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"content": "\u003cp>[dropcap]I[/dropcap] didn’t want to start the year like this. I’m not the type of person who likes to feed into negativity, and I want to be clear: I absolutely love the Bay, where I was born and raised since 1987. I have the old Bay Bridge tattooed on my right arm to remind me where I come from — a symbol of what we’ve long stood for as an interconnected region.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-13927875\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Alan.Chazaro.headshot.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"180\" height=\"207\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Alan.Chazaro.headshot.jpg 180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Alan.Chazaro.headshot-160x184.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 180px) 100vw, 180px\">But at times, I hate it here, too. And after viral TikTok influencer \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@keith_lee125\">Keith Lee\u003c/a> suddenly cut his visit to the Bay Area short on Thursday, just twelve days into 2024, I can’t help but wonder: Are the Bay Area’s struggles actually worse than we’ve been telling ourselves?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lee, a former MMA fighter from Detroit, has built up a national following for his blunt, plainspoken food review videos, which he films inside his car. With more than 15 million followers on TikTok, the young tastemaker can completely change a restaurant’s fortunes with a single positive mention — especially the largely unknown, mostly Black-owned mom-and-pop businesses that he reviews. He’s been dubbed “\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/food/restaurants/article/keith-lee-bay-area-restaurants-18592120.php\">the internet’s most famous food critic\u003c/a>,” and there’s even a term to describe a restaurant he’s visited: It’s been “Keith Lee-d.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So, when Lee announced that his first review tour of 2024 would be a trip to the Bay Area, local food lovers were positively giddy. But less than a week after he arrived, Lee unexpectedly cut his visit short, citing lackluster food, an allergic reaction and general shock and dismay at the living conditions he found in the Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By all accounts, it’s unlike Lee. He’s generally seen as conscientious, with no history of mindlessly tarnishing small businesses, let alone diminishing an entire region.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the Bay Area unsettled him. This is the first time Lee has ended a trip on short notice, explaining, in a \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@keith_lee125/video/7323079692276288798?lang=en\">farewell video\u003c/a>, that he “[doesn’t] believe the Bay is a place for tourists right now… the people of the Bay are just focused on \u003cem>surviving\u003c/em>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote class=\"tiktok-embed\" style=\"max-width: 605px;min-width: 325px\" cite=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@keith_lee125/video/7323079692276288798\" data-video-id=\"7323079692276288798\">\n\u003csection>\u003ca title=\"@keith_lee125\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@keith_lee125?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@keith_lee125\u003c/a> Bay Area taste test 💕 would you try it ? 💕 \u003ca title=\"foodcritic\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/foodcritic?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#foodcritic\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"♬ original sound - Keith Lee\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/music/original-sound-7323079767438871327?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">♬ original sound – Keith Lee\u003c/a>\u003c/section>\n\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>[tiktok][dropcap]A[/dropcap]lthough I’m a food writer by title, I practically never watch food videos online, and I generally don’t care if Lee — or any other critic or influencer — thinks a greasy pouch of French fries should be scored a 7.2 or a 6.7. Ironically, I don’t really want to hear in detail about the food itself. Food either smacks, or it doesn’t. Rather, it’s the people, and the contexts — social, racial, economic, cultural — that feed my sense of wholeness, and which requires nuance and perspective to appreciate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Perhaps there’s something to be said for why, despite the Bay Area’s sparkling reputation as a food destination, Lee seemed unable to find very much that was even half-decent to eat. But when he implied, for basically the first time in his career, that the Bay Area is too out of pocket, too distressed, too dysfunctional, too disarrayed, too unsafe, too \u003cem>everything\u003c/em> except whatever trendy food-take people wanted to hear, I felt him. His seeming dissatisfaction with the Bay Area wasn’t even mostly about the food. It was about our living conditions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I was born in the Bay to immigrant parents, raised in the Bay with hella types of friends and have seen a lot of shit here. But you can’t tell me that right now, in 2024, the Bay Area isn’t more overpriced, overcrowded and unlivable than it has been at any other point in my lifetime — even the food is often outrageously expensive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And that doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Check the housing prices. The other day, my dad genuinely asked me why I don’t consider buying a mobile home for my family because it’s “still affordable.” My wife and I have a son, and we both have master’s degrees. We’ve worked tremendously hard as first-generation college graduates. And we can’t afford much more than a room or two here. Many people here don’t have the time or money to chase after the most trending meal. They don’t even have regular access to meals. Period.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13939383,arts_13907726,arts_13906384']How many more people living in tents do we have to pass by before we reach a collective tipping point? I know I’m not alone in feeling a sense of dystopia, even as a proud local. Neither is Lee in feeling that way as a curious outsider. And his comments are bringing that to light in a compassionate way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thursday night’s social media feeds provided ample evidence that Lee struck a nerve. I’ve never seen a piece of food content stir up more debate among Bay Area thought leaders, particularly in the local hip-hop community. Oakland lyricist Tajai from the mighty Souls of Mischief chimed in, agreeing with Lee: “This is not to be a doomsayer or be negative about the Bay, but I think we’ve gotten used to some shit, y’all, that is not normal.” In a \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/RapNoir/status/1745696413043093755\">brief video\u003c/a>, he references a major Latin American city that’s twice the size of the Bay Area — and how we have a “600% higher homeless rate” than a “developing nation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Popular San Francisco artist Stunnaman02 \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/stunnaman02/status/1745694988510679086\">got in on it as well\u003c/a>: “Keith Lee’s synopsis of The Bay was necessary. Humbling, environmentally The Bay is a shell of itself. Overpriced, not as crackin as it has been in the past, and economically Oakland is being stripped unfortunately.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>East Oakland rapper ALLBLACK said he was “\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/22NDWAYS/status/1745653462811935223\">embarrassed\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of course, other people made jokes about it all. Some posted clips from movies like \u003cem>Next Friday\u003c/em> (“\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/Numbah1/status/1745688458960728386\">we live raw\u003c/a>”); others affirmed Lee’s synopsis but with extra spice (“I 100% agree. This mf [Bay Area] is \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/marismenu/status/1745699350146421210\">raggedy\u003c/a>!”); more than a few called out his poor choices (“respectfully \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/paocarisweat/status/1745731992350781515\">keith lee kinda be eating anywhere\u003c/a>”); and some just playfully owned the crappiness of it all (“\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/KhadijahTaine/status/1745692611636343262\">Bay Area can’t never keep anything\u003c/a>, the Raiders, The A’s, The Warriors, Keith Lee. Nothing.”).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And Dr. Ameer Hasan Loggins, a postdoctoral scholar at Stanford University, pointed out that “\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/LeftSentThis/status/1745710522077716604\">some of y’all are focused on the food, when Lee was focused on the effects of structural inequality\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/RunJuly/status/1745692576274145790\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These are all valid takes. And they all speak to a certain part of my Bay Area soul, upbringing and loyalty. There’s even a part of me that is like, \u003cem>man, who even is Keith Lee, and what does he know about us and our food scene?\u003c/em> And there’s been no shortage of Bay Area defenders hopping online to lightly condemn, or at minimum question, Lee’s take.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rexx Life Raj’s manager, Ari Simon, \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/RexxLifeAri/status/1745691709479223314\">stuck his chest out for the Bay\u003c/a>: “I fw Keith Lee but I think him cutting early reflects more on him than us… Sounds like bro bought into doomloop narrative and psyched himself out / was doin anything with not a lot of help lol (that sf burger spot).” Ari concluded that the issue is with Lee’s \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/RexxLifeAri/status/1745694175482486874\">poor taste\u003c/a>, rather than the Bay Area’s shortcomings (“I’m either blaming lack of palette [sic] or lack of planning”).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There were plenty of comments along those lines — those who took up arms for our zip codes and were, to a degree, unwilling to hear Lee’s polite criticisms. But what many upset folks are missing is that Lee wasn’t necessarily saying the food here is trash. Instead, he’s fixated on something more important. He’s saying that the state of our day-to-day living — crime, safety, congestion, cost, tents, burned-out cars — is, in his eyes, precariously unwell, and bordering on social crisis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But he also gave the Bay some deserved props, too. How could you not?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The people from the Bay were absolutely amazing, and I’ll never forget the hospitality and the love that y’all showed me,” he said. Facts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13902366\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13902366\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/09/202001-Oakff-AliciaRodriguez-082-1.jpg\" alt=\"Women laugh and smile at a street fair in Oakland.\" width=\"1560\" height=\"1067\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/09/202001-Oakff-AliciaRodriguez-082-1.jpg 1560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/09/202001-Oakff-AliciaRodriguez-082-1-800x547.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/09/202001-Oakff-AliciaRodriguez-082-1-1020x698.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/09/202001-Oakff-AliciaRodriguez-082-1-160x109.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/09/202001-Oakff-AliciaRodriguez-082-1-768x525.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/09/202001-Oakff-AliciaRodriguez-082-1-1536x1051.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1560px) 100vw, 1560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Festival-goers attend First Friday in Oakland. \u003ccite>(Oakland First Fridays/\u003ca href=\"https://www.aliciarphoto.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Alicia Rodriguez\u003c/a>)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he Bay is special. It is diverse, flavorful and full of sauce. We dance a little different. This is the home of where game recognizes game. But the Bay Area is also struggling, and that’s okay to admit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’m glad Keith Lee used his platform to bring attention to what really matters. It’s not just about what dish makes a good Instagram story. It’s not just about the succulence of those adobo wings at your favorite Filipino joint. It’s also about the conditions in which we are living — the amount of hours we’re working, the rent we’re paying, all while seeing our friends get pushed out, watching our parents and siblings sacrifice and make that longer commute just to stay on the edges of it all, having new neighbors move in and old ones get evicted, dodging a weaving car on the freeway, constantly generating side hustles, hoping that your window doesn’t get bipped even when there’s nothing in your car.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lately, more than ever, I’ve been wondering: Is the Bay Area going to be okay? The gas and housing prices will come back down, right? People in need will receive care and support services, right? We can’t just keep running around and speeding through red lights while it’s all getting harder to sustain our families everyday, right? I guess we are all just either ignoring the madness, or participating in it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At least for one food influencer, who’s extensively traveled the country and seen his fair share of both struggling and thriving areas, the Bay Area in its current state doesn’t seem to be living up to its full potential and has become unwelcoming to many outsiders. And right now, maybe we should stop biting into a burger for a moment — no matter how good we think it is — and chew on that instead.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">I\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp> didn’t want to start the year like this. I’m not the type of person who likes to feed into negativity, and I want to be clear: I absolutely love the Bay, where I was born and raised since 1987. I have the old Bay Bridge tattooed on my right arm to remind me where I come from — a symbol of what we’ve long stood for as an interconnected region.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-13927875\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Alan.Chazaro.headshot.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"180\" height=\"207\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Alan.Chazaro.headshot.jpg 180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/Alan.Chazaro.headshot-160x184.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 180px) 100vw, 180px\">But at times, I hate it here, too. And after viral TikTok influencer \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@keith_lee125\">Keith Lee\u003c/a> suddenly cut his visit to the Bay Area short on Thursday, just twelve days into 2024, I can’t help but wonder: Are the Bay Area’s struggles actually worse than we’ve been telling ourselves?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lee, a former MMA fighter from Detroit, has built up a national following for his blunt, plainspoken food review videos, which he films inside his car. With more than 15 million followers on TikTok, the young tastemaker can completely change a restaurant’s fortunes with a single positive mention — especially the largely unknown, mostly Black-owned mom-and-pop businesses that he reviews. He’s been dubbed “\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/food/restaurants/article/keith-lee-bay-area-restaurants-18592120.php\">the internet’s most famous food critic\u003c/a>,” and there’s even a term to describe a restaurant he’s visited: It’s been “Keith Lee-d.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So, when Lee announced that his first review tour of 2024 would be a trip to the Bay Area, local food lovers were positively giddy. But less than a week after he arrived, Lee unexpectedly cut his visit short, citing lackluster food, an allergic reaction and general shock and dismay at the living conditions he found in the Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By all accounts, it’s unlike Lee. He’s generally seen as conscientious, with no history of mindlessly tarnishing small businesses, let alone diminishing an entire region.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the Bay Area unsettled him. This is the first time Lee has ended a trip on short notice, explaining, in a \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@keith_lee125/video/7323079692276288798?lang=en\">farewell video\u003c/a>, that he “[doesn’t] believe the Bay is a place for tourists right now… the people of the Bay are just focused on \u003cem>surviving\u003c/em>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote class=\"tiktok-embed\" style=\"max-width: 605px;min-width: 325px\" cite=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@keith_lee125/video/7323079692276288798\" data-video-id=\"7323079692276288798\">\n\u003csection>\u003ca title=\"@keith_lee125\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@keith_lee125?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@keith_lee125\u003c/a> Bay Area taste test 💕 would you try it ? 💕 \u003ca title=\"foodcritic\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/foodcritic?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#foodcritic\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"♬ original sound - Keith Lee\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/music/original-sound-7323079767438871327?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">♬ original sound – Keith Lee\u003c/a>\u003c/section>\n\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">A\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>lthough I’m a food writer by title, I practically never watch food videos online, and I generally don’t care if Lee — or any other critic or influencer — thinks a greasy pouch of French fries should be scored a 7.2 or a 6.7. Ironically, I don’t really want to hear in detail about the food itself. Food either smacks, or it doesn’t. Rather, it’s the people, and the contexts — social, racial, economic, cultural — that feed my sense of wholeness, and which requires nuance and perspective to appreciate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Perhaps there’s something to be said for why, despite the Bay Area’s sparkling reputation as a food destination, Lee seemed unable to find very much that was even half-decent to eat. But when he implied, for basically the first time in his career, that the Bay Area is too out of pocket, too distressed, too dysfunctional, too disarrayed, too unsafe, too \u003cem>everything\u003c/em> except whatever trendy food-take people wanted to hear, I felt him. His seeming dissatisfaction with the Bay Area wasn’t even mostly about the food. It was about our living conditions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I was born in the Bay to immigrant parents, raised in the Bay with hella types of friends and have seen a lot of shit here. But you can’t tell me that right now, in 2024, the Bay Area isn’t more overpriced, overcrowded and unlivable than it has been at any other point in my lifetime — even the food is often outrageously expensive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And that doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Check the housing prices. The other day, my dad genuinely asked me why I don’t consider buying a mobile home for my family because it’s “still affordable.” My wife and I have a son, and we both have master’s degrees. We’ve worked tremendously hard as first-generation college graduates. And we can’t afford much more than a room or two here. Many people here don’t have the time or money to chase after the most trending meal. They don’t even have regular access to meals. Period.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>How many more people living in tents do we have to pass by before we reach a collective tipping point? I know I’m not alone in feeling a sense of dystopia, even as a proud local. Neither is Lee in feeling that way as a curious outsider. And his comments are bringing that to light in a compassionate way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thursday night’s social media feeds provided ample evidence that Lee struck a nerve. I’ve never seen a piece of food content stir up more debate among Bay Area thought leaders, particularly in the local hip-hop community. Oakland lyricist Tajai from the mighty Souls of Mischief chimed in, agreeing with Lee: “This is not to be a doomsayer or be negative about the Bay, but I think we’ve gotten used to some shit, y’all, that is not normal.” In a \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/RapNoir/status/1745696413043093755\">brief video\u003c/a>, he references a major Latin American city that’s twice the size of the Bay Area — and how we have a “600% higher homeless rate” than a “developing nation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Popular San Francisco artist Stunnaman02 \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/stunnaman02/status/1745694988510679086\">got in on it as well\u003c/a>: “Keith Lee’s synopsis of The Bay was necessary. Humbling, environmentally The Bay is a shell of itself. Overpriced, not as crackin as it has been in the past, and economically Oakland is being stripped unfortunately.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>East Oakland rapper ALLBLACK said he was “\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/22NDWAYS/status/1745653462811935223\">embarrassed\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of course, other people made jokes about it all. Some posted clips from movies like \u003cem>Next Friday\u003c/em> (“\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/Numbah1/status/1745688458960728386\">we live raw\u003c/a>”); others affirmed Lee’s synopsis but with extra spice (“I 100% agree. This mf [Bay Area] is \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/marismenu/status/1745699350146421210\">raggedy\u003c/a>!”); more than a few called out his poor choices (“respectfully \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/paocarisweat/status/1745731992350781515\">keith lee kinda be eating anywhere\u003c/a>”); and some just playfully owned the crappiness of it all (“\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/KhadijahTaine/status/1745692611636343262\">Bay Area can’t never keep anything\u003c/a>, the Raiders, The A’s, The Warriors, Keith Lee. Nothing.”).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And Dr. Ameer Hasan Loggins, a postdoctoral scholar at Stanford University, pointed out that “\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/LeftSentThis/status/1745710522077716604\">some of y’all are focused on the food, when Lee was focused on the effects of structural inequality\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>These are all valid takes. And they all speak to a certain part of my Bay Area soul, upbringing and loyalty. There’s even a part of me that is like, \u003cem>man, who even is Keith Lee, and what does he know about us and our food scene?\u003c/em> And there’s been no shortage of Bay Area defenders hopping online to lightly condemn, or at minimum question, Lee’s take.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rexx Life Raj’s manager, Ari Simon, \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/RexxLifeAri/status/1745691709479223314\">stuck his chest out for the Bay\u003c/a>: “I fw Keith Lee but I think him cutting early reflects more on him than us… Sounds like bro bought into doomloop narrative and psyched himself out / was doin anything with not a lot of help lol (that sf burger spot).” Ari concluded that the issue is with Lee’s \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/RexxLifeAri/status/1745694175482486874\">poor taste\u003c/a>, rather than the Bay Area’s shortcomings (“I’m either blaming lack of palette [sic] or lack of planning”).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There were plenty of comments along those lines — those who took up arms for our zip codes and were, to a degree, unwilling to hear Lee’s polite criticisms. But what many upset folks are missing is that Lee wasn’t necessarily saying the food here is trash. Instead, he’s fixated on something more important. He’s saying that the state of our day-to-day living — crime, safety, congestion, cost, tents, burned-out cars — is, in his eyes, precariously unwell, and bordering on social crisis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But he also gave the Bay some deserved props, too. How could you not?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The people from the Bay were absolutely amazing, and I’ll never forget the hospitality and the love that y’all showed me,” he said. Facts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13902366\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13902366\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/09/202001-Oakff-AliciaRodriguez-082-1.jpg\" alt=\"Women laugh and smile at a street fair in Oakland.\" width=\"1560\" height=\"1067\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/09/202001-Oakff-AliciaRodriguez-082-1.jpg 1560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/09/202001-Oakff-AliciaRodriguez-082-1-800x547.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/09/202001-Oakff-AliciaRodriguez-082-1-1020x698.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/09/202001-Oakff-AliciaRodriguez-082-1-160x109.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/09/202001-Oakff-AliciaRodriguez-082-1-768x525.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/09/202001-Oakff-AliciaRodriguez-082-1-1536x1051.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1560px) 100vw, 1560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Festival-goers attend First Friday in Oakland. \u003ccite>(Oakland First Fridays/\u003ca href=\"https://www.aliciarphoto.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Alicia Rodriguez\u003c/a>)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">T\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>he Bay is special. It is diverse, flavorful and full of sauce. We dance a little different. This is the home of where game recognizes game. But the Bay Area is also struggling, and that’s okay to admit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’m glad Keith Lee used his platform to bring attention to what really matters. It’s not just about what dish makes a good Instagram story. It’s not just about the succulence of those adobo wings at your favorite Filipino joint. It’s also about the conditions in which we are living — the amount of hours we’re working, the rent we’re paying, all while seeing our friends get pushed out, watching our parents and siblings sacrifice and make that longer commute just to stay on the edges of it all, having new neighbors move in and old ones get evicted, dodging a weaving car on the freeway, constantly generating side hustles, hoping that your window doesn’t get bipped even when there’s nothing in your car.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lately, more than ever, I’ve been wondering: Is the Bay Area going to be okay? The gas and housing prices will come back down, right? People in need will receive care and support services, right? We can’t just keep running around and speeding through red lights while it’s all getting harder to sustain our families everyday, right? I guess we are all just either ignoring the madness, or participating in it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At least for one food influencer, who’s extensively traveled the country and seen his fair share of both struggling and thriving areas, the Bay Area in its current state doesn’t seem to be living up to its full potential and has become unwelcoming to many outsiders. And right now, maybe we should stop biting into a burger for a moment — no matter how good we think it is — and chew on that instead.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "One of the Bay Area’s Best Oyster Shacks Is Reopening in Oakland",
