Berkeley

Master of Puppets

Serious Bread: Vital Vittles Sourdough Rye

Fresh-ground flour gives this bread extra flavor.

Tomorrow: San Francisco International Chocolate Salon

(Chocolate Mayan calendar by the Xocolate Bar in Berkeley) The San Francisco International Chocolate Salon takes place tomorrow, March 21, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Herbst Pavilion (99 Marina Blvd.). In its third year, the celebration of cacao hosted by online/on-demand Bay Area food channel Taste ... More >>

Humphry Slocombe's Foie-Gras Ice Cream Sandwich

I can't say I was able to detect any foie--which might be just as well.

Michael Bauer Watch: Why So Few Steakhouses?

The Catholics have a name for it: "gluttony of delicacy."

City of Burgers, Berkeley Edition: Flame

Flame Gourmet Burgers 2985 College (at Ashby), Berkeley; 510-666-8500. The East Bay has many contenders to burger immortality: Barney's, Café Rouge, Christopher's, Wood Tavern. But comparisons are tricky, since each operates in burger genres whose differences range from slight to whopping. There's ... More >>

Hip-Hop in the Park Keeps the Culture Alive

EKAphotography"Why you trippin? I built your new casa!!" Hip-hop, in Berkeley? Yes yes y'all. Even the threat of rain couldn't stop the 13th Annual Hip-Hop in the Park Festival from going down this past Saturday at People's Park. A core audience mainly culled from all the beats-and-rhymes heads at ... More >>

Chocolate and Chalk: Together at Last

In a few weeks, they'll be eating chalk and drawing with chocolate in the Gourmet Ghetto. Wait! Scratch that, reverse it, as Willy Wonka would say. The annual Chocolate & Chalk Art Festival in Berkeley combines a sidewalk chalk-drawing contest with a wild tasting menu created by area establi ... More >>

Doggy Bag: The Day's Odds and Ends

Our favorite morsels from the food blogs and beyond. Local hero: Last week, Bill Fujimoto stepped down as manager of Monterey Market, the watershed Berkeley produce biz that supplied deliciousness to Chez Panisse, Quince, and Zuni Café, among others. His departure came after a family disagreement ... More >>

UC Theater to Become Live Music Venue?

The UC Theater in 1917​ Berkeley's venerable UC Theater may be reopening for business, not as a movie house, but as an entertainment venue. According to Leah Matanky of Slim's/the Great American Music Hall, her company has a proposal to renovate the storied building into a "lovely, world class l ... More >>

Freight & Salvage Announces New Digs, Open House

Ramblin' Man: Ramblin' Jack Elliot​ Before there was freak-folk and alt.country, there was Freight & Salvage. The venerable Berkeley folk music venue and coffeeshop has been around since the days when bluegrass was just "grass," and jug bands were the order of the day--41 years, to be exact. ... More >>

Bay Links: Transportation, Movie Houses, & Dramatic Reenactments

Look out, Berkeley. Here comes John Walsh.​America's Most Wanted comes to Berkeley, reenacts horrific crime. [Crime Scene]Own a fabled piece of cinematic history. [Curbed]"This can't be happening, not to me." The Four Stages of Muni Passenger Grief. [SF Citizen]Will cars take a back seat to bikes ... More >>

Berkeley Sweet Shop Alegio Announces One Gem of a San Francisco Outpost

T. PalmerAlegio's Berkeley shop.​We've long admired the presentation of Joan Coukos' chocolates at Alegio (1511 Shattuck at Vine, Berkeley), arranged under glass just as precious stones would be. So it's only a small shock that Alegio has announced that it now has a second outpost at San Francisco ... More >>

This Weekend: Slow Food Potluck in Berkeley

slowfoodusa.org​Slow Food Berkeley has planned its New Year's Potluck for this Saturday, Jan. 9, noon to 3 p.m. in the auditorium of Berkeley Adult School (1701 San Pablo at Francisco). RSVP your attendance, group size, and dish you will bring to events@slowfoodberkeley.com. While it is a free eve ... More >>

