Minh Tsai: making impressive headway promoting a humble little legume. Minh Tsai is on a mission to make tofu the next hip artisanal food. He knows he has a ways to go to get many Americans to even taste tofu, but if anyone can make it cool to eat bean curd, this enthusiastic self-described tofu […]
Acme Bread
Posted inArts, Nosh
Understated style: tweeting the Chez Panisse way
Making quick work of a tray of roasted red peppers at Chez Panisse. Last month Chez Panisse succumbed to social media madness and joined Twitter. But, rather than bombard its already 2,431 followers with promotional messages or daily menu updates, the Alice Waters-owned restaurant is playing it cool and tweeting with the understated style we […]
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Berkeley Bites: Kara Hammond, Elmwood Café
A decade ago, and fresh out of North Carolina, Kara Hammond landed a gig at Café Fanny, a tiny slip of a place in North Berkeley opened 25 years ago by, oh, a certain famous local chef. Hammond, who had run a homespun bakery in Greensboro, wanted to get some kitchen experience in the Bay […]
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Berkeley Bites: Suzanne Schafer & Shari Washburn, Ebbett’s Good to Go
The Twitter handle pretty much sums things up. Two food-obsessed moms try to have their cake and eat it too: Start a food truck and still be home with the kids. Meet the newest truck on the block to hit the streets of Emeryville. You can’t miss the baby-blue colored vehicle emblazoned with the Ebbett’s […]
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Berkeley Bites: Tu David Phu, Saul’s Delicatessen
Tu David Phu at Saul's. Photo: Stephen Loewinsohn. What’s a nice, young, tattooed Vietnamese boy from West Oakland doing as the top chef in a Jewish deli in North Berkeley? I’m so glad you asked. Tu David Phu wanted to take a break from working the stoves in Bay Area fine dining establishments — his […]
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Dense, airy, crusty or soft: Berkeley’s best baguettes
By Emily Gordis As a child growing up in Berkeley, I’ve only tasted pre-sliced bread twice. When I was younger, my family traveled to Europe and I got to eat real French baguettes. Today, we live a few blocks from a bakery and get fresh bread every morning, like many Berkeley residents. Our city is filled […]
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Berkeley Bites: Lisa Rogovin, Epicurean Concierge
Lisa Rogovin. Photo: Robert Durell. A former ad sales rep for Gourmet magazine (R.I.P.), Lisa Rogovin had what she calls her Eat, Pray, Love moment in 2005, meaning she left an unhappy marriage, sold the house, and embarked on a food-fueled journey around the world, visiting 14 countries (yes, India was in the mix) in […]