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"content": "\u003cp>During its brief heyday on the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/richmond\">Richmond\u003c/a> waterfront, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/rockyislandoysterco/?hl=en\">Rocky Island Oyster Co\u003c/a>. offered one of the most gorgeous outdoor dining experiences in the entire Bay. You’d sit outside at a picnic table slurping up a big tray of bracingly briny Massachusetts oysters, with a picture-perfect panoramic view of the Bay in front of you and a string of twinkle lights casting their little spell overhead.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was, as they say, a whole vibe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[aside postID='arts_13909648,arts_13921917']\u003c/span>And, unfortunately, it turned out to be short-lived, when Rocky Island and all of the other restaurants that shared the \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/p/Assemble-Marketplace-100083072865350/?paipv=0&eav=AfYNFMuhq2g6gSGS9gJiBhUggidkFdo7U4PKHl130lqtQTzzLZQdBQaiVBJ5-V8WiME&_rdr\">Craneway Pavilion’s food hall\u003c/a> were pushed out last summer in favor of a \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/pickleball-craneway-pavilion-richmond-18201808.php\">45,000-foot private pickleball club\u003c/a> with an attached restaurant claiming to offer a more “\u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=242759525169808&set=pcb.242759641836463\">elevated dining experience\u003c/a>.” (Now, the future of said pickleball club is up in the air, after the city of Richmond rejected its \u003ca href=\"https://www.pbdevgroup.com/pbccraneway\">Orange County-based developer’s\u003c/a> plans for being \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/pickleball-center-nixed-east-bay-18289756.php\">insufficiently beneficial to the general public\u003c/a>.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was pretty dark for a little while,” Rocky Island owner Danny Pirello says about suddenly being forced to close up shop.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The good news is that it didn’t take Pirello too long to find a new home for his business. This weekend, his new restaurant, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thesalty_pearl/?hl=en\">The Salty Pearl\u003c/a>, will open in Oakland, just a block away from the Jack London waterfront in a space that Pirello and his team will sublease from a longtime \u003ca href=\"https://plantedtable.com/\">vegan catering company\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13940512\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13940512\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/rocky-island-crudo.jpg\" alt=\"Seafood crudo topped with capers and red onions, served in a shallow white bowl.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/rocky-island-crudo.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/rocky-island-crudo-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/rocky-island-crudo-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/rocky-island-crudo-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/rocky-island-crudo-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/rocky-island-crudo-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/rocky-island-crudo-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Italian-style fish crudo at Rocky Island — now The Salty Dog — is a knockout. \u003ccite>(Luke Tsai/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.saltypearl.us/menus\">menu\u003c/a> will be largely the same as Rocky Island’s. The oysters — mostly varieties that Pirello ships in overnight from New England, where he grew up — and the stunning, Swan Oyster Depot–inspired fish crudo are the headliners. There won’t be fish and chips until the restaurant installs a deep fryer, and in the meantime Pirello has added a burger, clams casino and a couple of additional salads.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For now, most of the seating is indoors, but by the summertime, when the weather gets nicer, he hopes to set up seven or eight tables outside.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As Pirello puts it, “We want The Salty Pearl to be a cute date spot version of what we were doing at Rocky Island.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13940519\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13940519\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/rocky-island-platter.jpg\" alt=\"A big tray of oysters, crudo, and shrimp cocktail.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/rocky-island-platter.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/rocky-island-platter-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/rocky-island-platter-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/rocky-island-platter-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/rocky-island-platter-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/rocky-island-platter-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/rocky-island-platter-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Like Rocky Island before it, The Salty Dog will specialize in abundant trays of fresh seafood. \u003ccite>(Luke Tsai/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In many ways, however, Pirello’s heart is still in Richmond, where \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13909648/rocky-island-oyster-bar-richmond-waterfront-view-lobster-roll\">his dream of bringing a New England–style oyster shack to the East Bay\u003c/a> first came to fruition. It was amazing, he says, to have the local community so wholeheartedly embrace that vision, even if the restaurant was only able to stay open for a year and a half. As a result, Pirello says he’s committed to doing whatever it takes to open a new iteration of Rocky Island in Richmond someday down the road.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, Rich City oyster lovers haven’t been left entirely in the lurch: Not long after the restaurant closed, Pirello started operating Rocky Island as a weekend food truck pop-up at \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/windchaserwineco/?hl=en\">Windchaser Wine Co.\u003c/a>, just a little further down the Richmond waterfront, with live music and dollar oyster specials. Those pop-ups will start up again on Sundays in March.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s become this cool Richmond hang,” Pirello says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.saltypearl.us/\">The Salty Pearl’s\u003c/a> grand opening will be held on Friday, Jan. 12, 4–9 p.m., and Saturday, Jan. 13, 5–9 p.m. Moving forward the restaurant will be open at 550 2nd St. in Oakland Thursdays and Fridays, 4–9 p.m., and Saturdays from 5–9 p.m.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"title": "One of the Best Oyster Bars In the Bay Area Reopens in Oakland | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>During its brief heyday on the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/richmond\">Richmond\u003c/a> waterfront, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/rockyislandoysterco/?hl=en\">Rocky Island Oyster Co\u003c/a>. offered one of the most gorgeous outdoor dining experiences in the entire Bay. You’d sit outside at a picnic table slurping up a big tray of bracingly briny Massachusetts oysters, with a picture-perfect panoramic view of the Bay in front of you and a string of twinkle lights casting their little spell overhead.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was, as they say, a whole vibe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>And, unfortunately, it turned out to be short-lived, when Rocky Island and all of the other restaurants that shared the \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/p/Assemble-Marketplace-100083072865350/?paipv=0&eav=AfYNFMuhq2g6gSGS9gJiBhUggidkFdo7U4PKHl130lqtQTzzLZQdBQaiVBJ5-V8WiME&_rdr\">Craneway Pavilion’s food hall\u003c/a> were pushed out last summer in favor of a \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/pickleball-craneway-pavilion-richmond-18201808.php\">45,000-foot private pickleball club\u003c/a> with an attached restaurant claiming to offer a more “\u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=242759525169808&set=pcb.242759641836463\">elevated dining experience\u003c/a>.” (Now, the future of said pickleball club is up in the air, after the city of Richmond rejected its \u003ca href=\"https://www.pbdevgroup.com/pbccraneway\">Orange County-based developer’s\u003c/a> plans for being \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/pickleball-center-nixed-east-bay-18289756.php\">insufficiently beneficial to the general public\u003c/a>.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was pretty dark for a little while,” Rocky Island owner Danny Pirello says about suddenly being forced to close up shop.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The good news is that it didn’t take Pirello too long to find a new home for his business. This weekend, his new restaurant, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thesalty_pearl/?hl=en\">The Salty Pearl\u003c/a>, will open in Oakland, just a block away from the Jack London waterfront in a space that Pirello and his team will sublease from a longtime \u003ca href=\"https://plantedtable.com/\">vegan catering company\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13940512\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13940512\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/rocky-island-crudo.jpg\" alt=\"Seafood crudo topped with capers and red onions, served in a shallow white bowl.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/rocky-island-crudo.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/rocky-island-crudo-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/rocky-island-crudo-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/rocky-island-crudo-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/rocky-island-crudo-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/rocky-island-crudo-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/rocky-island-crudo-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Italian-style fish crudo at Rocky Island — now The Salty Dog — is a knockout. \u003ccite>(Luke Tsai/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.saltypearl.us/menus\">menu\u003c/a> will be largely the same as Rocky Island’s. The oysters — mostly varieties that Pirello ships in overnight from New England, where he grew up — and the stunning, Swan Oyster Depot–inspired fish crudo are the headliners. There won’t be fish and chips until the restaurant installs a deep fryer, and in the meantime Pirello has added a burger, clams casino and a couple of additional salads.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For now, most of the seating is indoors, but by the summertime, when the weather gets nicer, he hopes to set up seven or eight tables outside.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As Pirello puts it, “We want The Salty Pearl to be a cute date spot version of what we were doing at Rocky Island.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13940519\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13940519\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/rocky-island-platter.jpg\" alt=\"A big tray of oysters, crudo, and shrimp cocktail.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/rocky-island-platter.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/rocky-island-platter-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/rocky-island-platter-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/rocky-island-platter-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/rocky-island-platter-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/rocky-island-platter-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/rocky-island-platter-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Like Rocky Island before it, The Salty Dog will specialize in abundant trays of fresh seafood. \u003ccite>(Luke Tsai/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In many ways, however, Pirello’s heart is still in Richmond, where \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13909648/rocky-island-oyster-bar-richmond-waterfront-view-lobster-roll\">his dream of bringing a New England–style oyster shack to the East Bay\u003c/a> first came to fruition. It was amazing, he says, to have the local community so wholeheartedly embrace that vision, even if the restaurant was only able to stay open for a year and a half. As a result, Pirello says he’s committed to doing whatever it takes to open a new iteration of Rocky Island in Richmond someday down the road.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, Rich City oyster lovers haven’t been left entirely in the lurch: Not long after the restaurant closed, Pirello started operating Rocky Island as a weekend food truck pop-up at \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/windchaserwineco/?hl=en\">Windchaser Wine Co.\u003c/a>, just a little further down the Richmond waterfront, with live music and dollar oyster specials. Those pop-ups will start up again on Sundays in March.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s become this cool Richmond hang,” Pirello says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.saltypearl.us/\">The Salty Pearl’s\u003c/a> grand opening will be held on Friday, Jan. 12, 4–9 p.m., and Saturday, Jan. 13, 5–9 p.m. Moving forward the restaurant will be open at 550 2nd St. in Oakland Thursdays and Fridays, 4–9 p.m., and Saturdays from 5–9 p.m.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Cult Favorite Filipino Dessert Pop-Up Opens First Storefront in Union City",
"headTitle": "Cult Favorite Filipino Dessert Pop-Up Opens First Storefront in Union City | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>If any food craze has grown since the start of the pandemic, it’s the deliciously colorful injection of everyone’s favorite Filipino ingredient: \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13912001/ube-festival-filipino-kapwa-gardens-yum-yams-san-francisco-marleys-treats\">ube\u003c/a>. In recent years, the yam has made its purply splash in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11963721/how-sfs-rize-up-sourdough-puts-black-bakers-on-the-map\">sourdough bread\u003c/a>, lemonade, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13926618/mayumu-abi-balingit-filipino-desserts-cookbook-bay-area-san-jose\">tres leches cake\u003c/a>, cookies, grilled cheese sandwiches and good old-fashioned American holiday \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13938798/filipino-christmas-pies-sweet-condesa-sf-pinay-pie-lady\">pies\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As writer Jessica Reyes put it in a recent \u003ca href=\"https://www.pastemagazine.com/food/ube/ube-just-keeps-getting-more-popular\">\u003cem>Paste \u003c/em>article\u003c/a>, “Ube isn’t exactly the newest food trend anymore, but it’s getting more popular by the year.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Among local foodmakers serving the sweet treat, \u003ca href=\"http://link\">Macs By Icky’s\u003c/a> creativity has stood out. The modest Union City pop-up has set trends with out-of-pocket desserts like its ube cannoli, ube muddy mix and — \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13929263/ube-choco-taco-macs-by-icky-filipino-union-city\">its biggest viral creation\u003c/a> — the ube choco taco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, the shop’s Filipino purveyors have been rewarded for their culinary ingenuity and community amplification with their first brick and mortar: Macs By Icky Cafe. The new storefront will have its grand opening in Union City on Saturday, Jan. 13, after a limited test run at the end of December.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13929323\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13929323\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/ube-choco-taco.jpg\" alt=\"Three ice cream tacos in assorted flavors.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/ube-choco-taco.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/ube-choco-taco-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/ube-choco-taco-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/ube-choco-taco-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/ube-choco-taco-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/ube-choco-taco-1536x864.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Macs by Icky is known for its Bay Area take on the famous Klondike’s Choco Taco. The frozen treats are available in several flavors — including, most strikingly, a version that features crushed pistachios and ube ice cream (right). \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Macs by Icky)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Macs By Icky began as a home kitchen project when Victoria Sablan casually made a batch of ube-infused treats to give to her pharmacy staff during National Nurses Week. After an explosion of requests for more, she launched the business as a side hustle with her husband, Frank, in 2019.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We couldn’t keep up with the demand at first. People [would] hunt us down at pop-up events,” Sablan says. Eventually, her passion grew into a regular pop-up series at Union City’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/birdhausbeergarden/\">Birdhaus\u003c/a> dubbed “UC The Vibes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The menu at the new cafe will feature many of the sugary items that initially put Macs By Icky on the map, including the aforementioned choco tacos. But the Sablans are also adding new desserts, beverages and even savory bites to the mix. New items include calamansi iced tea, cinnamon sugar croissant waffles, ube-vanilla swirl soft serve, dragon fruit lemonade, espresso drinks and tocino Spam sliders.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13940210\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13940210\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/macs-by-icky-sandwich_crop.jpg\" alt=\"a breakfast sandwich with melting cheese displayed on a table\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/macs-by-icky-sandwich_crop.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/macs-by-icky-sandwich_crop-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/macs-by-icky-sandwich_crop-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/macs-by-icky-sandwich_crop-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/macs-by-icky-sandwich_crop-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/macs-by-icky-sandwich_crop-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">For the first time, Macs By Icky will be serving breakfast sandwiches and other savory items. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Victoria Sablan)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Of course, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13919707/ellis-creamery-filipino-ice-cream-bakery-halo-halo-gas-station-tracy\">traditional Filipino favorites like halo-halo and pandasal\u003c/a> will be copiously supplied as well. And for hypebeasts who enjoy being well fed, there will be a commemorative merch drop from \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/whocaressupplyco/?hl=en\">Who Cares? Supply Co.\u003c/a> (the prótegés of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13935114/everybody-eats-streetwear-food-festival-savs-sf\">Bay Area Filipino streetwear savant, Mike Liwang\u003c/a>) on opening day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[aside postID='arts_13929263,arts_13938479']\u003c/span>The cafe is poetically located inside the Loyola Building, \u003ca href=\"https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2006/12/30/exhibit-honors-first-mayor-of-alvarado-prominent-filipino-wwii-vet-owned-auto-shop-and-restaurant/\">a historic building for local Filipinos\u003c/a> that formerly housed Paddy’s Coffee Shop, which Sablan frequented as a teenager. The Sablans first pursued the space on a whim in September of 2023, after being encouraged by friends. The couple didn’t anticipate starting the New Year with a new storefront, but when one thing led to another, they found themselves signing a lease on the same exact day as their dating anniversary.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At a time when restaurants and small businesses seem to be struggling more than ever, it’s an encouraging sign to see Macs By Icky — a homegrown, DIY operation in an overlooked East Bay suburb — taking a major step forward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13940209\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13940209\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/macs-by-icky-owners_crop.jpg\" alt=\"a young Filipino couple stands in their newly opened cafe\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/macs-by-icky-owners_crop.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/macs-by-icky-owners_crop-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/macs-by-icky-owners_crop-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/macs-by-icky-owners_crop-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/macs-by-icky-owners_crop-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/macs-by-icky-owners_crop-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Victoria Sablan and her husband, Frank, celebrate their opening of Macs By Icky Cafe in Union City. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Victoria Sablan)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Perhaps the only thing sweeter than ube right now is the Sablans’ commitment to giving their hometown something to be proud of. They’ve already received tremendous community support throughout their announcement and soft opening, and they’re grateful for the love they’ve gotten from their diaspora and beyond.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It feels right because it’s what we know, what we grew up around,” Sablan says. “We are grateful for the community that stands behind us. [The Loyola Building] is truly a gem in Union City. It’s a historic Filipino building in our city and we wanted to keep that history going.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"http://link\">Macs By Icky Cafe\u003c/a> (3900 Smith St., Union City) will host its grand opening on Sat., Jan. 13, from noon to 5 p.m. \u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/macs-by-icky-cafe-grand-opening-tickets-767839046257\">RSVP here\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED Live’s “Desserts and DJs” event on Wednesday, Feb. 14, will feature Macs By Icky, as well as other Filipino food makers and DJs. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/event/3948\">Tickets here\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>If any food craze has grown since the start of the pandemic, it’s the deliciously colorful injection of everyone’s favorite Filipino ingredient: \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13912001/ube-festival-filipino-kapwa-gardens-yum-yams-san-francisco-marleys-treats\">ube\u003c/a>. In recent years, the yam has made its purply splash in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11963721/how-sfs-rize-up-sourdough-puts-black-bakers-on-the-map\">sourdough bread\u003c/a>, lemonade, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13926618/mayumu-abi-balingit-filipino-desserts-cookbook-bay-area-san-jose\">tres leches cake\u003c/a>, cookies, grilled cheese sandwiches and good old-fashioned American holiday \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13938798/filipino-christmas-pies-sweet-condesa-sf-pinay-pie-lady\">pies\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As writer Jessica Reyes put it in a recent \u003ca href=\"https://www.pastemagazine.com/food/ube/ube-just-keeps-getting-more-popular\">\u003cem>Paste \u003c/em>article\u003c/a>, “Ube isn’t exactly the newest food trend anymore, but it’s getting more popular by the year.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Among local foodmakers serving the sweet treat, \u003ca href=\"http://link\">Macs By Icky’s\u003c/a> creativity has stood out. The modest Union City pop-up has set trends with out-of-pocket desserts like its ube cannoli, ube muddy mix and — \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13929263/ube-choco-taco-macs-by-icky-filipino-union-city\">its biggest viral creation\u003c/a> — the ube choco taco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, the shop’s Filipino purveyors have been rewarded for their culinary ingenuity and community amplification with their first brick and mortar: Macs By Icky Cafe. The new storefront will have its grand opening in Union City on Saturday, Jan. 13, after a limited test run at the end of December.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13929323\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13929323\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/ube-choco-taco.jpg\" alt=\"Three ice cream tacos in assorted flavors.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/ube-choco-taco.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/ube-choco-taco-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/ube-choco-taco-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/ube-choco-taco-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/ube-choco-taco-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/ube-choco-taco-1536x864.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Macs by Icky is known for its Bay Area take on the famous Klondike’s Choco Taco. The frozen treats are available in several flavors — including, most strikingly, a version that features crushed pistachios and ube ice cream (right). \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Macs by Icky)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Macs By Icky began as a home kitchen project when Victoria Sablan casually made a batch of ube-infused treats to give to her pharmacy staff during National Nurses Week. After an explosion of requests for more, she launched the business as a side hustle with her husband, Frank, in 2019.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We couldn’t keep up with the demand at first. People [would] hunt us down at pop-up events,” Sablan says. Eventually, her passion grew into a regular pop-up series at Union City’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/birdhausbeergarden/\">Birdhaus\u003c/a> dubbed “UC The Vibes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The menu at the new cafe will feature many of the sugary items that initially put Macs By Icky on the map, including the aforementioned choco tacos. But the Sablans are also adding new desserts, beverages and even savory bites to the mix. New items include calamansi iced tea, cinnamon sugar croissant waffles, ube-vanilla swirl soft serve, dragon fruit lemonade, espresso drinks and tocino Spam sliders.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13940210\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13940210\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/macs-by-icky-sandwich_crop.jpg\" alt=\"a breakfast sandwich with melting cheese displayed on a table\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/macs-by-icky-sandwich_crop.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/macs-by-icky-sandwich_crop-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/macs-by-icky-sandwich_crop-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/macs-by-icky-sandwich_crop-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/macs-by-icky-sandwich_crop-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/macs-by-icky-sandwich_crop-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">For the first time, Macs By Icky will be serving breakfast sandwiches and other savory items. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Victoria Sablan)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Of course, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13919707/ellis-creamery-filipino-ice-cream-bakery-halo-halo-gas-station-tracy\">traditional Filipino favorites like halo-halo and pandasal\u003c/a> will be copiously supplied as well. And for hypebeasts who enjoy being well fed, there will be a commemorative merch drop from \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/whocaressupplyco/?hl=en\">Who Cares? Supply Co.\u003c/a> (the prótegés of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13935114/everybody-eats-streetwear-food-festival-savs-sf\">Bay Area Filipino streetwear savant, Mike Liwang\u003c/a>) on opening day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>The cafe is poetically located inside the Loyola Building, \u003ca href=\"https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2006/12/30/exhibit-honors-first-mayor-of-alvarado-prominent-filipino-wwii-vet-owned-auto-shop-and-restaurant/\">a historic building for local Filipinos\u003c/a> that formerly housed Paddy’s Coffee Shop, which Sablan frequented as a teenager. The Sablans first pursued the space on a whim in September of 2023, after being encouraged by friends. The couple didn’t anticipate starting the New Year with a new storefront, but when one thing led to another, they found themselves signing a lease on the same exact day as their dating anniversary.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At a time when restaurants and small businesses seem to be struggling more than ever, it’s an encouraging sign to see Macs By Icky — a homegrown, DIY operation in an overlooked East Bay suburb — taking a major step forward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13940209\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13940209\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/macs-by-icky-owners_crop.jpg\" alt=\"a young Filipino couple stands in their newly opened cafe\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/macs-by-icky-owners_crop.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/macs-by-icky-owners_crop-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/macs-by-icky-owners_crop-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/macs-by-icky-owners_crop-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/macs-by-icky-owners_crop-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/macs-by-icky-owners_crop-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Victoria Sablan and her husband, Frank, celebrate their opening of Macs By Icky Cafe in Union City. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Victoria Sablan)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Perhaps the only thing sweeter than ube right now is the Sablans’ commitment to giving their hometown something to be proud of. They’ve already received tremendous community support throughout their announcement and soft opening, and they’re grateful for the love they’ve gotten from their diaspora and beyond.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It feels right because it’s what we know, what we grew up around,” Sablan says. “We are grateful for the community that stands behind us. [The Loyola Building] is truly a gem in Union City. It’s a historic Filipino building in our city and we wanted to keep that history going.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"http://link\">Macs By Icky Cafe\u003c/a> (3900 Smith St., Union City) will host its grand opening on Sat., Jan. 13, from noon to 5 p.m. \u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/macs-by-icky-cafe-grand-opening-tickets-767839046257\">RSVP here\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED Live’s “Desserts and DJs” event on Wednesday, Feb. 14, will feature Macs By Icky, as well as other Filipino food makers and DJs. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/event/3948\">Tickets here\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Stinky Tofu Is the Unlikely Star of a New Children’s Book",