Tomorrow's Bake Sale for Haiti Spans the Bay

T. PalmerGet baked for a good cause.​Chef Samin Nosrat has set a fundraising goal of $10,000 for tomorrow afternoon's Bake Sale for Haiti, and has lined up three transbay locations to hawk the tempting baked goods. Stop by Bi-Rite in San Francisco, Gioia in Berkeley, or Pizzaiolo in Oakland to loa ... More >>

Google Knows a Thing or Two About the Bay Area

I love playing around with the automatic results for Google searches because they're like a window into the public's brain. Often a terrifying window. I decided to plug in the names of Bay Area cities and see what came up. I conducted my experiment as an homage to the "name game," i.e. you type in y ... More >>

Cabbie Charged with Molesting Passengers

His flag was up... ​Usually when you hear about crime in a cab, it's because the cabbie has been held up or brutalized by some bat-shit passenger. But in ass-backwards Berkeley, apparently, its a cabbie allegedly doing the attacking these days. Cab Driver Ali Al Obadi, 29, allegedly invited female ... More >>

Future of Food's Deborah Koons Garcia Previewing New Film Next Week

​Ever wondered what it'd be like to attend a soil science convention? We're not sure we'd make it past the dreary continental breakfast. Nonetheless, we're excited about Symphony of the Soil, a new multi-film project by Deborah Koons Garcia, maker of the excellent The Future of Food. This docu ... More >>

Baylinks: Pot, Cybermemos, & Fake Taxis

​Plans to give Sunset District its very own pot club approved. [SFAppeal]The strange new world of the Internet! [Boing Boing]Did you read my cybermemo yet? [Sex Pigeon]Muni driver helps rider out with those awkward bike racks. [Muni Diaries]Can you tell a real taxi from an impostor? [Akit's Compla ... More >>

Philz Coffee Opens in Berkeley's Gourmet Ghetto

Philz Coffee/Facebook​Philz Coffee, a perennial winner of SF Weekly's readers poll for Best Coffee, just opened its seventh location in the heart of the Gourmet Ghetto, just across the street from Chez Panisse and down the block from the Cheese Board.

Baylinks: Naughty Knitters, Muni Money, & Time Travel

These knitters aren't quite so innocent.​ Renegade knitting pranksters set off a war of (knitted) words in Berkeley. [Daily Clog]Rant: Hipster Apocalypse, otherwise known as the hipocalypse. [Uptown Almanac]Do you like to get drunk? Do you own a cat? Have we got a project for you. [Pawsome]Could M ... More >>

New Measures Leave Berkeley Poised To Be Detroit of Pot

Meanwhile, down at the pot factory...​Two new measures encouraging pot-growing warehouses in Berkeley's industrial district and permitting a fourth retail outlet on the city's commercial strips lay the ground for the East Bay city to become to marijuana what Detroit used to be for cars. By the wa ... More >>

The Xocolate Bar Launches Chocolate CSA

Tamara PalmerThe Xocolate Bar's idea of fresh produce.​Berkeley's the Xocolate Bar has come up with a sweet twist on Community Supported Agriculture, which enables members to pick up regular shipments of farm-fresh produce. Instead of a CSA, the Xocolate Bar is now enrolling members in its CSC ... More >>

Cinnaholic Opens Tomorrow in Berkeley

Kat Spoer​We reported on its lease signing back in March, and now Cinnaholic is finally ready to unleash its 30-plus varieties of vegan cinnamon rolls this weekend in Berkeley. Cinnaholic's pinup owner Shannon Michelle Radke told SFoodie the store will be open to the public tomorrow (Sat., Jul ... More >>

Baylinks: Arson, Lake Tahoe, Momblock

Welcome to Berkeley. The times, they are a-changin'!​Tenants believe apartment fire was an act of revenge [Mission Mission]U.C. Berkeley ranked among most "military friendly" schools. No spitting. [U.C. Berkeley News Center]Restoration of Lake Tahoe is flowing smoothly [SF Gate]

Cuban from Berkeley Bowl West Cafe

John BirdsallCuban sandwich with Fra'Mani rosemary ham, pork loin, Gruyere, and house pickles ($7.50).​Monday, August 23, 2010 Marc A./Yelp​The original Berkeley Bowl on Oregon Street is the one place in the Bay Area where you never have to doubt the presence of Armenian cucumbers, fres ... More >>

It's Perfectly Natural

John BirdsallCuban sandwich with Fra'Mani rosemary ham, pork loin, Gruyere, and house pickles ($7.50).​Monday, August 23, 2010 Marc A./Yelp​The original Berkeley Bowl on Oregon Street is the one place in the Bay Area where you never have to doubt the presence of Armenian cucumbers, fres ... More >>

Where Can I Take a Vegan Friend and a Meat-Crazy Husband?

