Nick Christopher, supervisor at Berkeley Bowl, knows his way around the produce stand. Photo: Sarah Henry. Nick Christopher moved out West in the early 90s, drawn to the punk-rock scene here he toured with a band and hung out with Green Day. These days Christopher spends more time thinking about perfect produce than the perfect […]
Berkeley Bowl
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Jam maker turns hobby into thriving local business
Dafna Kory at Berkeley’s Local 123 Café. Photo: Sarah Henry. Dafna Kory at Berkeley’s Local 123 Café. Photo: Sarah Henry. Dafna Kory discovered the delights of jalapeňo jam during pre-dinner nibbles at a Thanksgiving gathering. She went out to buy a jar, couldn’t find the mighty spicy condiment anywhere, so she began experimenting with making […]
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Berkeley Bowl workers get new chance for union election
Union rally at Berkeley Bowl in June 2010. Photo: Bob Patterson. Workers at the Berkeley Bowl on Oregon Street are going to have another chance to decide whether they want a union. The National Labor Relations Board in late December nullified the election Berkeley Bowl held in June 2010 that decertified the United Food and […]
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Berkeley Bites: Lois Porter, Mamie & Makhi’s Sweet Potato Pie
Lois Porter and her signature sweet potato pies Lois Porter took a beloved family recipe and developed a sweet potato product that takes some of the time out of cooking with these nutritious tubers. With the seasonal shift to fall and Thanksgiving around the corner, her perishable product was recently picked up by both Berkeley […]
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The kitchen chez Alice
Vanity Fair, which concentrates more on Southern California stars than the more home-spun denizens of Northern California, features Berkeley’s Alice Waters’ kitchen in its October issue. With a trip to the Berkeley Farmers’ Market, or to Berkeley Bowl, most Berkeleyans could duplicate what Waters has on her table.
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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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Michael Pollan speaks on egg recall
Local food expert Michael Pollan was on CNN Monday night explaining why no one should be surprised that 550 million eggs have been recalled because they may have been tainted by salmonella. Salmonella in eggs can be linked back to the 1970s and 1980s when industrial farmers started crowding chickens together to streamline their growth, […]
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West Berkeley Walgreens seeks beer/wine approval
A Berkeleyside reader writes in to spread the word about a meeting at the Shattuck Hotel tonight at 7pm between lawyers representing Walgreens and residents local to the Walgreens on San Pablo and Ashby Gilman, Telegraph and Adeline. Walgreens wants to sell beer and wine at the stores, and is required to notify residents living […]
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In Berkeley: The search for the perfect eclair
By Jane Stillwater Recently I met a doctor who told me, “The first thing that I do when I get a new patient is to take him entirely off gluten and dairy for a month. And chances are good that, if the patient takes my advice, whatever symptoms he has will improve.” I also read […]
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Berkeley Bowl workers decide whether to keep union
Rally on June 21 outside Berkeley Bowl As shoppers go into the Oregon branch of Berkeley Bowl, they may see a table set up nearby with pamphlets talking about unions and justice. Six years after the government ordered Berkeley Bowl to bargain with the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 5, that union is struggling […]
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Essence of Berkeley: Food shopping as worship
Berkeley's Farmers' Markets: outdoor tent revivalists? In case you missed it, a post on this site last week elicited an entertaining rumination by Berkeleysider EBGuy on Berkeley’s food stores and their role as our new cathedrals — or temples, or synagogues. More Berkeleysiders weighed in with their analogies. Here’s the full list (so far): Farmers’ Markets: […]
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Berkeley’s food meccas: The new religion
Shopping at Berkeley Bowl: non-denominational? We couldn’t resist hoisting from the comments this reflection by EBGuy on food shopping as religion (prompted by today’s opening of Berkeley’s Trader Joe’s) : I have a theory about Berkeley.* With organized religion on the decline, we look to food to provide a shared communal experience. Grocery stores are our cathedrals. […]