"headTitle": "Stinky Tofu Is the Unlikely Star of a New Children’s Book | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>In my years as the Bay Area’s most dedicated stinky tofu evangelist, I have preached the pungent virtues of fermented bean curd to anyone who would listen — in blog posts and glossy magazine features, on obscure internet \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13910817/chowhound-shutting-down-rip\">discussion forums\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101893028/all-you-can-eat-funky-foods-we-arent-supposed-to-love-but-do\">live public radio\u003c/a>. And in real life, I’ve wheedled friends, family members and random Taipei night market strangers into at least giving the dish a fair shake.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What I never expected, though, was for stinky tofu to be the subject — and the unlikely hero — of a children’s book published here in the United States.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But that’s precisely what East Bay author Ying Chang Compestine has created with \u003ca href=\"https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/710497/ra-pu-zel-and-the-stinky-tofu-by-ying-chang-compestine-illustrated-by-crystal-kung/\">\u003ci>Ra Pu Zel and the Stinky Tofu\u003c/i>\u003c/a>, her new riff on the classic Rapunzel fairy tale.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13940137\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13940137\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/ra-pu-zel-cover.jpg\" alt=\"Cover of the children's book 'Ra Pu Zel and the Stinky Tofu' shows a princess with a long, black braid surrounded by many bowls of Chinese food.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1995\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/ra-pu-zel-cover.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/ra-pu-zel-cover-800x798.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/ra-pu-zel-cover-1020x1017.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/ra-pu-zel-cover-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/ra-pu-zel-cover-768x766.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/ra-pu-zel-cover-1536x1532.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/ra-pu-zel-cover-1920x1915.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Compestine’s book is a retelling of ‘Rapunzel.’ \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Penguin Random House)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Compestine is no stranger to writing about Chinese food: She’s a seasoned cookbook author who used to be a food editor for Martha Stewart’s \u003ci>Whole Living\u003c/i>, and her more recent pivot to writing \u003ca href=\"https://www.yingc.com/picture-books.html\">stories for children\u003c/a> has been almost entirely food-centric\u003ci>.\u003c/i> And fried stinky tofu, specifically, was one of Compestine’s favorite childhood treats, sold by street vendors throughout her hometown of Wuhan, China.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Compestine explains that when she was growing up in Wuhan during the Cultural Revolution in the late ’60s and early ’70s, the Communist Party had banned all Western books, including fairy tales like “Rapunzel.” But Compestine and her friends would read the stories in secret, then regale each other with their own retellings. She remembers especially loving Rapunzel’s dress: “We all had to wear Mao’s uniform,” she recalls. “I never had colorful clothes or long hair.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What Compestine found boring, however, even as a young girl, was the standard storyline about a princess falling for a handsome prince. In the “Rapunzel” stories that she improvised as a child, the prince was only ever able to win over his beloved through her belly, with a steady supply of candy and snacks — including, of course, stinky tofu, which remains a popular local delicacy in Wuhan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Food was on my mind at the time,” Compestine says. “I was hungry.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[aside postID='arts_13937806,arts_13924997,arts_13897272']\u003c/span>In many ways, then, \u003ci>Ra Pu Zel and the Stinky Tofu\u003c/i> is just a more fully realized version of those early retellings, brought to vivid life through Pixar character designer \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/crystaleatsyourbrain/?hl=en\">Crystal Kung\u003c/a>’s delightfully expressive, watercolor-like illustrations. In Compestine’s version of “Rapunzel,” Pu Zel, the princess heroine, isn’t kidnapped by an evil witch. Instead, she locks \u003ci>herself\u003c/i> in the high tower because it’s the only place where she isn’t burdened by the demands and expectations of the imperial court — and where she’s free to cook and eat what she likes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As for the young street vendor who (spoiler alert) finally entices the spunky princess to come down again? Let’s just say that it’s a refreshing change from most portrayals of stinky tofu here in the West, where the pungent dish is still largely relegated to some category of extreme eating — something so gross and funky that only the most adventurous eaters would dare to give it a try.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But for Taiwanese Americans like myself, in particular, the night market staple is a point of national pride and, more simply, just a delicious everyday food. I often talk about what a radicalizing moment it was for me when a surprisingly \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjGZg4gHOJw\">weak-sauce Andrew Zimmern\u003c/a> was so disgusted by stinky tofu on \u003ci>Bizarre Foods\u003c/i> that he couldn’t swallow a single bite.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What I love, then, about \u003ci>Ra Pu Zel and the Stinky Tofu \u003c/i>is how little Compestine dwells on the strangeness or stinkiness of the dish. “It smells like a sweaty ox!” exclaims one old man. But within the span of a few sentences, Pu Zel is admiring how delicious and “irresistible” the tofu is.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13940138\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13940138\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/9780593533055_Interior_Image_5_495223.jpg\" alt=\"A spread from a picture book shows a young chef cooking a big pot of stinky tofu, as birds and squirrels flee from the dish's strong odor.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/9780593533055_Interior_Image_5_495223.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/9780593533055_Interior_Image_5_495223-800x400.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/9780593533055_Interior_Image_5_495223-1020x510.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/9780593533055_Interior_Image_5_495223-160x80.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/9780593533055_Interior_Image_5_495223-768x384.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/9780593533055_Interior_Image_5_495223-1536x768.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/9780593533055_Interior_Image_5_495223-1920x960.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">In the end, a delicious pot of stinky tofu is what saves the day. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Penguin Random House)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Ultimately, Compestine says her goal wasn’t necessarily to convince every child who reads the book to eat stinky tofu. She finished the book during the pandemic, right around the time when Wuhan was receiving so much \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-03-20/hundreds-gather-in-san-francisco-for-rally-against-anti-asian-attacks-racism\">negative publicity\u003c/a> — and when there was a wave of anti-Asian sentiment here in the U.S. “Through my book, I want people to understand my hometown,” she says. “And I wanted to portray a very strong female character. I wanted to change the perception that Asians are weak.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And if readers feel inspired to eat a big plate of tofu after they finish the book? There’s a (non-stinky) recipe in the back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/710497/ra-pu-zel-and-the-stinky-tofu-by-ying-chang-compestine-illustrated-by-crystal-kung/\">Ra Pu Zel and the Stinky Tofu\u003c/a> is available where books are sold. Compestine and Kung, the illustrator, will appear at Hicklebee’s (1378 Lincoln Ave., San José) on Saturday, Jan. 13, for storytime and a drawing demonstration.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>In my years as the Bay Area’s most dedicated stinky tofu evangelist, I have preached the pungent virtues of fermented bean curd to anyone who would listen — in blog posts and glossy magazine features, on obscure internet \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13910817/chowhound-shutting-down-rip\">discussion forums\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101893028/all-you-can-eat-funky-foods-we-arent-supposed-to-love-but-do\">live public radio\u003c/a>. And in real life, I’ve wheedled friends, family members and random Taipei night market strangers into at least giving the dish a fair shake.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What I never expected, though, was for stinky tofu to be the subject — and the unlikely hero — of a children’s book published here in the United States.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But that’s precisely what East Bay author Ying Chang Compestine has created with \u003ca href=\"https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/710497/ra-pu-zel-and-the-stinky-tofu-by-ying-chang-compestine-illustrated-by-crystal-kung/\">\u003ci>Ra Pu Zel and the Stinky Tofu\u003c/i>\u003c/a>, her new riff on the classic Rapunzel fairy tale.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13940137\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13940137\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/ra-pu-zel-cover.jpg\" alt=\"Cover of the children's book 'Ra Pu Zel and the Stinky Tofu' shows a princess with a long, black braid surrounded by many bowls of Chinese food.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1995\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/ra-pu-zel-cover.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/ra-pu-zel-cover-800x798.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/ra-pu-zel-cover-1020x1017.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/ra-pu-zel-cover-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/ra-pu-zel-cover-768x766.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/ra-pu-zel-cover-1536x1532.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/ra-pu-zel-cover-1920x1915.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Compestine’s book is a retelling of ‘Rapunzel.’ \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Penguin Random House)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Compestine is no stranger to writing about Chinese food: She’s a seasoned cookbook author who used to be a food editor for Martha Stewart’s \u003ci>Whole Living\u003c/i>, and her more recent pivot to writing \u003ca href=\"https://www.yingc.com/picture-books.html\">stories for children\u003c/a> has been almost entirely food-centric\u003ci>.\u003c/i> And fried stinky tofu, specifically, was one of Compestine’s favorite childhood treats, sold by street vendors throughout her hometown of Wuhan, China.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Compestine explains that when she was growing up in Wuhan during the Cultural Revolution in the late ’60s and early ’70s, the Communist Party had banned all Western books, including fairy tales like “Rapunzel.” But Compestine and her friends would read the stories in secret, then regale each other with their own retellings. She remembers especially loving Rapunzel’s dress: “We all had to wear Mao’s uniform,” she recalls. “I never had colorful clothes or long hair.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What Compestine found boring, however, even as a young girl, was the standard storyline about a princess falling for a handsome prince. In the “Rapunzel” stories that she improvised as a child, the prince was only ever able to win over his beloved through her belly, with a steady supply of candy and snacks — including, of course, stinky tofu, which remains a popular local delicacy in Wuhan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Food was on my mind at the time,” Compestine says. “I was hungry.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>In many ways, then, \u003ci>Ra Pu Zel and the Stinky Tofu\u003c/i> is just a more fully realized version of those early retellings, brought to vivid life through Pixar character designer \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/crystaleatsyourbrain/?hl=en\">Crystal Kung\u003c/a>’s delightfully expressive, watercolor-like illustrations. In Compestine’s version of “Rapunzel,” Pu Zel, the princess heroine, isn’t kidnapped by an evil witch. Instead, she locks \u003ci>herself\u003c/i> in the high tower because it’s the only place where she isn’t burdened by the demands and expectations of the imperial court — and where she’s free to cook and eat what she likes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As for the young street vendor who (spoiler alert) finally entices the spunky princess to come down again? Let’s just say that it’s a refreshing change from most portrayals of stinky tofu here in the West, where the pungent dish is still largely relegated to some category of extreme eating — something so gross and funky that only the most adventurous eaters would dare to give it a try.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But for Taiwanese Americans like myself, in particular, the night market staple is a point of national pride and, more simply, just a delicious everyday food. I often talk about what a radicalizing moment it was for me when a surprisingly \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjGZg4gHOJw\">weak-sauce Andrew Zimmern\u003c/a> was so disgusted by stinky tofu on \u003ci>Bizarre Foods\u003c/i> that he couldn’t swallow a single bite.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What I love, then, about \u003ci>Ra Pu Zel and the Stinky Tofu \u003c/i>is how little Compestine dwells on the strangeness or stinkiness of the dish. “It smells like a sweaty ox!” exclaims one old man. But within the span of a few sentences, Pu Zel is admiring how delicious and “irresistible” the tofu is.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13940138\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13940138\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/9780593533055_Interior_Image_5_495223.jpg\" alt=\"A spread from a picture book shows a young chef cooking a big pot of stinky tofu, as birds and squirrels flee from the dish's strong odor.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/9780593533055_Interior_Image_5_495223.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/9780593533055_Interior_Image_5_495223-800x400.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/9780593533055_Interior_Image_5_495223-1020x510.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/9780593533055_Interior_Image_5_495223-160x80.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/9780593533055_Interior_Image_5_495223-768x384.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/9780593533055_Interior_Image_5_495223-1536x768.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/9780593533055_Interior_Image_5_495223-1920x960.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">In the end, a delicious pot of stinky tofu is what saves the day. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Penguin Random House)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Ultimately, Compestine says her goal wasn’t necessarily to convince every child who reads the book to eat stinky tofu. She finished the book during the pandemic, right around the time when Wuhan was receiving so much \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-03-20/hundreds-gather-in-san-francisco-for-rally-against-anti-asian-attacks-racism\">negative publicity\u003c/a> — and when there was a wave of anti-Asian sentiment here in the U.S. “Through my book, I want people to understand my hometown,” she says. “And I wanted to portray a very strong female character. I wanted to change the perception that Asians are weak.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And if readers feel inspired to eat a big plate of tofu after they finish the book? There’s a (non-stinky) recipe in the back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/710497/ra-pu-zel-and-the-stinky-tofu-by-ying-chang-compestine-illustrated-by-crystal-kung/\">Ra Pu Zel and the Stinky Tofu\u003c/a> is available where books are sold. Compestine and Kung, the illustrator, will appear at Hicklebee’s (1378 Lincoln Ave., San José) on Saturday, Jan. 13, for storytime and a drawing demonstration.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "persimmons-for-palestine-the-berkeley-pop-up-turning-a-japanese-tradition-into-activism",
"title": "Persimmons for Palestine: The Berkeley Pop-Up Turning a Japanese Tradition Into Activism",
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"content": "\u003cp>Mari Jacobson’s eyes fill with tears when she talks about the wind.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='news_11969701']Decades before Jacobson was born, her great-grandmother used to perform miracles with the cold dry winds that flooded the valley in her mountainous prefecture in central Japan. They were her accomplice as she strung peeled persimmons from the eaves of her green-tiled roof. Together, she and the wind bloomed the natural sugars of the persimmons from the inside out until the fruits had preserved themselves in their own sweetness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s really nice to think that someone else in my lineage was sitting there, peeling persimmons,” Jacobson says, some 60 years later. “I think it takes a very specific kind of patience to engage in this practice.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On a damp December morning in Berkeley, the 31-year-old is carrying on the centuries-old technique for drying persimmons, something she first began doing last winter. But now, she’s doing it for a purpose much larger than herself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13939721\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231219-HOSHIGAKI-007-JY-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13939721 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231219-HOSHIGAKI-007-JY-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"a close-up of hands touching dried persimmons\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231219-HOSHIGAKI-007-JY-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231219-HOSHIGAKI-007-JY-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231219-HOSHIGAKI-007-JY-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231219-HOSHIGAKI-007-JY-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231219-HOSHIGAKI-007-JY-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231219-HOSHIGAKI-007-JY-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231219-HOSHIGAKI-007-JY-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mari Jacobson massages Hachiya persimmons in her home in Berkeley. The process of drying persimmons is called hoshigaki, a centuries-old Japanese practice during the fall season. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In early November, Jacobson announced through her pop-up \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/setsunai_snack/?hl=en\">Setsunai Snack\u003c/a> that she would be selling dried persimmons for $10 to $20 each, and sending 100% of the proceeds to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.mecaforpeace.org/\">Middle East Children’s Alliance\u003c/a>, a nonprofit that serves young Palestinians and Syrian refugees. She received $1,050 in orders over the course of 12 hours, for a total of 60 persimmons that would need to travel as far as Pennsylvania, she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ve been deeply affected by all the news of the genocide in Palestine as a human, but also as someone who grew up in the Jewish community,” says Jacobson, whose dad is Jewish and whose mom is Japanese. “I wanted to mobilize my very negative feelings towards a small action and the creation of something that I consider very beautiful.”[aside postID='arts_13938450']But after the rain set in, Jacobson worried over the persimmons, strung up by their T-shaped stems from clothes hangers in her kitchen. Weeks after she’d spiraled the peels off the first batch with a knife — leaving the persimmons disrobed and vulnerable — a few dropped off their stems in moldy defeat and were stolen away by Jacobson’s cats.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Anyone who’s tried \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2019/01/09/682936866/ancient-japanese-food-craft-brings-persimmons-to-american-palates\">hoshigaki\u003c/a> will tell you it’s a delicate and complicated process. It’s nothing like dumping citrus peels into a pot of bubbling sugar, or sun-drying grapes — unless you’re individually massaging each grape for over a month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hachiya persimmons need certain conditions to become sweet: frequent massages, lots of time and a cold, dry place to do their thing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It feels like taking care of a living creature,” Jacobson says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13939722\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231219-HOSHIGAKI-009-JY-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13939722 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231219-HOSHIGAKI-009-JY-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"a woman with bleach blonde hair and red lipstick cares for drying persimmons hanging from clothes hangers\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231219-HOSHIGAKI-009-JY-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231219-HOSHIGAKI-009-JY-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231219-HOSHIGAKI-009-JY-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231219-HOSHIGAKI-009-JY-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231219-HOSHIGAKI-009-JY-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231219-HOSHIGAKI-009-JY-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231219-HOSHIGAKI-009-JY-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mari Jacobson massages Hachiya persimmons in her home in Berkeley. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Persimmons are a fall and winter fruit, and the Bay Area is generally a nurturing place for young persimmons as they come of age on the branch. But with a winter climate that’s been flip-flopping between weirdly warm days and rainy ones, this season hasn’t provided what hachiya persimmons need to transcend to caramelly excellence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Battling the rain, I had to buy this net enclosure for the persimmons, and then I had to move them inside,” Jacobson says. Instead of dry gusts rushing through an ancient valley, she had a large box fan plugged into her kitchen wall, angled towards clothing racks dangling with fruit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But seven weeks out from when she peeled the very first batch, the surviving fruit had miraculously surrendered its moisture and crinkled inward, just as they were supposed to, around their now crystallized hearts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jacobson’s constant attention — and weeks of worry — had paid off, even if she’d lost a few in the process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’re all I think about,” she says with a laugh.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13939723\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231219-HOSHIGAKI-020-JY-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13939723 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231219-HOSHIGAKI-020-JY-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"dried persimmons hanging from clothes hangers\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231219-HOSHIGAKI-020-JY-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231219-HOSHIGAKI-020-JY-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231219-HOSHIGAKI-020-JY-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231219-HOSHIGAKI-020-JY-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231219-HOSHIGAKI-020-JY-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231219-HOSHIGAKI-020-JY-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231219-HOSHIGAKI-020-JY-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Hachiya persimmons hang from twine to dry in Mari Jacobson’s home. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>On her kitchen countertop, Jacobson slices one of last year’s dried persimmons, a shriveled nugget of its former self, and offers a taste. A persimmon’s equivalent of powdered sugar dusts the surface of the sliver, and tastes just as sweet but more nuanced than the stuff you’d find in boxes at the store. The innermost layer is its own world of brown sugary goodness, and only gets deeper in flavor with each chew.