooking session that incorporates seasonal ingredients.
Egyptian Oracles Lecture: Sunday at UC Berkeley. From the East Bay Express: In ancient Egypt, oracles played a role somewhere between lawyers and priests. During civil and criminal disputes, these spiritually adept individuals were tasked with asking the appropriate deity to dole out opinions, verdicts, and sentences. At 20 Barrows Hall on the UC Berkeley campus on Sunday, Aug. 29, Terry Moore delivers a lecture titled “Ask the God: Oracles in Pharaonic Egypt.” 2:30 p.m., free.
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Pic of the Week:
Which way is the Top of the Mark?
(Re-opening on Friday, August 27th at 4:00 pm)