If this mixed couple can stay married for 19 years, you can bring a carnophile and a vegan together for one dinner. ​This morning, I got a series of tweets from @aynsavoy, whom I'd helped out a few months ago:My (mostly) vegan best friend is visiting this weekend from Texas. My husband is a bit of ... More >>

Ippuku uses every part of the chicken to its best effect

If this mixed couple can stay married for 19 years, you can bring a carnophile and a vegan together for one dinner. ​This morning, I got a series of tweets from @aynsavoy, whom I'd helped out a few months ago:My (mostly) vegan best friend is visiting this weekend from Texas. My husband is a bit of ... More >>

Peeping Tom -- In Drag -- Accused of Stalking Women's Locker Room

Hello ladies! ​In Berkeley -- as in San Francisco -- the sight of a man in drag with a towel obscuring his face doesn't warrant a second look. But in the women's locker room? Not cool. The Daily Californian is reporting just such a man has breached the women's showers of U.C. Berkeley's Recreation ... More >>

Huerta Vida, a Smoky and Spicy Intoxicator by Gather

Tamara Palmer​Esquire named Sean Baker of Gather its 2010 Chef of the Year earlier in the week, so spirits are particularly high in this charming Berkeley restaurant right now. The cocktail we chose to toast his success succeeded in getting us pretty twisted. The Huerta Vida is a masculine concoct ... More >>

Heritage Birds Flock to Cafe Rouge for Thanksgiving Preview

traditionalfoodstore.comHeritage turkeys at BN Ranch.​Thanksgiving's a month away! Next week at Berkeley's Café Rouge, meat guru Bill Niman holds forth on heritage turkeys, a specialty of the BN Ranch company he founded with his wife, Nicolette Hahn Niman. Actually, the event's a heritage pou ... More >>

KQED's Nourish: Feel-Good Critique of the Food System

Around here, questioning where your food comes from is as reflexive as recycling, even if you lean on Safeway far more than you admit. A series starting on KQED next week drives home the question. But where Food, Inc. employed shock therapy to get you to cold-turkey factory chickens, Nourish: Foo ... More >>

Watch: The Pack's Young L Comes Down From Outer Space and Gets 'Conscious' -- for a Second

Young L​If you haven't been paying attention this year, The Pack's Young L has emerged a production tour-de-force, giving birth to some of the most original sounds this year. On his latest track, "Conscious Minds," the Berkeley native steps away from his usual, out-of-this world sounds and plays a ... More >>

Does Berkeley Hate America?

​It pains us, Dear Reader, to ask the question. We like Berkeley. It has nice fruit trees and bright college students. But ask we must, because the Berkeley City Council has given us no choice.I mean, come on. When you schedule votes on two resolutions -- one supporting alleged Wikileaker Bradley ... More >>

What to Do This Weekend, Mar. 18-20

Janice V./YelpOff the Grid returns to Fort Mason Center. See Fri., Mar. 18.​Craving more? Scroll through additional listings here. Fri., Mar. 18: Whole Beast Supper Club Rabbit Tasting La Victoria Mexican Bakery and Café, 2937 24th St. (at Alabama), Seatings at 6:15 and 9 p.m. Pop-up chef an ... More >>

Ruined: Theater Review

Janice V./YelpOff the Grid returns to Fort Mason Center. See Fri., Mar. 18.​Craving more? Scroll through additional listings here. Fri., Mar. 18: Whole Beast Supper Club Rabbit Tasting La Victoria Mexican Bakery and Café, 2937 24th St. (at Alabama), Seatings at 6:15 and 9 p.m. Pop-up chef an ... More >>

S.F. Rising: Persian Herb Bread from Middle East Market

Jonathan KauffmanBerkeley's Middle East Market bakes LP-sized herb breads. ​ A weekly survey of bread in San Francisco ― the baked and the fried, the artisan and the novelty.Persian herb-cheese bread Source: Middle East Market, 2054 San Pablo (at University), Berkeley, 510-704-8800.Price: $3 ... More >>