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s sublime — and even better with some tea, bread and a soft cheese, Jacobson says.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Food and freedom\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>As Jacobson attends to each fruit this December morning, she handles them according to where each one is on their journey. Some get a firm squeeze, others the delicate pressure of hugging a great-grandparent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The fruit takes on a life of its own,” she says, softly pinching a persimmon between her thumb and forefinger.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13939725\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231219-HOSHIGAKI-031-JY-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13939725 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231219-HOSHIGAKI-031-JY-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"a close-up of a woman's neck, wearing a white sweater and a gold chain with small persimmon baubles\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231219-HOSHIGAKI-031-JY-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231219-HOSHIGAKI-031-JY-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231219-HOSHIGAKI-031-JY-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231219-HOSHIGAKI-031-JY-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231219-HOSHIGAKI-031-JY-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231219-HOSHIGAKI-031-JY-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231219-HOSHIGAKI-031-JY-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mari Jacobson wears a necklace showing the different stages of hoshigaki. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Lately, Jacobson has been thinking about how food — and lack thereof — can be a tool of oppression. According to the NGO Human Rights Watch, \u003ca href=\"https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/12/18/israel-starvation-used-weapon-war-gaza\">the Israeli government is using starvation\u003c/a> as a method of warfare, blocking the delivery of food, fuel and water to Palestinian civilians — a war crime, under international humanitarian law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The connection between food and culture is precious, she says. It isn’t lost on her that hoshigaki brought Jacobson and her great-grandmother into harmony with their ecosystem; she sees the Israeli government’s actions as an attempt to sever that bond between Palestinians and their land.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s very heavy to think about food sovereignty right now,” she said. “To think about how much Palestine is struggling with starvation right now and how violating it can be to not have access to important cultural foods that provide vibrancy to your life.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Soon, Jacobson will be packaging the candied fruits to be shipped out all over the U.S. She hopes that people who encounter her effort will use their own gifts to express their solidarity with Palestinians.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s always going to be some way that you can take a localized action to support a cause,” she said. “Even if it’s geographically very far.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Mari Jacobson’s eyes fill with tears when she talks about the wind.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Decades before Jacobson was born, her great-grandmother used to perform miracles with the cold dry winds that flooded the valley in her mountainous prefecture in central Japan. They were her accomplice as she strung peeled persimmons from the eaves of her green-tiled roof. Together, she and the wind bloomed the natural sugars of the persimmons from the inside out until the fruits had preserved themselves in their own sweetness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s really nice to think that someone else in my lineage was sitting there, peeling persimmons,” Jacobson says, some 60 years later. “I think it takes a very specific kind of patience to engage in this practice.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On a damp December morning in Berkeley, the 31-year-old is carrying on the centuries-old technique for drying persimmons, something she first began doing last winter. But now, she’s doing it for a purpose much larger than herself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13939721\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231219-HOSHIGAKI-007-JY-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13939721 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231219-HOSHIGAKI-007-JY-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"a close-up of hands touching dried persimmons\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231219-HOSHIGAKI-007-JY-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231219-HOSHIGAKI-007-JY-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231219-HOSHIGAKI-007-JY-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231219-HOSHIGAKI-007-JY-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231219-HOSHIGAKI-007-JY-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231219-HOSHIGAKI-007-JY-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231219-HOSHIGAKI-007-JY-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mari Jacobson massages Hachiya persimmons in her home in Berkeley. The process of drying persimmons is called hoshigaki, a centuries-old Japanese practice during the fall season. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In early November, Jacobson announced through her pop-up \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/setsunai_snack/?hl=en\">Setsunai Snack\u003c/a> that she would be selling dried persimmons for $10 to $20 each, and sending 100% of the proceeds to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.mecaforpeace.org/\">Middle East Children’s Alliance\u003c/a>, a nonprofit that serves young Palestinians and Syrian refugees. She received $1,050 in orders over the course of 12 hours, for a total of 60 persimmons that would need to travel as far as Pennsylvania, she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ve been deeply affected by all the news of the genocide in Palestine as a human, but also as someone who grew up in the Jewish community,” says Jacobson, whose dad is Jewish and whose mom is Japanese. “I wanted to mobilize my very negative feelings towards a small action and the creation of something that I consider very beautiful.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>But after the rain set in, Jacobson worried over the persimmons, strung up by their T-shaped stems from clothes hangers in her kitchen. Weeks after she’d spiraled the peels off the first batch with a knife — leaving the persimmons disrobed and vulnerable — a few dropped off their stems in moldy defeat and were stolen away by Jacobson’s cats.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Anyone who’s tried \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2019/01/09/682936866/ancient-japanese-food-craft-brings-persimmons-to-american-palates\">hoshigaki\u003c/a> will tell you it’s a delicate and complicated process. It’s nothing like dumping citrus peels into a pot of bubbling sugar, or sun-drying grapes — unless you’re individually massaging each grape for over a month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hachiya persimmons need certain conditions to become sweet: frequent massages, lots of time and a cold, dry place to do their thing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It feels like taking care of a living creature,” Jacobson says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13939722\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231219-HOSHIGAKI-009-JY-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13939722 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231219-HOSHIGAKI-009-JY-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"a woman with bleach blonde hair and red lipstick cares for drying persimmons hanging from clothes hangers\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231219-HOSHIGAKI-009-JY-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231219-HOSHIGAKI-009-JY-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231219-HOSHIGAKI-009-JY-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231219-HOSHIGAKI-009-JY-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231219-HOSHIGAKI-009-JY-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231219-HOSHIGAKI-009-JY-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231219-HOSHIGAKI-009-JY-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mari Jacobson massages Hachiya persimmons in her home in Berkeley. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Persimmons are a fall and winter fruit, and the Bay Area is generally a nurturing place for young persimmons as they come of age on the branch. But with a winter climate that’s been flip-flopping between weirdly warm days and rainy ones, this season hasn’t provided what hachiya persimmons need to transcend to caramelly excellence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Battling the rain, I had to buy this net enclosure for the persimmons, and then I had to move them inside,” Jacobson says. Instead of dry gusts rushing through an ancient valley, she had a large box fan plugged into her kitchen wall, angled towards clothing racks dangling with fruit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But seven weeks out from when she peeled the very first batch, the surviving fruit had miraculously surrendered its moisture and crinkled inward, just as they were supposed to, around their now crystallized hearts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jacobson’s constant attention — and weeks of worry — had paid off, even if she’d lost a few in the process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’re all I think about,” she says with a laugh.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13939723\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231219-HOSHIGAKI-020-JY-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13939723 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231219-HOSHIGAKI-020-JY-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"dried persimmons hanging from clothes hangers\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231219-HOSHIGAKI-020-JY-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231219-HOSHIGAKI-020-JY-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231219-HOSHIGAKI-020-JY-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231219-HOSHIGAKI-020-JY-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231219-HOSHIGAKI-020-JY-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231219-HOSHIGAKI-020-JY-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231219-HOSHIGAKI-020-JY-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Hachiya persimmons hang from twine to dry in Mari Jacobson’s home. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>On her kitchen countertop, Jacobson slices one of last year’s dried persimmons, a shriveled nugget of its former self, and offers a taste. A persimmon’s equivalent of powdered sugar dusts the surface of the sliver, and tastes just as sweet but more nuanced than the stuff you’d find in boxes at the store. The innermost layer is its own world of brown sugary goodness, and only gets deeper in flavor with each chew.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s sublime — and even better with some tea, bread and a soft cheese, Jacobson says.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Food and freedom\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>As Jacobson attends to each fruit this December morning, she handles them according to where each one is on their journey. Some get a firm squeeze, others the delicate pressure of hugging a great-grandparent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The fruit takes on a life of its own,” she says, softly pinching a persimmon between her thumb and forefinger.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13939725\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231219-HOSHIGAKI-031-JY-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13939725 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231219-HOSHIGAKI-031-JY-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"a close-up of a woman's neck, wearing a white sweater and a gold chain with small persimmon baubles\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231219-HOSHIGAKI-031-JY-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231219-HOSHIGAKI-031-JY-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231219-HOSHIGAKI-031-JY-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231219-HOSHIGAKI-031-JY-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231219-HOSHIGAKI-031-JY-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231219-HOSHIGAKI-031-JY-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231219-HOSHIGAKI-031-JY-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mari Jacobson wears a necklace showing the different stages of hoshigaki. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Lately, Jacobson has been thinking about how food — and lack thereof — can be a tool of oppression. According to the NGO Human Rights Watch, \u003ca href=\"https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/12/18/israel-starvation-used-weapon-war-gaza\">the Israeli government is using starvation\u003c/a> as a method of warfare, blocking the delivery of food, fuel and water to Palestinian civilians — a war crime, under international humanitarian law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The connection between food and culture is precious, she says. It isn’t lost on her that hoshigaki brought Jacobson and her great-grandmother into harmony with their ecosystem; she sees the Israeli government’s actions as an attempt to sever that bond between Palestinians and their land.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s very heavy to think about food sovereignty right now,” she said. “To think about how much Palestine is struggling with starvation right now and how violating it can be to not have access to important cultural foods that provide vibrancy to your life.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Soon, Jacobson will be packaging the candied fruits to be shipped out all over the U.S. She hopes that people who encounter her effort will use their own gifts to express their solidarity with Palestinians.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s always going to be some way that you can take a localized action to support a cause,” she said. “Even if it’s geographically very far.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "gogl-mogl-old-world-home-remedy",
"title": "Gogl-Mogl: Old World Home Remedy That May Comfort — Even If It Doesn’t Cure",
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"content": "\u003cp>As long as there have been scratchy throats, runny noses, and hacking coughs, there have been \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2012/11/29/166186751/tried-and-true-trick-for-beating-a-cold\">home remedies\u003c/a> different cultures have turned to hoping to feel better. Chicken soup, ginger tea, mustard plasters. And for those with family roots in Eastern Europe \u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">—\u003c/span>\u003c/i> a drink known as gogl-mogl.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Also called goggle-moggle, kogel mogel, guggle muggle, גאָגל-מאָגל, the drink is basically like a hot eggnog, or sabayon, thinned out to be drinkable. It’s widely been used as a remedy in Ashkenazi Jewish communities. While the drink exists in non-Jewish communities as well, it’s usually seen as more of a dessert.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.circle.org/yiddish-instructor-profiles/eve-jochnowitz\">Eve Jochnowitz\u003c/a>, a Yiddish teacher and Jewish culinary ethnographer, jokes that gogl-mogl “seems to be one of those things like chicken soup \u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">—\u003c/span>\u003c/i> it’s always been there.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Bubbe's Remedy For the Common Cold\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https://www.youtube.com/embed/qdY6hDm65sQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen>\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jochnowitz says the most common version begins with sugar or honey mixed with egg yolks, and then beaten into hot milk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are slightly different versions \u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">—\u003c/span>\u003c/i> sometimes a shot of brandy or slivovitz was thrown in; sometimes chocolate or butter was added. Jochnowitz says gogl-mogl was found across Europe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13939138']“Over the entire Yiddish-speaking world \u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">—\u003c/span>\u003c/i> from Czechoslovakia in the West, as far as the borders of the Russian Empire in the East, I would say.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And with immigration, gogl-mogl made its way into America. The late New York City Mayor Ed Koch \u003ca href=\"https://www.wnyc.org/story/265827-ed-kochs-cold-remedy/\">gave out \u003c/a>his version at a press conference in 1987. A unique version, it should be noted, that forgoes the eggs and milk, and instead mixes the honey and booze into some fresh-squeezed citrus (he notes that as an elected official he wouldn’t drink alcohol on the job, but would have gogl-mogl to recuperate overnight).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/11/08/1197958402/fresh-air-draft-11-08-2023\">recent interview on WHYY’s Fresh Air\u003c/a>, singer Barbra Streisand recalled her mother recommending it after her first real gig.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The first thing she said, I remember, was ‘Your voice needs eggs. You have to use a gogl-mogl, cause your voice needs to be stronger.'”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In \u003ca href=\"https://www.yiddishbookcenter.org/collections/oral-histories/excerpts/woh-ex-0001038/cantor-father-s-guggle-muggle-kol-nidre\">an oral history with the Yiddish Book Center\u003c/a>, Al Rosen, a WWII veteran, remembers how his father would also prepare gogl-mogl to coat his throat before his role chanting Kol Nidre, the melodic service ushering in the high holiday of Yom Kippur.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now some people have sweet memories of parents and grandparents bringing a gogl-mogl to their sickbed. But a lot of people dreaded it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What the people who have negative recollections seem to have in common is that the egg yolk was not beaten with the sugar,” observes Eve Jochnowitz. “You would put in a whole egg yolk, and the idea was that you would swallow the whole egg yolk while you drank the hot beverage. And that doesn’t sound quite as fabulous.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/kirshenblatt-gimblett-barbara\">Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett\u003c/a>, curator at POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews, remembers being given gogl-mogl for chest colds during the harsh winters of her Toronto childhood. And it was \u003cem>not\u003c/em> a pleasant experience.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Oh no, hell no,” she laughs. “No, no.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But she does acknowledge it had a soothing warmth. And she wonders about its future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m curious to what extent gogl-mogl persists among an American-born generation \u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">—\u003c/span>\u003c/i> especially people who were born, let’s say, 20, 30 years ago. And to what extent it’s a legacy of mothers, grandmothers, great-grandmothers from Europe.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Culinary ethnographer Eve Jochnowitz says the steepest decline probably came in the 1970s, as the immigrant generation aged. Access to over-the-counter medicines, and a lower tolerance for giving raw eggs and alcohol to children also may have played a role.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/michal_korkosz/?hl=en\">Michał Korkosz\u003c/a>, a food writer in Poland, you can still find the dessert version of gogl-mogl in Eastern Europe. Though even then, it’s seen as a relic of the past, hearkening back to Communist times when you couldn’t find any sweets in the stores.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Polish version is more like an egg foam \u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">—\u003c/span>\u003c/i> a cloud of just whipped eggs and sugar, like the beginning of a sponge cake.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s so fluffy, it’s so creamy,” waxes Korkosz. “It has its richness.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Korkosz notes that sometimes, when someone was sick, his grandmother would pour in a little hot milk \u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">—\u003c/span>\u003c/i> turning this dessert into a remedy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Sweet treat, but somehow milk makes it a medicine, right?” he laughs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Which raises the question \u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">—\u003c/span>\u003c/i> does gogl-mogl actually do anything, medicinally? \u003ca href=\"https://uvahealth.com/findadoctor/Diane-Pappas-1548339179\">Dr. Diane Pappas\u003c/a> is a pediatrician at the University of Virginia who researches cough management in kids. She says… meh?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We don’t have any really good evidence that honey does a whole lot for cough,” explains Pappas. “There’s a few studies that say it might help a little bit. They’re not great quality, but it’s really all we have.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But it might not be anything special about the honey.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There is some suggestion that just the fact that you have some kind of viscous liquid kind of coating and calming and soothing your throat and increasing saliva and whatever, that those things can also help comfort someone with a cough or cold symptoms.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pappas says if you want a gogl-mogl, go for it. Calories and warm fluids always help. And as long as the egg is fully cooked, and you’re not giving honey to infants, it’s fine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t know that there are downsides \u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">—\u003c/span>\u003c/i> unless you put the alcohol in it,” says Pappas. “Don’t know that there’s a huge upside either.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pappas says while she can’t ethically \u003cem>prescribe \u003c/em>placebos \u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">—\u003c/span>\u003c/i> that effect can play a role in all sorts of things people take hoping to feel better.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And Polish food writer Michał Korkosz says there’s also the comfort of tradition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I always compare dishes from our childhood as like a warm blanket. They’re so cozy, and so delicious, and they remind you when you were the happiest in your life.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Which may be the perfect thing, when you’re feeling crummy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\">visit NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Gogl-mogl%3A+old+world+home+remedy+that+may+comfort+%E2%80%94+even+if+it+doesn%27t+cure+&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>As long as there have been scratchy throats, runny noses, and hacking coughs, there have been \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2012/11/29/166186751/tried-and-true-trick-for-beating-a-cold\">home remedies\u003c/a> different cultures have turned to hoping to feel better. Chicken soup, ginger tea, mustard plasters. And for those with family roots in Eastern Europe \u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">—\u003c/span>\u003c/i> a drink known as gogl-mogl.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Also called goggle-moggle, kogel mogel, guggle muggle, גאָגל-מאָגל, the drink is basically like a hot eggnog, or sabayon, thinned out to be drinkable. It’s widely been used as a remedy in Ashkenazi Jewish communities. While the drink exists in non-Jewish communities as well, it’s usually seen as more of a dessert.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.circle.org/yiddish-instructor-profiles/eve-jochnowitz\">Eve Jochnowitz\u003c/a>, a Yiddish teacher and Jewish culinary ethnographer, jokes that gogl-mogl “seems to be one of those things like chicken soup \u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">—\u003c/span>\u003c/i> it’s always been there.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Bubbe's Remedy For the Common Cold\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https://www.youtube.com/embed/qdY6hDm65sQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen>\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jochnowitz says the most common version begins with sugar or honey mixed with egg yolks, and then beaten into hot milk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are slightly different versions \u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">—\u003c/span>\u003c/i> sometimes a shot of brandy or slivovitz was thrown in; sometimes chocolate or butter was added. Jochnowitz says gogl-mogl was found across Europe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“Over the entire Yiddish-speaking world \u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">—\u003c/span>\u003c/i> from Czechoslovakia in the West, as far as the borders of the Russian Empire in the East, I would say.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And with immigration, gogl-mogl made its way into America. The late New York City Mayor Ed Koch \u003ca href=\"https://www.wnyc.org/story/265827-ed-kochs-cold-remedy/\">gave out \u003c/a>his version at a press conference in 1987. A unique version, it should be noted, that forgoes the eggs and milk, and instead mixes the honey and booze into some fresh-squeezed citrus (he notes that as an elected official he wouldn’t drink alcohol on the job, but would have gogl-mogl to recuperate overnight).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/11/08/1197958402/fresh-air-draft-11-08-2023\">recent interview on WHYY’s Fresh Air\u003c/a>, singer Barbra Streisand recalled her mother recommending it after her first real gig.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The first thing she said, I remember, was ‘Your voice needs eggs. You have to use a gogl-mogl, cause your voice needs to be stronger.'”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In \u003ca href=\"https://www.yiddishbookcenter.org/collections/oral-histories/excerpts/woh-ex-0001038/cantor-father-s-guggle-muggle-kol-nidre\">an oral history with the Yiddish Book Center\u003c/a>, Al Rosen, a WWII veteran, remembers how his father would also prepare gogl-mogl to coat his throat before his role chanting Kol Nidre, the melodic service ushering in the high holiday of Yom Kippur.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now some people have sweet memories of parents and grandparents bringing a gogl-mogl to their sickbed. But a lot of people dreaded it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What the people who have negative recollections seem to have in common is that the egg yolk was not beaten with the sugar,” observes Eve Jochnowitz. “You would put in a whole egg yolk, and the idea was that you would swallow the whole egg yolk while you drank the hot beverage. And that doesn’t sound quite as fabulous.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/kirshenblatt-gimblett-barbara\">Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett\u003c/a>, curator at POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews, remembers being given gogl-mogl for chest colds during the harsh winters of her Toronto childhood. And it was \u003cem>not\u003c/em> a pleasant experience.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Oh no, hell no,” she laughs. “No, no.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But she does acknowledge it had a soothing warmth. And she wonders about its future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m curious to what extent gogl-mogl persists among an American-born generation \u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">—\u003c/span>\u003c/i> especially people who were born, let’s say, 20, 30 years ago. And to what extent it’s a legacy of mothers, grandmothers, great-grandmothers from Europe.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Culinary ethnographer Eve Jochnowitz says the steepest decline probably came in the 1970s, as the immigrant generation aged. Access to over-the-counter medicines, and a lower tolerance for giving raw eggs and alcohol to children also may have played a role.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/michal_korkosz/?hl=en\">Michał Korkosz\u003c/a>, a food writer in Poland, you can still find the dessert version of gogl-mogl in Eastern Europe. Though even then, it’s seen as a relic of the past, hearkening back to Communist times when you couldn’t find any sweets in the stores.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Polish version is more like an egg foam \u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">—\u003c/span>\u003c/i> a cloud of just whipped eggs and sugar, like the beginning of a sponge cake.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s so fluffy, it’s so creamy,” waxes Korkosz. “It has its richness.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Korkosz notes that sometimes, when someone was sick, his grandmother would pour in a little hot milk \u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">—\u003c/span>\u003c/i> turning this dessert into a remedy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Sweet treat, but somehow milk makes it a medicine, right?” he laughs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Which raises the question \u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">—\u003c/span>\u003c/i> does gogl-mogl actually do anything, medicinally? \u003ca href=\"https://uvahealth.com/findadoctor/Diane-Pappas-1548339179\">Dr. Diane Pappas\u003c/a> is a pediatrician at the University of Virginia who researches cough management in kids. She says… meh?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We don’t have any really good evidence that honey does a whole lot for cough,” explains Pappas. “There’s a few studies that say it might help a little bit. They’re not great quality, but it’s really all we have.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But it might not be anything special about the honey.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There is some suggestion that just the fact that you have some kind of viscous liquid kind of coating and calming and soothing your throat and increasing saliva and whatever, that those things can also help comfort someone with a cough or cold symptoms.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pappas says if you want a gogl-mogl, go for it. Calories and warm fluids always help. And as long as the egg is fully cooked, and you’re not giving honey to infants, it’s fine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t know that there are downsides \u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">—\u003c/span>\u003c/i> unless you put the alcohol in it,” says Pappas. “Don’t know that there’s a huge upside either.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pappas says while she can’t ethically \u003cem>prescribe \u003c/em>placebos \u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">—\u003c/span>\u003c/i> that effect can play a role in all sorts of things people take hoping to feel better.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And Polish food writer Michał Korkosz says there’s also the comfort of tradition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I always compare dishes from our childhood as like a warm blanket. They’re so cozy, and so delicious, and they remind you when you were the happiest in your life.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Which may be the perfect thing, when you’re feeling crummy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\">visit NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Gogl-mogl%3A+old+world+home+remedy+that+may+comfort+%E2%80%94+even+if+it+doesn%27t+cure+&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "A Buffet of 2023 Cookbooks for the Food Lovers on Your List",
"headTitle": "A Buffet of 2023 Cookbooks for the Food Lovers on Your List | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>There are a \u003cem>lot \u003c/em>of cooks at NPR. Every year when we ask our staff for recommendations for Books We Love — \u003ca href=\"https://apps.npr.org/best-books/#view=covers&year=2023\">NPR’s annual, year-end books guide\u003c/a> — we get back a veritable smorgasbord of cookbook offerings. Scroll down to find out what our staffers were up to in the kitchen this year, and to explore selections from food writer, author and NPR contributor \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/10593559/t-susan-chang\">T. Susan Chang. \u003c/a>This is just a sampling of our food recommendations in 2023 — to see the full list, head over to \u003ca href=\"http://stage-apps.npr.org/orderly-slander/#tags=cookbooks+%26+food&view=covers&year=2023\">\u003cstrong>Books We Love.\u003c/strong> \u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cem>Asada: The Art of Mexican-Style Grilling\u003c/em> by Bricia Lopez with Javier Cabral\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13939604 alignleft\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Screen-Shot-2023-12-16-at-9.26.52-PM-e1702790889803.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"190\">Restaurateur Bricia Lopez says her cookbook \u003cem>Asada: The Art of Mexican-Style Grilling\u003c/em> is a love letter to Los Angeles. It’s an expression of both her Oaxacan and American identity. An asada is a smoky barbecue filled with family, friends, music and drinks. And backyard asada culture reigns supreme in the streets of LA. Lopez’s cookbook covers everything you need to know to throw an asada, from making marinades to refreshing agua frescas. — \u003cem>Milton Guevara, associate producer, ‘Morning Edition’ and ‘Up First’\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cem>The Cookie That Changed My Life\u003c/em> by Nancy Silverton with Carolynn Carreño\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13939605 alignleft\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Screen-Shot-2023-12-16-at-9.28.45-PM-e1702790959367.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"250\" height=\"283\">If you’re like me, every cookie is the “cookie that changed my life.” But in the case of veteran baker Nancy Silverton, it was a giant peanut butter cookie from an LA bakery. “Perfection!” Silverton thought — before setting out to make it even more perfect. Every recipe in this book similarly gilds the lily: Walnut oil and ground walnuts intensify the dough for Walnut Sandies. Black cocoa powder, cacao nibs, bittersweet chocolate and flaky salt marry in the Ultimate Chocolate Cookie — which takes hours. But you will want to change your life to make time for it. — \u003cem>T. Susan Chang, food writer\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cem>Ed Mitchell’s Barbeque\u003c/em> by Ed Mitchell and Ryan Mitchell with Zella Palmer\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13939606 alignleft\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Screen-Shot-2023-12-16-at-9.30.51-PM-e1702791086869.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"250\" height=\"314\">This book is a tribute to the “unspoken cuisine of America” and to the authors’ enslaved ancestors, the first pitmasters of eastern North Carolina. The recipes are delectable. The star is whole hog BBQ, pit-roasted over hot embers with a vinegar-based sauce, and traditional sides, like Tobacco Barn Brunswick Stew, Church Ladies’ Candied Yams, and Ed’s Shindig Slaw. But we also get some fresh takes, like Smoked Collard Green Dip, Bougie Barbequed Whole Turkey, and Smoked Tofu Burnt Ends. This is one of those special regional cookbooks that reads as a rich cultural and historical memoir told through the lens of foodways. — \u003cem>Debbie Elliott, correspondent, National Desk\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cem>The Global Pantry Cookbook\u003c/em> by Scott Mowbray and Ann Taylor Pittman\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13939608 alignleft\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Screen-Shot-2023-12-16-at-9.32.02-PM-e1702791167289.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"250\" height=\"311\">I collect cookbooks. I especially love ones with stories about how recipes reflect local culture and history. This new collection goes around the world to “taste the umami of human history.” The authors are test kitchen superstars, and the book is an encyclopedia of flavors with an introduction that explains how they were first introduced to American cooks. It includes a glossary of interesting ingredients to try, like anyuls vinegar, kecap manis and ras el hanout (try it in chicken salad!). Ann Taylor Pittman showcases her Korean and Mississippi roots in her Smokey Pimento Kim Cheese recipe. It’s fun to make — you fashion a stovetop smoker with a foil pan to smoke the pimento and add chopped kimchi for punch. Delicious! — \u003cem>Debbie Elliott, correspondent, National Desk\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cem>Invitation to a Banquet: The Story of Chinese Food\u003c/em> by Fuchsia Dunlop\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13939609 alignleft\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Screen-Shot-2023-12-16-at-9.33.18-PM-e1702791231842.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"250\" height=\"395\">Fuchsia Dunlop finds it a pity that Chinese food is among the world’s favorites, yet one of the least understood. This is partly because, in her view, there are few Chinese gastronomy critics who can both cook dishes and write prose. In \u003cem>Invitation to a Banquet: The Story of Chinese Food\u003c/em>, Dunlop — who in the 1990s became the first foreigner to study at the Sichuan Higher Institute of Cuisine in Chengdu — tries to take on that role. It’s a personal journey filled with history of some of the best-known and occasionally exotic dishes, told in lip-smacking detail. It’s an invitation hard to resist. — \u003cem>Vincent Ni, Asia editor, International Desk\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cem>The Secret of Cooking: Recipes for an Easier Life in the Kitchen\u003c/em> by Bee Wilson\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13939610 alignleft\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Screen-Shot-2023-12-16-at-9.34.22-PM-e1702791293728.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"250\" height=\"355\">More than a cookbook, this is an empathetic guide to how to make cooking work for you — and even become a joy (or a joy again). Sure, Bee Wilson says, cooking is easy if you have all afternoon, no kids pulling on you and someone prepping your ingredients. But what if you have picky eaters, a full-time job and a kitchen with only half the ingredients the recipe calls for? This book has the answers, explaining everything from how to figure out what flavors go together, to how to build a repertoire of favorites, to how to cut yourself some slack when everything goes wrong. The book’s simple, delicious recipes are treated more like blueprints — if something in a recipe doesn’t work for you, Wilson is happy for you to try putting in something that will. — \u003cem>Jennifer Vanasco, editor and reporter, Culture Desk\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cem>A Splash of Soy: Everyday Food from Asia\u003c/em> by Lara Lee\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13939611 alignleft\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Screen-Shot-2023-12-16-at-9.35.30-PM-e1702791365367.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"250\" height=\"325\">If your personal gastronomic paradise is centered somewhere off the South China Sea, this one’s for you. Australian food writer Lara Lee draws inspiration from foodways spanning the Eastern Hemisphere; she’ll lead you on a lemongrass-scented, tamarind-flecked, coconut-infused frolic through the aisles of your local Asian grocery. We tore our way through Sambal Shrimp with Coconut and Cashews, Tom Yum Roast Chicken, Pickled Ginger Soba Noodle Salad, Tofu and Cabbage Okonomiyaki, Lemongrass Pork Burgers and much more. By the end, way more than a splash of soy adorned my copy — and I bet it’ll be the same for yours. — T. Susan Chang, food writer\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cem>Start Here: Instructions for Becoming a Better Cook\u003c/em> by Sohla El-Waylly\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13939612 alignleft\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Screen-Shot-2023-12-16-at-9.36.49-PM-e1702791443432.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"250\" height=\"328\">I really can’t think of a better kitchen mentor than Sohla El-Waylly. She’s created some of my most favorite recipes, and Start Here will teach you any technique you need — whether it’s new to you, or you’re just a bit rusty or unsure — to make your food taste incredible. My family inhaled her Baked White Beans with Dates, and I got over my fear of cooking with dried legumes, thanks to her gentle but authoritative guidance. Next up? Maybe Turmeric Potatoes with a Whole Lotta Lemon. Yum. — \u003cem>Sarah Handel, senior editor, ‘All Things Considered’\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cem>Tenderheart: A Cookbook About Vegetables and Unbreakable Family Bonds\u003c/em> by Hetty Lui McKinnon\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13939613 alignleft\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Screen-Shot-2023-12-16-at-9.38.00-PM-e1702791508854.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"250\" height=\"367\">Prolific cookbook author and daughter of a produce wholesaler Hetty Lui McKinnon knows her way around her greens. While many vegetable cookbooks worship at the altar of the unadorned plant, Tenderheart advocates an exuberant, over-the-top vegetarianism, enhanced with innovative homemade chili crisps, pickles, aiolis, harissas. King Oyster Mushrooms with Whipped Almonds, Roasted Broccoli and Crispy Chickpeas with Sichuan Dukkah, and Sticky Gochujang Brussels Sprouts are like nothing you ever encountered in the Moosewood generation. With mouthwatering, high-def photography and a pristine layout, this one’s eminently giftable, too. — \u003cem>T. Susan Chang, food writer\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cem>The World Central Kitchen Cookbook\u003c/em> by José Andrés and World Central Kitchen with Sam Chapple-Sokol\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13939614 alignleft\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Screen-Shot-2023-12-16-at-9.39.08-PM-e1702791581100.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"250\" height=\"307\">This is much more than a cookbook: It’s a chronicle of World Central Kitchen’s profound work nourishing millions of people worldwide in the wake of natural disasters and other crises. WCK founder and chef José Andrés has organized the recipes into WCK’s core principles, like “empathy,” “adaptation,” “resilience” and the like. The inspiring text and photos highlight WCK’s work all over the globe, including in Haiti, Lebanon and Indonesia, as well as across the United States. Several of the dishes here have already become weeknight family favorites in my own home, including the tangy Chicken Chili Verde, the flavorful one-pot Turkey Bolognese and the mouthwatering Venezuelan Banana Bread. — \u003cem>Anastasia Tsioulcas, correspondent, Culture Desk\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cstrong>This is just a sampling of the titles in the \u003c/strong>\u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://apps.npr.org/best-books/#tags=cookbooks+%26+food&view=covers&year=2023\">\u003cem>\u003cstrong>Cookbooks & Food section\u003c/strong>\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>\u003cstrong> of \u003c/strong>\u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://apps.npr.org/best-books/#view=covers&year=2023\">\u003cem>\u003cstrong>Books We Love\u003c/strong>\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>\u003cstrong>. Check out \u003c/strong>\u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://apps.npr.org/best-books/#tags=cookbooks+%26+food&view=covers&year=2023\">\u003cem>\u003cstrong>all of this year’s selections,\u003c/strong>\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>\u003cstrong> and stick around to browse picks from the last 11 years.\u003c/strong>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\">visit NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=A+buffet+of+2023+cookbooks+for+the+food+lovers+on+your+list&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>There are a \u003cem>lot \u003c/em>of cooks at NPR. Every year when we ask our staff for recommendations for Books We Love — \u003ca href=\"https://apps.npr.org/best-books/#view=covers&year=2023\">NPR’s annual, year-end books guide\u003c/a> — we get back a veritable smorgasbord of cookbook offerings. Scroll down to find out what our staffers were up to in the kitchen this year, and to explore selections from food writer, author and NPR contributor \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/10593559/t-susan-chang\">T. Susan Chang. \u003c/a>This is just a sampling of our food recommendations in 2023 — to see the full list, head over to \u003ca href=\"http://stage-apps.npr.org/orderly-slander/#tags=cookbooks+%26+food&view=covers&year=2023\">\u003cstrong>Books We Love.\u003c/strong> \u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cem>Asada: The Art of Mexican-Style Grilling\u003c/em> by Bricia Lopez with Javier Cabral\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13939604 alignleft\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Screen-Shot-2023-12-16-at-9.26.52-PM-e1702790889803.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"190\">Restaurateur Bricia Lopez says her cookbook \u003cem>Asada: The Art of Mexican-Style Grilling\u003c/em> is a love letter to Los Angeles. It’s an expression of both her Oaxacan and American identity. An asada is a smoky barbecue filled with family, friends, music and drinks. And backyard asada culture reigns supreme in the streets of LA. Lopez’s cookbook covers everything you need to know to throw an asada, from making marinades to refreshing agua frescas. — \u003cem>Milton Guevara, associate producer, ‘Morning Edition’ and ‘Up First’\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cem>The Cookie That Changed My Life\u003c/em> by Nancy Silverton with Carolynn Carreño\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13939605 alignleft\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Screen-Shot-2023-12-16-at-9.28.45-PM-e1702790959367.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"250\" height=\"283\">If you’re like me, every cookie is the “cookie that changed my life.” But in the case of veteran baker Nancy Silverton, it was a giant peanut butter cookie from an LA bakery. “Perfection!” Silverton thought — before setting out to make it even more perfect. Every recipe in this book similarly gilds the lily: Walnut oil and ground walnuts intensify the dough for Walnut Sandies. Black cocoa powder, cacao nibs, bittersweet chocolate and flaky salt marry in the Ultimate Chocolate Cookie — which takes hours. But you will want to change your life to make time for it. — \u003cem>T. Susan Chang, food writer\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cem>Ed Mitchell’s Barbeque\u003c/em> by Ed Mitchell and Ryan Mitchell with Zella Palmer\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13939606 alignleft\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Screen-Shot-2023-12-16-at-9.30.51-PM-e1702791086869.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"250\" height=\"314\">This book is a tribute to the “unspoken cuisine of America” and to the authors’ enslaved ancestors, the first pitmasters of eastern North Carolina. The recipes are delectable. The star is whole hog BBQ, pit-roasted over hot embers with a vinegar-based sauce, and traditional sides, like Tobacco Barn Brunswick Stew, Church Ladies’ Candied Yams, and Ed’s Shindig Slaw. But we also get some fresh takes, like Smoked Collard Green Dip, Bougie Barbequed Whole Turkey, and Smoked Tofu Burnt Ends. This is one of those special regional cookbooks that reads as a rich cultural and historical memoir told through the lens of foodways. — \u003cem>Debbie Elliott, correspondent, National Desk\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cem>The Global Pantry Cookbook\u003c/em> by Scott Mowbray and Ann Taylor Pittman\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13939608 alignleft\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Screen-Shot-2023-12-16-at-9.32.02-PM-e1702791167289.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"250\" height=\"311\">I collect cookbooks. I especially love ones with stories about how recipes reflect local culture and history. This new collection goes around the world to “taste the umami of human history.” The authors are test kitchen superstars, and the book is an encyclopedia of flavors with an introduction that explains how they were first introduced to American cooks. It includes a glossary of interesting ingredients to try, like anyuls vinegar, kecap manis and ras el hanout (try it in chicken salad!). Ann Taylor Pittman showcases her Korean and Mississippi roots in her Smokey Pimento Kim Cheese recipe. It’s fun to make — you fashion a stovetop smoker with a foil pan to smoke the pimento and add chopped kimchi for punch. Delicious! — \u003cem>Debbie Elliott, correspondent, National Desk\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cem>Invitation to a Banquet: The Story of Chinese Food\u003c/em> by Fuchsia Dunlop\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13939609 alignleft\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Screen-Shot-2023-12-16-at-9.33.18-PM-e1702791231842.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"250\" height=\"395\">Fuchsia Dunlop finds it a pity that Chinese food is among the world’s favorites, yet one of the least understood. This is partly because, in her view, there are few Chinese gastronomy critics who can both cook dishes and write prose. In \u003cem>Invitation to a Banquet: The Story of Chinese Food\u003c/em>, Dunlop — who in the 1990s became the first foreigner to study at the Sichuan Higher Institute of Cuisine in Chengdu — tries to take on that role. It’s a personal journey filled with history of some of the best-known and occasionally exotic dishes, told in lip-smacking detail. It’s an invitation hard to resist. — \u003cem>Vincent Ni, Asia editor, International Desk\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cem>The Secret of Cooking: Recipes for an Easier Life in the Kitchen\u003c/em> by Bee Wilson\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13939610 alignleft\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Screen-Shot-2023-12-16-at-9.34.22-PM-e1702791293728.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"250\" height=\"355\">More than a cookbook, this is an empathetic guide to how to make cooking work for you — and even become a joy (or a joy again). Sure, Bee Wilson says, cooking is easy if you have all afternoon, no kids pulling on you and someone prepping your ingredients. But what if you have picky eaters, a full-time job and a kitchen with only half the ingredients the recipe calls for? This book has the answers, explaining everything from how to figure out what flavors go together, to how to build a repertoire of favorites, to how to cut yourself some slack when everything goes wrong. The book’s simple, delicious recipes are treated more like blueprints — if something in a recipe doesn’t work for you, Wilson is happy for you to try putting in something that will. — \u003cem>Jennifer Vanasco, editor and reporter, Culture Desk\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cem>A Splash of Soy: Everyday Food from Asia\u003c/em> by Lara Lee\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13939611 alignleft\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Screen-Shot-2023-12-16-at-9.35.30-PM-e1702791365367.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"250\" height=\"325\">If your personal gastronomic paradise is centered somewhere off the South China Sea, this one’s for you. Australian food writer Lara Lee draws inspiration from foodways spanning the Eastern Hemisphere; she’ll lead you on a lemongrass-scented, tamarind-flecked, coconut-infused frolic through the aisles of your local Asian grocery. We tore our way through Sambal Shrimp with Coconut and Cashews, Tom Yum Roast Chicken, Pickled Ginger Soba Noodle Salad, Tofu and Cabbage Okonomiyaki, Lemongrass Pork Burgers and much more. By the end, way more than a splash of soy adorned my copy — and I bet it’ll be the same for yours. — T. Susan Chang, food writer\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cem>Start Here: Instructions for Becoming a Better Cook\u003c/em> by Sohla El-Waylly\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13939612 alignleft\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Screen-Shot-2023-12-16-at-9.36.49-PM-e1702791443432.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"250\" height=\"328\">I really can’t think of a better kitchen mentor than Sohla El-Waylly. She’s created some of my most favorite recipes, and Start Here will teach you any technique you need — whether it’s new to you, or you’re just a bit rusty or unsure — to make your food taste incredible. My family inhaled her Baked White Beans with Dates, and I got over my fear of cooking with dried legumes, thanks to her gentle but authoritative guidance. Next up? Maybe Turmeric Potatoes with a Whole Lotta Lemon. Yum. — \u003cem>Sarah Handel, senior editor, ‘All Things Considered’\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cem>Tenderheart: A Cookbook About Vegetables and Unbreakable Family Bonds\u003c/em> by Hetty Lui McKinnon\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13939613 alignleft\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Screen-Shot-2023-12-16-at-9.38.00-PM-e1702791508854.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"250\" height=\"367\">Prolific cookbook author and daughter of a produce wholesaler Hetty Lui McKinnon knows her way around her greens. While many vegetable cookbooks worship at the altar of the unadorned plant, Tenderheart advocates an exuberant, over-the-top vegetarianism, enhanced with innovative homemade chili crisps, pickles, aiolis, harissas. King Oyster Mushrooms with Whipped Almonds, Roasted Broccoli and Crispy Chickpeas with Sichuan Dukkah, and Sticky Gochujang Brussels Sprouts are like nothing you ever encountered in the Moosewood generation. With mouthwatering, high-def photography and a pristine layout, this one’s eminently giftable, too. — \u003cem>T. Susan Chang, food writer\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cem>The World Central Kitchen Cookbook\u003c/em> by José Andrés and World Central Kitchen with Sam Chapple-Sokol\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13939614 alignleft\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Screen-Shot-2023-12-16-at-9.39.08-PM-e1702791581100.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"250\" height=\"307\">This is much more than a cookbook: It’s a chronicle of World Central Kitchen’s profound work nourishing millions of people worldwide in the wake of natural disasters and other crises. WCK founder and chef José Andrés has organized the recipes into WCK’s core principles, like “empathy,” “adaptation,” “resilience” and the like. The inspiring text and photos highlight WCK’s work all over the globe, including in Haiti, Lebanon and Indonesia, as well as across the United States. Several of the dishes here have already become weeknight family favorites in my own home, including the tangy Chicken Chili Verde, the flavorful one-pot Turkey Bolognese and the mouthwatering Venezuelan Banana Bread. — \u003cem>Anastasia Tsioulcas, correspondent, Culture Desk\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "tamales-venezuelan-hallacas-christmas-arepas-en-bici-hella-hungry",