Ruined: Theater Review

Jonathan KauffmanBerkeley's Middle East Market bakes LP-sized herb breads. ​ A weekly survey of bread in San Francisco ― the baked and the fried, the artisan and the novelty.Persian herb-cheese bread Source: Middle East Market, 2054 San Pablo (at University), Berkeley, 510-704-8800.Price: $3 ... More >>

Japan Radiation Makes its Way into Milk

It does a body good ... or does it?​Before you pour that next bowl of cereal, read this: Scientists in Berkeley told reporters that indeed the radioactive plum from the disastrous nuclear leak in Japan has made its way into an American staple -- milk.The good news is that scientists said the low l ... More >>

Edible Schoolyard Plant Sale

Edible SchoolyardThe Edible Schoolyard's Adorable Sign.​Edible Schoolyard's Annual Mother's Day Plant Sale Where: Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School, 1781 Rose (at Grant), Berkeley, 510-558-1335 When: Sat., May 7, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Cost: Prices vary for individual items The rundown: There' ... More >>

Rancid: Show Preview

Edible SchoolyardThe Edible Schoolyard's Adorable Sign.​Edible Schoolyard's Annual Mother's Day Plant Sale Where: Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School, 1781 Rose (at Grant), Berkeley, 510-558-1335 When: Sat., May 7, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Cost: Prices vary for individual items The rundown: There' ... More >>

Fleet Foxes: Show Preview

Edible SchoolyardThe Edible Schoolyard's Adorable Sign.​Edible Schoolyard's Annual Mother's Day Plant Sale Where: Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School, 1781 Rose (at Grant), Berkeley, 510-558-1335 When: Sat., May 7, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Cost: Prices vary for individual items The rundown: There' ... More >>

About as Berkeley as You Can Get: Food of the Americas Day!

​What: Foods of the Americas Day Where: Berkeley Botanical Gardens When: Sun., October 16, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Cost: Free with garden admission The rundown: The weather's supposed to be bright and beautiful on Sunday, so why not head to Berkeley where it's even brighter and more beautiful, and ... More >>

Get Pickled at Berkeley's Pickle Picnic!

​What: Pickle Picnic! Where: The Cultured Organic Pickle Shop When: Wed., October 21, 6-8 p.m. Cost: $15 The rundown: Remember how I said Food of the Americas was the most Berkeley event in the world? You don't? Well, anyway, boy were we wrong because this is pickle picnic is way more Ber ... More >>

Need Encouragement to Eat More Veggies? See Vegucated This Week!

​What: Vegucated screening Where: David Brower Center and Victoria Theatre When: Tue., October 24, 7 p.m., and Wed., October 25, 7 p.m. Cost: $15-$40 The rundown: Vegucated is an charming documentary that follows three entertaining New Yorkers -- hilarious, smart, and weird -- who eat onl ... More >>

Man Shot at UC Berkeley

Someone shot at Berkeley ​Update (3:40 p.m.): According to the media relations office, the suspect was seen carrying a gun on campus. Police were contacted and spotted the man who was walking into the building's computer lab. Police followed the man, ordering him to put his hands up. When the man ... More >>

Teen Prostitution Is a Growing Concern at Berkeley High School

How can we make them more interested in science?​The Berkeley community is freaking out over increasing reports of high school students who are apparently working as prostitutes when they should be working on their math homework. Berkeley police confirmed that they are getting at least one or two ... More >>

Reports of Prostitution Referrals from Berkeley High School Hyped - But By Whom?

Who's to blame - the source or the messenger? ​The Berkeley police are disputing a KTVU report last week -- that SF Weekly then blogged -- about the number of possible cases of student prostitutes that Berkeley High School refers to the Berkeley Police Department.Last week, KTVU reported that the ... More >>

Berkeley's Sgt. Mary Kusmiss Regrets Stoking High School Prostitution Hype

Here, this always helps us journalist interpret stats ​The source of the Berkeley High School prostitution hype has fessed up, and believe it or not, the informant is a cop. Actually, the frenzy over talk of teen prostitutes at Berkeley High can be chalked up to a innocent, yet damning mistake.&nb ... More >>