"title": "Sorry, Tamales: Venezuelans Say Hallacas Are the Ultimate Christmas Dish",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ci>¡Hella Hungry! is a column about Bay Area foodmakers, exploring the region’s culinary cultures through the mouth of a first-generation local.\u003c/i>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the son of Mexican immigrants — with one parent currently living in México and the other obsessively watching the Mexican soccer league’s playoffs as I write this — I’m about to get lambasted for saying the following: Forget about Mexican tamales on Nochebuena.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year, I’m going for Venezuelan hallacas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To be fair, hallacas are tamale-esque — masa-thick, meat-stuffed and delicately wrapped in banana leaves that are boiled and dispersed like little edible gifts around a table of hungry-mouthed, happy-eyed recipients.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But in the words of San Francisco-based foodmaker and Venezuelan immigrant Victor Aguilera, \u003ca href=\"https://sf.eater.com/2020/11/13/21562592/arepas-en-bici-bike-delivery-venezuelan-hallacas-pan-de-jamon-christmas-thanksgiving\">hallacas are much more than “Venezuelan tamales.”\u003c/a> For starters, they’re heftier. That’s because they’re filled with guiso (a flavorful stew), veggies and a panoply of proteins (including a trifecta of chicken, beef and pork).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Aguilera — who opened his food operation, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/arepasenbici/?hl=en\">Arepas en Bici\u003c/a>, during the COVID peak of shelter in place by \u003ca href=\"https://video.vice.com/en_us/video/the-chef-who-makes-and-delivers-his-own-food/61dda8ae3522aa50d007101c\">delivering homemade arepas\u003c/a> on his bicycle, up and down San Francisco’s steeply angled avenues — learned how to make hallacas and other Venezuelan holiday favorites, like pan de jamón, from his grandmother in Venezuela.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13939532\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13939532\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/hallacas3_estefany-gonzalez.jpg\" alt='A drag performer in a bright orange dress, a chef wearing glasses, and a journalist in white sneakers sit on stage. The words \"Arepas en Bici\" are projected onto the screen behind them.' width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/hallacas3_estefany-gonzalez.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/hallacas3_estefany-gonzalez-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/hallacas3_estefany-gonzalez-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/hallacas3_estefany-gonzalez-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/hallacas3_estefany-gonzalez-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/hallacas3_estefany-gonzalez-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Drag performer Dulce de Leche and KQED Arts staff writer Alan Chazaro interviewed Aguilera (center) on stage during a tamal-themed KQED event. \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Earlier this week, KQED hosted Aguilera — along with the chefs behind \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/omsabor/?hl=en\">Om Sabor\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/popoca.oakland/?hl=en\">Popoca\u003c/a> — for a live event focused on holiday culinary traditions and the joy of hosting a good old-fashioned \u003ca href=\"https://blogs.loc.gov/inside_adams/2022/12/tamales-and-tamaladas/\">tamalada\u003c/a>. I spoke with Aguilera to learn more about his memories of home, music, rum and — Venezuela’s Nochebuena centerpiece — hallacas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>This interview has been edited for length and clarity.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: center\">********\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Alan Chazaro: What exactly are hallacas? They were served at KQED’s “\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/event/3597?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiA7OqrBhD9ARIsAK3UXh1BwWOgtjp0_B0D-I3oiHUf1cdU0O0obKLIm-8Ihut-TVzWK5ChRTEaAmY1EALw_wcB\">Celebrating the Holidays with Tamales\u003c/a>” live event. But they’re not tamales.\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Victor Aguilera:\u003c/b> Hallacas are a Venezuelan holiday food, traditionally served every Christmas, like tamales. Now that there are more Venezuelans in the U.S., they’re also being made for Thanksgiving as well. Sometimes they’re eaten at other times of the year, but it’s really mostly for the holidays with your family. The inside is very different from tamales. A tamal might have one protein and maybe cheese with salsa in the dough. Sometimes it can get dry, or if you’re lucky, it’s moist and has that juicy fat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In hallacas, the filling is chicken, beef and pork — all three. It’s slow-cooked in a guiso, which is like a stew, using African- and French-influenced spices. You get this nice, beautiful guiso and then you put that in the hallaca. You add some raw onions, peppers, olives and raisins, then you stuff that in the plantain leaf and wrap it all in butcher’s twine and you boil it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>I love that. What does using a plantain leaf add to the flavor profile, as opposed to using a corn husk, which is more commonly seen throughout Northern Mexico and here in California?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I believe it’s moister. It gives a fresher, more dense flavor to the masa. If you think about it, there are more cuisines that use plantain leaves for their dishes as well. Steamed fish in Vietnam and rice cakes around different Asian countries. They like wrap food and other items in plantain leaves. It gives a nice, woody flavor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Arepas en Bici is a clever name. You started out by actually selling arepas on your bicicleta, or bici, around San Francisco. Tell us about how that happened. And are you still pedaling around?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During the pandemic, I got laid off like everybody, and during a month of uncertainty — and, really, just survival mode kicking in —with the help of my fiancée, we started Arepas en Bici. We had $63 and started the business just by selling arepas on Instagram. I made a menu and had maybe two clients per day at first. Two weeks later I had an \u003ca href=\"https://sf.eater.com/2020/4/22/21230298/arepas-en-bici-venezuelan-bicycle-delivery-san-francisco\">interview\u003c/a> [with now KQED Food editor, Luke Tsai] at Eater SF and that gave like 2,000 followers added in less than a month. We had orders back to back to back. The laws were not fully in effect about what we could or couldn’t do, but we did our best trying to keep it all safe by making food at home and delivering it by bicycle. I was on \u003ca href=\"https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/food/story/make-chef-victor-aguileras-delicious-home-chicken-avocado-71755150\">\u003ci>Good Morning America\u003c/i>\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.telemundoareadelabahia.com/noticias/local/arepas-en-bicicleta-en-san-francisco/2077519/\">Telemundo\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now we’re three years in, and as restaurants have opened again, business slowed down for us and we had to readjust. We’re not really operating from home anymore. I do some prep work, but usually we are [popping up] at different event spaces. We haven’t found our own location yet, unfortunately. But that’s the goal. We do private dinners and services. Catering. We’re about to work at a concert with about 200 people, serving holiday food and arepas as a seasonal menu, with pernil and asado negro.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>What sort of Northern California influences have you introduced to your Venezuelan recipes?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We do lots of Venezuelan cuisine in a California farm-to-table setting; I also work with cannabis in food, too, using oils. Everything right now is farm to table. Two months ago, we switched to fully organic. I usually go to \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/heartofthecityfm/\">Heart of the City Farmers Market\u003c/a> for my ingredients. If not, we’re using \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/biritesf/\">Bi Rite\u003c/a> or \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/gussmarket/\">Gus’s\u003c/a>, which is purchased from local sources and farmers. That makes it easier for me. For my hallacas, I offer another version, it’s not the regular one — it’s vegan. That’s not common in Venezuela. We love our meat (laughs). But here in the Bay Area, there are many varieties of clientele, and I want everyone to try Venezuelan traditions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Prior to Arepas en Bici, how long had you been living in the Bay? What are the challenges of being a small business owner here?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I was born in Venezuela and raised there, then moved to the U.S. when I was 12. I was in Florida for a while, and have now been in San Francisco for seven years. I would love to make it out in the Bay Area, even though it seems to be getting harder, but we’re trying to push to stay here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13939534\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13939534\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/hallacas1_estefany-gonzalez.jpg\" alt=\"A chef in a brown apron shows off two banana leaf-wrapped hallacas on a wooden cutting board.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/hallacas1_estefany-gonzalez.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/hallacas1_estefany-gonzalez-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/hallacas1_estefany-gonzalez-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/hallacas1_estefany-gonzalez-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/hallacas1_estefany-gonzalez-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/hallacas1_estefany-gonzalez-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Aguilera shows off the finished dish: two banana leaf–wrapped hallacas. \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>I’d never heard of hallacas prior to this. Are there other Venezuelan places serving them around here?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As far as I know, I was one of the first to bring them to this area, as mentioned in the \u003ca href=\"https://sf.eater.com/2020/11/13/21562592/arepas-en-bici-bike-delivery-venezuelan-hallacas-pan-de-jamon-christmas-thanksgiving\">Eater SF\u003c/a> article, but now there are more independent sellers doing it, too. There is an amazing chef who is doing Chinese Venezuelan food at \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/cantoosf/\">Cantoo\u003c/a>. That’s actually very common in Venezuela. I miss eating Venezuelan Chinese food. As a kid I was not very into it, but now I eat it way more, and it reminds me of home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>What other memories remind you of Venezuela, particularly during the holidays?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So there’s three dishes together: hallacas, pan de jamón, and our version of coquito, which is called ponche de crema and is made with Venezuelan rum. It’s like our eggnog. For the pan de jamón, it’s freshly baked rolls with homemade dough, filled with ham, bacon, olives and raisins with a panela glaze I make that is brushed on the inside and outside. It’s crispy. It’s sweet. It’s savory.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[aside postID='arts_13938479,arts_13930138,arts_13913355']\u003c/span>At the table, the family comes together for all of this. Everyone helps in preparing the meal, and you go up the ranks as you get older. You get different responsibilities in making the hallacas. First, it’s cleaning the leaves. After that, you put the masa on the leaves. The next person puts the guiso inside. Next, the little ingredients are added. Finally, the wrapping and tying the hallaca. That’s where you spill your family gossip and have some ponche or Venezuelan rum while listening to Venezuelan Christmas music. Our holiday music isn’t always promoted very much, but we listen to \u003ca href=\"https://www.caracaschronicles.com/2021/12/01/gaita-the-ultimate-venezuelan-holiday-music/\">gaita\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The nice part is you can freeze and store the hallacas after, and they last for months and months. Usually, at the end of December, you have an extra 20 and eat them throughout the next year. I actually had a client the other day, and he sent me a picture of one he bought the year before. And he ate it. I was scared for him, but he said it still tasted good. I was like, I wouldn’t eat that, but it’s cool to know they last that long.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.arepasenbici.com/\">\u003ci>Arepas en Bici\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is currently taking orders from its \u003c/i>\u003ci>annual \u003ca href=\"https://www.arepasenbici.com/holidaymenu\">holiday menu\u003c/a> until Dec. 20\u003c/i>\u003ci>. Check its \u003ca href=\"https://www.arepasenbici.com/popups\">calendar\u003c/a> or reach out directly to learn about future events, catering and private dinners.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylrLD0hBR8U\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ci>¡Hella Hungry! is a column about Bay Area foodmakers, exploring the region’s culinary cultures through the mouth of a first-generation local.\u003c/i>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the son of Mexican immigrants — with one parent currently living in México and the other obsessively watching the Mexican soccer league’s playoffs as I write this — I’m about to get lambasted for saying the following: Forget about Mexican tamales on Nochebuena.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year, I’m going for Venezuelan hallacas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To be fair, hallacas are tamale-esque — masa-thick, meat-stuffed and delicately wrapped in banana leaves that are boiled and dispersed like little edible gifts around a table of hungry-mouthed, happy-eyed recipients.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But in the words of San Francisco-based foodmaker and Venezuelan immigrant Victor Aguilera, \u003ca href=\"https://sf.eater.com/2020/11/13/21562592/arepas-en-bici-bike-delivery-venezuelan-hallacas-pan-de-jamon-christmas-thanksgiving\">hallacas are much more than “Venezuelan tamales.”\u003c/a> For starters, they’re heftier. That’s because they’re filled with guiso (a flavorful stew), veggies and a panoply of proteins (including a trifecta of chicken, beef and pork).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Aguilera — who opened his food operation, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/arepasenbici/?hl=en\">Arepas en Bici\u003c/a>, during the COVID peak of shelter in place by \u003ca href=\"https://video.vice.com/en_us/video/the-chef-who-makes-and-delivers-his-own-food/61dda8ae3522aa50d007101c\">delivering homemade arepas\u003c/a> on his bicycle, up and down San Francisco’s steeply angled avenues — learned how to make hallacas and other Venezuelan holiday favorites, like pan de jamón, from his grandmother in Venezuela.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13939532\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13939532\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/hallacas3_estefany-gonzalez.jpg\" alt='A drag performer in a bright orange dress, a chef wearing glasses, and a journalist in white sneakers sit on stage. The words \"Arepas en Bici\" are projected onto the screen behind them.' width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/hallacas3_estefany-gonzalez.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/hallacas3_estefany-gonzalez-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/hallacas3_estefany-gonzalez-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/hallacas3_estefany-gonzalez-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/hallacas3_estefany-gonzalez-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/hallacas3_estefany-gonzalez-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Drag performer Dulce de Leche and KQED Arts staff writer Alan Chazaro interviewed Aguilera (center) on stage during a tamal-themed KQED event. \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Earlier this week, KQED hosted Aguilera — along with the chefs behind \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/omsabor/?hl=en\">Om Sabor\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/popoca.oakland/?hl=en\">Popoca\u003c/a> — for a live event focused on holiday culinary traditions and the joy of hosting a good old-fashioned \u003ca href=\"https://blogs.loc.gov/inside_adams/2022/12/tamales-and-tamaladas/\">tamalada\u003c/a>. I spoke with Aguilera to learn more about his memories of home, music, rum and — Venezuela’s Nochebuena centerpiece — hallacas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>This interview has been edited for length and clarity.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: center\">********\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Alan Chazaro: What exactly are hallacas? They were served at KQED’s “\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/event/3597?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiA7OqrBhD9ARIsAK3UXh1BwWOgtjp0_B0D-I3oiHUf1cdU0O0obKLIm-8Ihut-TVzWK5ChRTEaAmY1EALw_wcB\">Celebrating the Holidays with Tamales\u003c/a>” live event. But they’re not tamales.\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Victor Aguilera:\u003c/b> Hallacas are a Venezuelan holiday food, traditionally served every Christmas, like tamales. Now that there are more Venezuelans in the U.S., they’re also being made for Thanksgiving as well. Sometimes they’re eaten at other times of the year, but it’s really mostly for the holidays with your family. The inside is very different from tamales. A tamal might have one protein and maybe cheese with salsa in the dough. Sometimes it can get dry, or if you’re lucky, it’s moist and has that juicy fat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In hallacas, the filling is chicken, beef and pork — all three. It’s slow-cooked in a guiso, which is like a stew, using African- and French-influenced spices. You get this nice, beautiful guiso and then you put that in the hallaca. You add some raw onions, peppers, olives and raisins, then you stuff that in the plantain leaf and wrap it all in butcher’s twine and you boil it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>I love that. What does using a plantain leaf add to the flavor profile, as opposed to using a corn husk, which is more commonly seen throughout Northern Mexico and here in California?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I believe it’s moister. It gives a fresher, more dense flavor to the masa. If you think about it, there are more cuisines that use plantain leaves for their dishes as well. Steamed fish in Vietnam and rice cakes around different Asian countries. They like wrap food and other items in plantain leaves. It gives a nice, woody flavor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Arepas en Bici is a clever name. You started out by actually selling arepas on your bicicleta, or bici, around San Francisco. Tell us about how that happened. And are you still pedaling around?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During the pandemic, I got laid off like everybody, and during a month of uncertainty — and, really, just survival mode kicking in —with the help of my fiancée, we started Arepas en Bici. We had $63 and started the business just by selling arepas on Instagram. I made a menu and had maybe two clients per day at first. Two weeks later I had an \u003ca href=\"https://sf.eater.com/2020/4/22/21230298/arepas-en-bici-venezuelan-bicycle-delivery-san-francisco\">interview\u003c/a> [with now KQED Food editor, Luke Tsai] at Eater SF and that gave like 2,000 followers added in less than a month. We had orders back to back to back. The laws were not fully in effect about what we could or couldn’t do, but we did our best trying to keep it all safe by making food at home and delivering it by bicycle. I was on \u003ca href=\"https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/food/story/make-chef-victor-aguileras-delicious-home-chicken-avocado-71755150\">\u003ci>Good Morning America\u003c/i>\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.telemundoareadelabahia.com/noticias/local/arepas-en-bicicleta-en-san-francisco/2077519/\">Telemundo\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now we’re three years in, and as restaurants have opened again, business slowed down for us and we had to readjust. We’re not really operating from home anymore. I do some prep work, but usually we are [popping up] at different event spaces. We haven’t found our own location yet, unfortunately. But that’s the goal. We do private dinners and services. Catering. We’re about to work at a concert with about 200 people, serving holiday food and arepas as a seasonal menu, with pernil and asado negro.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>What sort of Northern California influences have you introduced to your Venezuelan recipes?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We do lots of Venezuelan cuisine in a California farm-to-table setting; I also work with cannabis in food, too, using oils. Everything right now is farm to table. Two months ago, we switched to fully organic. I usually go to \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/heartofthecityfm/\">Heart of the City Farmers Market\u003c/a> for my ingredients. If not, we’re using \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/biritesf/\">Bi Rite\u003c/a> or \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/gussmarket/\">Gus’s\u003c/a>, which is purchased from local sources and farmers. That makes it easier for me. For my hallacas, I offer another version, it’s not the regular one — it’s vegan. That’s not common in Venezuela. We love our meat (laughs). But here in the Bay Area, there are many varieties of clientele, and I want everyone to try Venezuelan traditions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Prior to Arepas en Bici, how long had you been living in the Bay? What are the challenges of being a small business owner here?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I was born in Venezuela and raised there, then moved to the U.S. when I was 12. I was in Florida for a while, and have now been in San Francisco for seven years. I would love to make it out in the Bay Area, even though it seems to be getting harder, but we’re trying to push to stay here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13939534\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13939534\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/hallacas1_estefany-gonzalez.jpg\" alt=\"A chef in a brown apron shows off two banana leaf-wrapped hallacas on a wooden cutting board.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/hallacas1_estefany-gonzalez.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/hallacas1_estefany-gonzalez-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/hallacas1_estefany-gonzalez-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/hallacas1_estefany-gonzalez-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/hallacas1_estefany-gonzalez-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/hallacas1_estefany-gonzalez-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Aguilera shows off the finished dish: two banana leaf–wrapped hallacas. \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>I’d never heard of hallacas prior to this. Are there other Venezuelan places serving them around here?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As far as I know, I was one of the first to bring them to this area, as mentioned in the \u003ca href=\"https://sf.eater.com/2020/11/13/21562592/arepas-en-bici-bike-delivery-venezuelan-hallacas-pan-de-jamon-christmas-thanksgiving\">Eater SF\u003c/a> article, but now there are more independent sellers doing it, too. There is an amazing chef who is doing Chinese Venezuelan food at \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/cantoosf/\">Cantoo\u003c/a>. That’s actually very common in Venezuela. I miss eating Venezuelan Chinese food. As a kid I was not very into it, but now I eat it way more, and it reminds me of home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>What other memories remind you of Venezuela, particularly during the holidays?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So there’s three dishes together: hallacas, pan de jamón, and our version of coquito, which is called ponche de crema and is made with Venezuelan rum. It’s like our eggnog. For the pan de jamón, it’s freshly baked rolls with homemade dough, filled with ham, bacon, olives and raisins with a panela glaze I make that is brushed on the inside and outside. It’s crispy. It’s sweet. It’s savory.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>At the table, the family comes together for all of this. Everyone helps in preparing the meal, and you go up the ranks as you get older. You get different responsibilities in making the hallacas. First, it’s cleaning the leaves. After that, you put the masa on the leaves. The next person puts the guiso inside. Next, the little ingredients are added. Finally, the wrapping and tying the hallaca. That’s where you spill your family gossip and have some ponche or Venezuelan rum while listening to Venezuelan Christmas music. Our holiday music isn’t always promoted very much, but we listen to \u003ca href=\"https://www.caracaschronicles.com/2021/12/01/gaita-the-ultimate-venezuelan-holiday-music/\">gaita\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The nice part is you can freeze and store the hallacas after, and they last for months and months. Usually, at the end of December, you have an extra 20 and eat them throughout the next year. I actually had a client the other day, and he sent me a picture of one he bought the year before. And he ate it. I was scared for him, but he said it still tasted good. I was like, I wouldn’t eat that, but it’s cool to know they last that long.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.arepasenbici.com/\">\u003ci>Arepas en Bici\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is currently taking orders from its \u003c/i>\u003ci>annual \u003ca href=\"https://www.arepasenbici.com/holidaymenu\">holiday menu\u003c/a> until Dec. 20\u003c/i>\u003ci>. Check its \u003ca href=\"https://www.arepasenbici.com/popups\">calendar\u003c/a> or reach out directly to learn about future events, catering and private dinners.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "The Downtown San Francisco I Loved Was a Holiday Wonderland",
"headTitle": "The Downtown San Francisco I Loved Was a Holiday Wonderland | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>Frisco Foodies is a recurring column in which a San Francisco local shares food memories of growing up in a now rapidly changing city.\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[dropcap]T[/dropcap]his holiday season, my teenage son asked for his first pair of classic wheat Timberland boots. Favored by construction workers and rap legends, Timberlands are prized for their lifelong durability and rugged aesthetic. I should know — I’ve had my own pair of wheats on ice for over twenty years. The style of shoe is canon in hip-hop history; when I interviewed the Wu-Tang Clan for \u003ci>The Source\u003c/i> in 2007, they mentioned that their performance fee back then, split between the nine original members, was sometimes only enough for a pair of Timbs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the early 2000s, when I worked as a retail associate at Timberland’s downtown San Francisco store, I learned that only the classics were resoleable for life, and that they were water-resistant enough to withstand a quick downpour but not a heavy deluge. They were a good investment, I told my son, but please let Mom pick them out. I wanted him to have a lasting pair.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I loved that downtown Timberland job and have fond memories of taking the J-Church train from Mission Terrace over Dolores Park and through the Castro, before it finally dropped me off at Market & Powell. I was convinced it was the most beautiful Muni line in the city, and the holiday season, with the Embarcadero skyline lit up, made the trip even more festive. It was just close enough to Union Square to feel the holiday cheer in the crisp winter air and hear a melancholy Coltrane song from a street performer’s saxophone. The store itself was small enough for me to form lasting relationships there. And the employee discount was good enough to allow me to play Santa during the holidays.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13939440\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13939440\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/timberland-tag_RR.jpg\" alt='Over a box a Timberland boots, a hand holds up an engraved leather name tag that reads \"Krishtine\"' width=\"2000\" height=\"1983\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/timberland-tag_RR.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/timberland-tag_RR-800x793.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/timberland-tag_RR-1020x1011.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/timberland-tag_RR-160x159.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/timberland-tag_RR-768x761.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/timberland-tag_RR-1536x1523.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/timberland-tag_RR-1920x1904.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A relic of the downtown San Francisco of the early 2000s. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Rocky Rivera)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Fast forward to 2023 and I haven’t stepped foot in downtown for years — not since the pandemic accelerated the neighborhood’s retail apocalypse. What used to be the prime destination for Christmas shopping now has to contend with two-day Amazon Prime shipping and a barrage of Fox News reports about the whole area being an open-air drug market. Cop cars park on the corner next to Louis Vuitton, hoping to deter roving gangs of juvenile shoplifters known for their \u003ca href=\"https://www.ktvu.com/news/video-shows-san-franciscos-union-square-louis-vuitton-store-after-it-was-emptied-out-by-thieves\">chaotic smash-and-grabs\u003c/a>. Even a high-end supermarket couldn’t save its customers from \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/30/us/san-francisco-whole-foods-crime-economy.html\">“machete-wielding” assailants and drug users overdosing in the bathroom\u003c/a> — though locals might wonder who Whole Foods was trying to cater to downtown in the first place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The neighborhood’s food scene isn’t doing much better. Chefs lament about how the lack of foot traffic and downtown office workers has shut down both trendy power-lunch spots (\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/food/restaurants/article/barbacco-italian-san-francisco-18376833.php\">Barbacco\u003c/a>) and beloved family-run staples (\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/food/restaurants/article/turtle-tower-vietnamese-closed-18519642.php\">Turtle Tower\u003c/a>). The nearby San Francisco Shopping Centre Mall is a shell of itself — about \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/14/business/westfield-mall-sf.html\">45 percent empty\u003c/a> after the Nordstrom closed over the summer. Even during the lunch rush, the food court often feels deserted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[aside postID='arts_13929836,arts_13923127,arts_13921079']\u003c/span>The downtown I remember had shoplifters, drug users, scammers and weirdos, too — that part hasn’t changed as much as today’s news headlines might lead you to believe. But back when I worked downtown, I could spend my half-hour lunch breaks on a $2.50 slice combo at Blondie’s Pizza or splurge on a $15 roast chicken with mashed potatoes at Wolfgang Puck’s bistro in the Macy’s Cellar. Sometimes I’d have clam chowder in a sourdough bowl at Boudin; other days, I would save my pennies and meet my family for a celebratory dinner at Tad’s Steakhouse. When I was really broke, there was always the McDonald’s on Powell, where the old Filipino manongs used to hang out and watch the tourists on cable cars go past — not to mention the countless corner stores that sold bagels, coffee and sandwiches next to the Swisher Sweet cigars I used to wrap my blunts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most of these places are gone or relocated from where they originally stood. Even the McDonald’s are \u003ca href=\"https://sfstandard.com/2023/10/31/downtown-san-francisco-mcdonalds-closes/\">shutting down\u003c/a>. And the Timberland store I loved so much? That’s gone as well. My engraved leather name tag and pristine-condition wheats are all that remain of that era of downtown San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>‘Make the City Better’\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>“No one remembers, right before the pandemic, how many restaurants were closing, how many chefs burned out, how bad business was, how bad the rent was,” says Christian Ciscle, a chef and longtime San Francisco resident who owns \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/sfchickenbox/?hl=en\">SF Chickenbox \u003c/a>— a restaurant known for its perfectly golden-fried chicken, homemade hot sauces and chewy-pillowy mochi muffins. I’ve followed Ciscle’s seasoned breadcrumb trail from Little Skillet, where he served chicken and waffles to clubgoers at 330 Ritch, to Wing Wings in Lower Haight and now his new location in North Beach.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13937770\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13937770\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231108-SUCK-FLEA-MARKET-AC-05-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A person in a baseball cap stands in the doorway of a city building.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231108-SUCK-FLEA-MARKET-AC-05-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231108-SUCK-FLEA-MARKET-AC-05-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231108-SUCK-FLEA-MARKET-AC-05-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231108-SUCK-FLEA-MARKET-AC-05-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231108-SUCK-FLEA-MARKET-AC-05-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231108-SUCK-FLEA-MARKET-AC-05-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231108-SUCK-FLEA-MARKET-AC-05-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Christian Ciscle stands outside of the 332 Pine St. location of his latest project, Sucka Flea, a pop-up flea and swap market. \u003ccite>(Aryk Copley for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Ciscle believes the mental health crisis and crime that have always existed in San Francisco are now compounded by the \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfexaminer.com/news/cocaine-buffets-and-meth-poop-meet-twitter-s-rising-anti-san-francisco-influencers/article_723ddc00-24b0-11ed-bfc5-732c1fb7fc07.html\">constant barrage of videos\u003c/a> that serve as fuel for conservative media outlets looking to blame progressive politicians. Experiencing even one incident first-hand is enough to make a liberal store owner switch ideologies to welcome increased police presence — an approach Ciscle believes doesn’t actually deter property crime but instead targets the most vulnerable. “There’s truth to how bad it is, but unhoused people didn’t make [downtown] bad,” he says. “What made them unhoused did.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Downtown San Francisco has never been an ideal place for a food business, in Ciscle’s opinion: “It was always dead after 5 p.m. on weekdays and weekends. It was never a place to do business, unless you’re Tyler Florence.” And when the pandemic hit and business came to a screeching halt, he saw how vulnerable everyone was to closing down. “Nobody was bulletproof,” he says. “Everyone had to reassess their business model, their values.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13937771\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13937771\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231108-SUCK-FLEA-MARKET-AC-06-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A group of people stand stand outside of a city building.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231108-SUCK-FLEA-MARKET-AC-06-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231108-SUCK-FLEA-MARKET-AC-06-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231108-SUCK-FLEA-MARKET-AC-06-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231108-SUCK-FLEA-MARKET-AC-06-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231108-SUCK-FLEA-MARKET-AC-06-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231108-SUCK-FLEA-MARKET-AC-06-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231108-SUCK-FLEA-MARKET-AC-06-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Vendors take a break outside of 332 Pine St. from the Sucka Flea market in San Francisco, Calif. on Nov. 5, 2023. \u003ccite>(Aryk Copley for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Luckily, a newly created nonprofit called \u003ca href=\"https://sfnewdeal.org/\">SF New Deal\u003c/a> supported food businesses by paying them to provide meals for various community orgs. It paid SF Chickenbox for 200 meals a day — a source of money Ciscle could rely on in unsteady times, enabling him to keep his business open. Earlier this year, the program evolved into \u003ca href=\"https://www.vibrantsf.org/how-we-work\">Vacant to Vibrant\u003c/a> (V2V), a new initiative that tries to activate empty office spaces to accommodate small business pop-ups.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"large\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Christian Ciscle\"]‘Unhoused people didn’t make downtown bad. What made them unhoused did.’[/pullquote]Ciscle didn’t want to expand SF Chickenbox into downtown. But his experience throwing community festivals in years past made him perk up at the prospect of doing more than just food. The V2V program would allow him to utilize his long-standing relationships with vendors, artists, DJs and local artisans. So Ciscle created Sucka Flea, a pop-up flea market (and homage to San Francisco’s “Sucka Free” alias) that would also include local food vendors like \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13928804/hyphy-iceez-icee-slushy-filipino-hip-hop-mission-district-sf\">Hyphy Iceez\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13926749/tasty-tings-jamaican-beef-patties-sf-oakland\">Tasty Tings\u003c/a>. The flea market’s last event of the year — a \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/C0f3tPKLJZt/\">holiday-themed market\u003c/a> — will take place at Hub Embarcadero (Howard St. and Embarcadero) on Saturday, Dec. 16.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For jewelry designer \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13932647/rightnowish-presents-adorned-the-art-of-self-expression-affirmation\">Chelsea Macalino-Calalay\u003c/a>, Sucka Flea has provided a consistent space to sell her wares. At the Pine Street pop-up, her colorful baubles catch the eye of my five-year-old daughter, who otherwise would have no business in the Financial District on a Sunday afternoon. Macalino-Calalay is one of the thousands of Filipino Americans who were displaced from SoMa’s Manilatown enclave that once spanned ten city blocks to the International Hotel on Kearny Street. Macalino-Calalay’s family emigrated in the late ’60s and early ’70s. Her grandfather’s siblings were first employed as sign-painters at the Thomas Swan Sign Company when it was on Howard Street, then as food and service industry workers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13939443\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13939443\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/L1002703-qut.jpg\" alt=\"A smiling vendor greets a customer at an indoor flea market.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/L1002703-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/L1002703-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/L1002703-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/L1002703-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/L1002703-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/L1002703-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The author chats with vendors Chelsea Macalino-Calalay (center) and Dante Kaleo during the November edition of Sucka Flea’s downtown pop-up. \u003ccite>(Aryk Copley for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I used to be a crepe chef and a cake decorator and a hostess and a waitress. So I worked in food, too. It showed me a lot about work ethic as well as perseverance,” she recalls with pride. “But it also showed me what I don’t want in a work environment.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[aside postID='arts_13933833']\u003c/span>Macalino-Calalay remembers downtown San Francisco as the place her family squeezed into on weekends, patronizing the fresh Filipino food at Aling Mary’s Unimart, relishing her lola’s home cooking, and enjoying meals from the McDonald’s on Bryant, where her father worked as a manager with an all-Filipino staff. Community orgs like West Bay, Soma Pilipinas and United Playaz helped her as a young girl, and Macalino-Calalay is seeing a resurgence of these kinds of resources that she hopes will continue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When asked if things are better or worse today, she pauses. “From someone who didn’t grow up in SF, ‘worse’ is very subjective. Things being worse just looks like us not being there,” she says about her family of SF locals, who are now scattered throughout the East Bay and Outer Mission. Some are still in the SoMa, where her jewelry is now being shown in a special exhibit at SFMOMA with artist Pacita Abad. It’s a full-circle moment for a Frisco girl, who used to see parts of the museum being painted below the front steps of her family home on Langton Street.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13937768\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13937768\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231108-SUCK-FLEA-MARKET-AC-03-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A person poses for a photo holding up a bowl of food in an indoor setting.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231108-SUCK-FLEA-MARKET-AC-03-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231108-SUCK-FLEA-MARKET-AC-03-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231108-SUCK-FLEA-MARKET-AC-03-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231108-SUCK-FLEA-MARKET-AC-03-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231108-SUCK-FLEA-MARKET-AC-03-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231108-SUCK-FLEA-MARKET-AC-03-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231108-SUCK-FLEA-MARKET-AC-03-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tanya Herrera (left) and Catherine Pham enjoy taking photos with some vintage collectibles. \u003ccite>(Aryk Copley for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/whackdonuts/?hl=en\">Whack Donuts\u003c/a> owner Vandor Hill, a born-and-raised San Franciscan, \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/food/restaurants/article/downtown-sf-pop-ups-18392057.php\">opened his own temporary pop-up shop\u003c/a> through the V2V program. who sells delectable-looking peach cobbler doughnuts and Donkey Kong bread doughnuts, alongside trendy flavors like Thai tea and horchata. While he has appreciated the opportunity, He believes first-time business owners in San Francisco need even more support from City Hall — and actual follow-through from local politicians. “Like the Bobby Byrd song, ‘Saying It and Doing It Are Two Different Things.’ The mayor along with the Board of Supervisors have been saying a lot in terms of enforcing law and the homeless situation, but have yet to really make any lasting moves for improving these topics,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ciscle, for his part, believes pandemic-era programs like SF New Deal and Vacant to Vibrant are proof that money is out there for local food business owners: “There’s billionaires blocks away from us right now that could literally fund some shit and make it better — not that they should be running the city,” he says. “There’s money to fund programs out there, not just locking people up. To feed people, put people in houses. Make the city better.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People are more concerned with seeing [the unhoused] on the street,” Ciscle says. “They’re gonna put a planter on the sidewalk there so they can’t sleep and then be mad it gets knocked over or graffiti-ed up. And now we have two problems.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13937769\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13937769\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231108-SUCK-FLEA-MARKET-AC-04-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A person with long hair laughs while sitting at a table talking to someone else.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231108-SUCK-FLEA-MARKET-AC-04-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231108-SUCK-FLEA-MARKET-AC-04-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231108-SUCK-FLEA-MARKET-AC-04-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231108-SUCK-FLEA-MARKET-AC-04-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231108-SUCK-FLEA-MARKET-AC-04-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231108-SUCK-FLEA-MARKET-AC-04-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231108-SUCK-FLEA-MARKET-AC-04-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nina Parks gives the author a tarot card reading. \u003ccite>(Aryk Copley for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For now, Sucka Flea is occupying some of these empty spaces and providing small business owners with shared foot traffic and community. It can’t fix all of the problems facing downtown San Francisco, but it’s a start. After all, creating a family-friendly space that attracts folks from all over the Bay Area to shop downtown is no small feat — and \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/reel/C05JjsuvGK0/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA%3D%3D\">spending holiday shopping dollars with local vendors\u003c/a> seems more sustainable than throwing it away on chain restaurants and national department stores that never felt connected to community residents anyway. In a small way, the flea market has brought back some of that old holiday spirit I remember from my own time working in the neighborhood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the last flea market we attended, my son found a vintage button-down Ben Davis — another Frisco workwear staple — to go with the Timbs that he has yet to receive. Though I don’t consider my own pair vintage, I guess you can say those boots have walked many hills and seen a lot of change. Hopefully they’ll last long enough to live through a revitalization of downtown SF that is truly for the people who built it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.suckaflea.com/\">\u003ci>Sucka Flea\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>’s pop-up holiday market will take place on Saturday, Dec. 16, 10 a.m.–4 p.m., at Howard Street and Embarcadero in San Francisco. The downtown pop-up is normally held at 332 Pine St. Its Mission District outpost will have its next event at CityStation SF (701 Valencia St.) on Jan. 14.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13921079/mom-tribute-dia-de-los-muertos-filipino-food-altar-frisco-foodies\">Rocky Rivera\u003c/a> is a journalist, emcee, author and activist from San Francisco. She has four musical projects out, three of those with her label Beatrock Music. She released her first book last year, entitled \u003c/em>Snakeskin: Essays by Rocky Rivera\u003cem>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>Frisco Foodies is a recurring column in which a San Francisco local shares food memories of growing up in a now rapidly changing city.\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">T\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>his holiday season, my teenage son asked for his first pair of classic wheat Timberland boots. Favored by construction workers and rap legends, Timberlands are prized for their lifelong durability and rugged aesthetic. I should know — I’ve had my own pair of wheats on ice for over twenty years. The style of shoe is canon in hip-hop history; when I interviewed the Wu-Tang Clan for \u003ci>The Source\u003c/i> in 2007, they mentioned that their performance fee back then, split between the nine original members, was sometimes only enough for a pair of Timbs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the early 2000s, when I worked as a retail associate at Timberland’s downtown San Francisco store, I learned that only the classics were resoleable for life, and that they were water-resistant enough to withstand a quick downpour but not a heavy deluge. They were a good investment, I told my son, but please let Mom pick them out. I wanted him to have a lasting pair.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I loved that downtown Timberland job and have fond memories of taking the J-Church train from Mission Terrace over Dolores Park and through the Castro, before it finally dropped me off at Market & Powell. I was convinced it was the most beautiful Muni line in the city, and the holiday season, with the Embarcadero skyline lit up, made the trip even more festive. It was just close enough to Union Square to feel the holiday cheer in the crisp winter air and hear a melancholy Coltrane song from a street performer’s saxophone. The store itself was small enough for me to form lasting relationships there. And the employee discount was good enough to allow me to play Santa during the holidays.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13939440\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13939440\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/timberland-tag_RR.jpg\" alt='Over a box a Timberland boots, a hand holds up an engraved leather name tag that reads \"Krishtine\"' width=\"2000\" height=\"1983\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/timberland-tag_RR.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/timberland-tag_RR-800x793.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/timberland-tag_RR-1020x1011.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/timberland-tag_RR-160x159.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/timberland-tag_RR-768x761.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/timberland-tag_RR-1536x1523.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/timberland-tag_RR-1920x1904.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A relic of the downtown San Francisco of the early 2000s. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Rocky Rivera)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Fast forward to 2023 and I haven’t stepped foot in downtown for years — not since the pandemic accelerated the neighborhood’s retail apocalypse. What used to be the prime destination for Christmas shopping now has to contend with two-day Amazon Prime shipping and a barrage of Fox News reports about the whole area being an open-air drug market. Cop cars park on the corner next to Louis Vuitton, hoping to deter roving gangs of juvenile shoplifters known for their \u003ca href=\"https://www.ktvu.com/news/video-shows-san-franciscos-union-square-louis-vuitton-store-after-it-was-emptied-out-by-thieves\">chaotic smash-and-grabs\u003c/a>. Even a high-end supermarket couldn’t save its customers from \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/30/us/san-francisco-whole-foods-crime-economy.html\">“machete-wielding” assailants and drug users overdosing in the bathroom\u003c/a> — though locals might wonder who Whole Foods was trying to cater to downtown in the first place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The neighborhood’s food scene isn’t doing much better. Chefs lament about how the lack of foot traffic and downtown office workers has shut down both trendy power-lunch spots (\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/food/restaurants/article/barbacco-italian-san-francisco-18376833.php\">Barbacco\u003c/a>) and beloved family-run staples (\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/food/restaurants/article/turtle-tower-vietnamese-closed-18519642.php\">Turtle Tower\u003c/a>). The nearby San Francisco Shopping Centre Mall is a shell of itself — about \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/14/business/westfield-mall-sf.html\">45 percent empty\u003c/a> after the Nordstrom closed over the summer. Even during the lunch rush, the food court often feels deserted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>The downtown I remember had shoplifters, drug users, scammers and weirdos, too — that part hasn’t changed as much as today’s news headlines might lead you to believe. But back when I worked downtown, I could spend my half-hour lunch breaks on a $2.50 slice combo at Blondie’s Pizza or splurge on a $15 roast chicken with mashed potatoes at Wolfgang Puck’s bistro in the Macy’s Cellar. Sometimes I’d have clam chowder in a sourdough bowl at Boudin; other days, I would save my pennies and meet my family for a celebratory dinner at Tad’s Steakhouse. When I was really broke, there was always the McDonald’s on Powell, where the old Filipino manongs used to hang out and watch the tourists on cable cars go past — not to mention the countless corner stores that sold bagels, coffee and sandwiches next to the Swisher Sweet cigars I used to wrap my blunts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most of these places are gone or relocated from where they originally stood. Even the McDonald’s are \u003ca href=\"https://sfstandard.com/2023/10/31/downtown-san-francisco-mcdonalds-closes/\">shutting down\u003c/a>. And the Timberland store I loved so much? That’s gone as well. My engraved leather name tag and pristine-condition wheats are all that remain of that era of downtown San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>‘Make the City Better’\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>“No one remembers, right before the pandemic, how many restaurants were closing, how many chefs burned out, how bad business was, how bad the rent was,” says Christian Ciscle, a chef and longtime San Francisco resident who owns \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/sfchickenbox/?hl=en\">SF Chickenbox \u003c/a>— a restaurant known for its perfectly golden-fried chicken, homemade hot sauces and chewy-pillowy mochi muffins. I’ve followed Ciscle’s seasoned breadcrumb trail from Little Skillet, where he served chicken and waffles to clubgoers at 330 Ritch, to Wing Wings in Lower Haight and now his new location in North Beach.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13937770\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13937770\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231108-SUCK-FLEA-MARKET-AC-05-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A person in a baseball cap stands in the doorway of a city building.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231108-SUCK-FLEA-MARKET-AC-05-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231108-SUCK-FLEA-MARKET-AC-05-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231108-SUCK-FLEA-MARKET-AC-05-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231108-SUCK-FLEA-MARKET-AC-05-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231108-SUCK-FLEA-MARKET-AC-05-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231108-SUCK-FLEA-MARKET-AC-05-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231108-SUCK-FLEA-MARKET-AC-05-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Christian Ciscle stands outside of the 332 Pine St. location of his latest project, Sucka Flea, a pop-up flea and swap market. \u003ccite>(Aryk Copley for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Ciscle believes the mental health crisis and crime that have always existed in San Francisco are now compounded by the \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfexaminer.com/news/cocaine-buffets-and-meth-poop-meet-twitter-s-rising-anti-san-francisco-influencers/article_723ddc00-24b0-11ed-bfc5-732c1fb7fc07.html\">constant barrage of videos\u003c/a> that serve as fuel for conservative media outlets looking to blame progressive politicians. Experiencing even one incident first-hand is enough to make a liberal store owner switch ideologies to welcome increased police presence — an approach Ciscle believes doesn’t actually deter property crime but instead targets the most vulnerable. “There’s truth to how bad it is, but unhoused people didn’t make [downtown] bad,” he says. “What made them unhoused did.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Downtown San Francisco has never been an ideal place for a food business, in Ciscle’s opinion: “It was always dead after 5 p.m. on weekdays and weekends. It was never a place to do business, unless you’re Tyler Florence.” And when the pandemic hit and business came to a screeching halt, he saw how vulnerable everyone was to closing down. “Nobody was bulletproof,” he says. “Everyone had to reassess their business model, their values.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13937771\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13937771\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231108-SUCK-FLEA-MARKET-AC-06-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A group of people stand stand outside of a city building.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231108-SUCK-FLEA-MARKET-AC-06-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231108-SUCK-FLEA-MARKET-AC-06-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231108-SUCK-FLEA-MARKET-AC-06-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231108-SUCK-FLEA-MARKET-AC-06-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231108-SUCK-FLEA-MARKET-AC-06-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231108-SUCK-FLEA-MARKET-AC-06-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231108-SUCK-FLEA-MARKET-AC-06-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Vendors take a break outside of 332 Pine St. from the Sucka Flea market in San Francisco, Calif. on Nov. 5, 2023. \u003ccite>(Aryk Copley for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Luckily, a newly created nonprofit called \u003ca href=\"https://sfnewdeal.org/\">SF New Deal\u003c/a> supported food businesses by paying them to provide meals for various community orgs. It paid SF Chickenbox for 200 meals a day — a source of money Ciscle could rely on in unsteady times, enabling him to keep his business open. Earlier this year, the program evolved into \u003ca href=\"https://www.vibrantsf.org/how-we-work\">Vacant to Vibrant\u003c/a> (V2V), a new initiative that tries to activate empty office spaces to accommodate small business pop-ups.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘Unhoused people didn’t make downtown bad. What made them unhoused did.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Ciscle didn’t want to expand SF Chickenbox into downtown. But his experience throwing community festivals in years past made him perk up at the prospect of doing more than just food. The V2V program would allow him to utilize his long-standing relationships with vendors, artists, DJs and local artisans. So Ciscle created Sucka Flea, a pop-up flea market (and homage to San Francisco’s “Sucka Free” alias) that would also include local food vendors like \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13928804/hyphy-iceez-icee-slushy-filipino-hip-hop-mission-district-sf\">Hyphy Iceez\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13926749/tasty-tings-jamaican-beef-patties-sf-oakland\">Tasty Tings\u003c/a>. The flea market’s last event of the year — a \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/C0f3tPKLJZt/\">holiday-themed market\u003c/a> — will take place at Hub Embarcadero (Howard St. and Embarcadero) on Saturday, Dec. 16.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For jewelry designer \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13932647/rightnowish-presents-adorned-the-art-of-self-expression-affirmation\">Chelsea Macalino-Calalay\u003c/a>, Sucka Flea has provided a consistent space to sell her wares. At the Pine Street pop-up, her colorful baubles catch the eye of my five-year-old daughter, who otherwise would have no business in the Financial District on a Sunday afternoon. Macalino-Calalay is one of the thousands of Filipino Americans who were displaced from SoMa’s Manilatown enclave that once spanned ten city blocks to the International Hotel on Kearny Street. Macalino-Calalay’s family emigrated in the late ’60s and early ’70s. Her grandfather’s siblings were first employed as sign-painters at the Thomas Swan Sign Company when it was on Howard Street, then as food and service industry workers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13939443\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13939443\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/L1002703-qut.jpg\" alt=\"A smiling vendor greets a customer at an indoor flea market.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/L1002703-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/L1002703-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/L1002703-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/L1002703-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/L1002703-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/L1002703-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The author chats with vendors Chelsea Macalino-Calalay (center) and Dante Kaleo during the November edition of Sucka Flea’s downtown pop-up. \u003ccite>(Aryk Copley for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I used to be a crepe chef and a cake decorator and a hostess and a waitress. So I worked in food, too. It showed me a lot about work ethic as well as perseverance,” she recalls with pride. “But it also showed me what I don’t want in a work environment.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>Macalino-Calalay remembers downtown San Francisco as the place her family squeezed into on weekends, patronizing the fresh Filipino food at Aling Mary’s Unimart, relishing her lola’s home cooking, and enjoying meals from the McDonald’s on Bryant, where her father worked as a manager with an all-Filipino staff. Community orgs like West Bay, Soma Pilipinas and United Playaz helped her as a young girl, and Macalino-Calalay is seeing a resurgence of these kinds of resources that she hopes will continue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When asked if things are better or worse today, she pauses. “From someone who didn’t grow up in SF, ‘worse’ is very subjective. Things being worse just looks like us not being there,” she says about her family of SF locals, who are now scattered throughout the East Bay and Outer Mission. Some are still in the SoMa, where her jewelry is now being shown in a special exhibit at SFMOMA with artist Pacita Abad. It’s a full-circle moment for a Frisco girl, who used to see parts of the museum being painted below the front steps of her family home on Langton Street.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13937768\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13937768\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231108-SUCK-FLEA-MARKET-AC-03-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A person poses for a photo holding up a bowl of food in an indoor setting.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231108-SUCK-FLEA-MARKET-AC-03-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231108-SUCK-FLEA-MARKET-AC-03-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231108-SUCK-FLEA-MARKET-AC-03-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231108-SUCK-FLEA-MARKET-AC-03-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231108-SUCK-FLEA-MARKET-AC-03-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231108-SUCK-FLEA-MARKET-AC-03-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231108-SUCK-FLEA-MARKET-AC-03-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tanya Herrera (left) and Catherine Pham enjoy taking photos with some vintage collectibles. \u003ccite>(Aryk Copley for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/whackdonuts/?hl=en\">Whack Donuts\u003c/a> owner Vandor Hill, a born-and-raised San Franciscan, \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/food/restaurants/article/downtown-sf-pop-ups-18392057.php\">opened his own temporary pop-up shop\u003c/a> through the V2V program. who sells delectable-looking peach cobbler doughnuts and Donkey Kong bread doughnuts, alongside trendy flavors like Thai tea and horchata. While he has appreciated the opportunity, He believes first-time business owners in San Francisco need even more support from City Hall — and actual follow-through from local politicians. “Like the Bobby Byrd song, ‘Saying It and Doing It Are Two Different Things.’ The mayor along with the Board of Supervisors have been saying a lot in terms of enforcing law and the homeless situation, but have yet to really make any lasting moves for improving these topics,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ciscle, for his part, believes pandemic-era programs like SF New Deal and Vacant to Vibrant are proof that money is out there for local food business owners: “There’s billionaires blocks away from us right now that could literally fund some shit and make it better — not that they should be running the city,” he says. “There’s money to fund programs out there, not just locking people up. To feed people, put people in houses. Make the city better.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People are more concerned with seeing [the unhoused] on the street,” Ciscle says. “They’re gonna put a planter on the sidewalk there so they can’t sleep and then be mad it gets knocked over or graffiti-ed up. And now we have two problems.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13937769\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13937769\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231108-SUCK-FLEA-MARKET-AC-04-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A person with long hair laughs while sitting at a table talking to someone else.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231108-SUCK-FLEA-MARKET-AC-04-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231108-SUCK-FLEA-MARKET-AC-04-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231108-SUCK-FLEA-MARKET-AC-04-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231108-SUCK-FLEA-MARKET-AC-04-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231108-SUCK-FLEA-MARKET-AC-04-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231108-SUCK-FLEA-MARKET-AC-04-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/231108-SUCK-FLEA-MARKET-AC-04-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nina Parks gives the author a tarot card reading. \u003ccite>(Aryk Copley for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For now, Sucka Flea is occupying some of these empty spaces and providing small business owners with shared foot traffic and community. It can’t fix all of the problems facing downtown San Francisco, but it’s a start. After all, creating a family-friendly space that attracts folks from all over the Bay Area to shop downtown is no small feat — and \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/reel/C05JjsuvGK0/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA%3D%3D\">spending holiday shopping dollars with local vendors\u003c/a> seems more sustainable than throwing it away on chain restaurants and national department stores that never felt connected to community residents anyway. In a small way, the flea market has brought back some of that old holiday spirit I remember from my own time working in the neighborhood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the last flea market we attended, my son found a vintage button-down Ben Davis — another Frisco workwear staple — to go with the Timbs that he has yet to receive. Though I don’t consider my own pair vintage, I guess you can say those boots have walked many hills and seen a lot of change. Hopefully they’ll last long enough to live through a revitalization of downtown SF that is truly for the people who built it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.suckaflea.com/\">\u003ci>Sucka Flea\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>’s pop-up holiday market will take place on Saturday, Dec. 16, 10 a.m.–4 p.m., at Howard Street and Embarcadero in San Francisco. The downtown pop-up is normally held at 332 Pine St. Its Mission District outpost will have its next event at CityStation SF (701 Valencia St.) on Jan. 14.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13921079/mom-tribute-dia-de-los-muertos-filipino-food-altar-frisco-foodies\">Rocky Rivera\u003c/a> is a journalist, emcee, author and activist from San Francisco. She has four musical projects out, three of those with her label Beatrock Music. She released her first book last year, entitled \u003c/em>Snakeskin: Essays by Rocky Rivera\u003cem>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "christmas-cookie-decorating-holiday-sprinkles-daly-city",
"title": "For the Finest Sprinkles and Cookie Decorating Supplies, Drive to Daly City",
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"headTitle": "For the Finest Sprinkles and Cookie Decorating Supplies, Drive to Daly City | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>For all those baking cookies this holiday season, the time has come to rummage for cookie cutters, food coloring and sprinkles. Friends often ask, where’s the best place to get decorating supplies? Well, allow me to share what sprinkles queen Gillian Shaw Lundgren of \u003ca href=\"https://blackjetbakery.com/\">Black Jet Baking Co.\u003c/a> once told me: The best resource isn’t in San Francisco. It’s just south in Daly City. Sugar ’n Spice might be the largest and oldest baking supply store in the Bay Area, open at this location for 29 years, with a history dating back 50 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a strip mall just off 280, pull up to a faded storefront with a gingerbread man over the door. Step inside for an explosion of more than a hundred different varieties of sprinkles. “It’s kind of an experience,” Shaw Lundgren confides. “You’re sort of stepping back in time to a different way that people used to do pastry. Everybody that’s in there is excited to be in there.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the heart of the business, there’s a mother-daughter duo. The mother is Jeanné Lutz, who’s “kind of old school and Italian,” according to her family, and worked the register well into her 80s. She went to UCSF, became a nurse and got into baking as a hobby in the ’60s. Lutz opened the original Sugar ’n Spice in 1973, as a tiny shop at 33rd Avenue and Balboa Street in the Richmond District. At one point she had three locations across San Francisco, San Mateo and Petaluma. She closed the original following a fire in 1994 and initially planned to retire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13939066\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13939066\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-050-JY-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A woman in a red chef's jacket pours sprinkles over a tray of peppermint bark.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-050-JY-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-050-JY-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-050-JY-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-050-JY-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-050-JY-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-050-JY-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-050-JY-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rogers pours sprinkles on a tray of peppermint bark. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The daughter is Joey Rogers, who often rings up purchases with a fabulous manicure. She graduated early from high school at 14 years old and completed the baking and pastry program California Culinary Academy before attending UC Berkeley and becoming an accountant. “I hated it,” Rogers says. So, she quit and returned to baking and teaching instead, even traveling to cake competitions in Las Vegas in the ’80s. Her pastry students would ask for supplies, and she knew all the vendors. But it wasn’t until her mother closed her stores and came down with cancer that Rogers finally felt inspired to carry on the family business. She opened her own shop — also called Sugar ‘n Spice — at the current Daly City location in 1994.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"color: #2b2b2b;font-weight: 400\">\u003cb>\u003cstrong>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[aside postID='arts_13939138,arts_13938798']\u003c/span>\u003c/strong>\u003c/b>\u003c/span>Lutz, for her part, has survived three rounds of treatments, celebrated her 90th birthday in August and only recently hung up her apron. Even if it was only sitting in the shop for half an hour, “it’s kind of been her therapy over the years,” Rogers says. “With every bout of cancer she’s really sick, then she would come in after treatments, and it was giving her the will to live.” Rogers also has seven sons who “were raised cutting their teeth on these counters.” Her youngest, Chance, now 15 years old, isn’t too cool to hang out at cake shows.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today, Sugar ’n Spice prides itself on being a one-stop shop to cover all your baking needs. You can find essential ingredients, including flour, sugar and chocolate. Decorations to take creations over the top, such as sprinkles, food coloring and more. Trusty tools from every size of round pan to every shape of cookie cutter. Plus packaging, with cake boxes, cookie bags and ribbons to tie it all up in a bow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13939239\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13939239\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-071-JY-qut.jpg\" alt=\"A display of holiday-themed cookie cutters hanging from hooks.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-071-JY-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-071-JY-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-071-JY-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-071-JY-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-071-JY-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-071-JY-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cookie cutters in every size and shape you can imagine. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13939241\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13939241\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-076-JY-qut.jpg\" alt=\"A shelf displaying a variety of colorful sprinkles in small jars and large plastic bags.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-076-JY-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-076-JY-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-076-JY-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-076-JY-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-076-JY-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-076-JY-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Just a small sample of Sugar ‘n Spice’s vast sprinkle selection, which includes 102 different varieties in all. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In particular, shoppers drop jaws in the sprinkles aisle. Rogers stocks 102 different varieties of sprinkles, swapping them seasonally, so there’s always a new thrill. They range from tiny nonpareils the size of seeds to cupcake toppers shaped like Easter bunnies or Santa’s face. The mixes tend to be the most popular — like the Thanksgiving mix, which tosses together autumnal brown, orange and gold sprinkles, punctuated with mini pumpkins and maple leaves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Black Jet’s Shaw Lundgren has been a fan of the shop for over a decade, especially before she opened her own storefront. At that time, Amazon Prime didn’t exist, Michaels didn’t offer much and her business was too small to order wholesale. Sugar ’n Spice offered a few cake boards or boxes, without having to order a hundred. Even now, Shaw Lundgren swings through for small quantities of sprinkles, especially seasonal shapes like footballs. “It’s really reasonably priced,” she says. “They’ve figured out how to sell to home bakers, where you don’t need to buy a ridiculous amount.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13939070\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13939070\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-081-JY-KQED.jpg\" alt='Display case in a cookie decorating and baking supply shop. A sticker on the glass reads, \"Happy Holidays.\"' width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-081-JY-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-081-JY-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-081-JY-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-081-JY-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-081-JY-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-081-JY-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-081-JY-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The holiday-themed front display case. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Across the Bay Area, there are a few other baking supply stores, including the Cake Works in San Jose, open since 1975. Nancy’s Fancy’s in Santa Rosa carries baking supplies, folded into a wider selection of party supplies. Several others have closed over the years, including Spun Sugar in Berkeley, which \u003ca href=\"https://www.berkeleyside.org/2022/07/01/inspire-sailing-berkeley-marina-alternative-technologies-worker-co-op#bittersweet-end-for-longtime-candymaking-and-cake-business\">shuttered\u003c/a> in 2022.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Sugar ’n Spice still bustles through the holidays, doing ten times its usual business in November and December. It welcomes home bakers and pastry chefs alike — including a few from fancy hotels, though Rogers declined to drop names. Certain regulars have been coming for decades or generations. They still remember taking classes with Rogers’ mother and now send their kids to \u003ca href=\"https://sprinkleme.com/shop/ols/categories/classes\">her camps\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13939242\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13939242\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-078-JY-qut.jpg\" alt=\"The sign outside a baking supply shop reads "Sugar 'n Spice" with a picture of a gingerbread man underneath.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-078-JY-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-078-JY-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-078-JY-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-078-JY-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-078-JY-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-078-JY-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Holiday cookie enthusiasts flock to the Daly City strip mall shop during its busy winter season. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>More beginners walk in at this time of year. “Everybody who never goes into their kitchen during the rest of the year, they’re in their kitchen now,” Rogers sighs. Many flash an Instagram photo of a cake or cookie and ask, “How do I make this?” Rogers does her best to guide them in the right direction. She says one really buys cookbooks anymore. They go straight to YouTube and make a dozen mistakes before signing up for one of her classes. “I don’t say that you can’t learn something on the internet! But everybody’s not a visual learner.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From her vantage point across the counter, Rogers likes to ask what you’re making. She loves to see photos of customer creations. “No matter what you’re trying to do, whether it’s the first time, this is the place to come to get your stuff,” Rogers says. “There are so many more possibilities here than you would find at the grocery store.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13939069\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13939069\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-064-JY-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A woman in a red chef's jacket poses next to the counter of a baking supply shop.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-064-JY-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-064-JY-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-064-JY-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-064-JY-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-064-JY-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-064-JY-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-064-JY-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘This is the place to come get your stuff,’ says Rogers, who loves helping customers with their baking projects. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Sugar ’n Spice is located at \u003c/i>\u003ci>2965 Junipero Serra Blvd. in Daly City.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"title": "The Bay Area's Best Christmas Cookie Decorating Supplies Are in Daly City | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>For all those baking cookies this holiday season, the time has come to rummage for cookie cutters, food coloring and sprinkles. Friends often ask, where’s the best place to get decorating supplies? Well, allow me to share what sprinkles queen Gillian Shaw Lundgren of \u003ca href=\"https://blackjetbakery.com/\">Black Jet Baking Co.\u003c/a> once told me: The best resource isn’t in San Francisco. It’s just south in Daly City. Sugar ’n Spice might be the largest and oldest baking supply store in the Bay Area, open at this location for 29 years, with a history dating back 50 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a strip mall just off 280, pull up to a faded storefront with a gingerbread man over the door. Step inside for an explosion of more than a hundred different varieties of sprinkles. “It’s kind of an experience,” Shaw Lundgren confides. “You’re sort of stepping back in time to a different way that people used to do pastry. Everybody that’s in there is excited to be in there.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the heart of the business, there’s a mother-daughter duo. The mother is Jeanné Lutz, who’s “kind of old school and Italian,” according to her family, and worked the register well into her 80s. She went to UCSF, became a nurse and got into baking as a hobby in the ’60s. Lutz opened the original Sugar ’n Spice in 1973, as a tiny shop at 33rd Avenue and Balboa Street in the Richmond District. At one point she had three locations across San Francisco, San Mateo and Petaluma. She closed the original following a fire in 1994 and initially planned to retire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13939066\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13939066\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-050-JY-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A woman in a red chef's jacket pours sprinkles over a tray of peppermint bark.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-050-JY-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-050-JY-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-050-JY-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-050-JY-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-050-JY-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-050-JY-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-050-JY-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rogers pours sprinkles on a tray of peppermint bark. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The daughter is Joey Rogers, who often rings up purchases with a fabulous manicure. She graduated early from high school at 14 years old and completed the baking and pastry program California Culinary Academy before attending UC Berkeley and becoming an accountant. “I hated it,” Rogers says. So, she quit and returned to baking and teaching instead, even traveling to cake competitions in Las Vegas in the ’80s. Her pastry students would ask for supplies, and she knew all the vendors. But it wasn’t until her mother closed her stores and came down with cancer that Rogers finally felt inspired to carry on the family business. She opened her own shop — also called Sugar ‘n Spice — at the current Daly City location in 1994.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"color: #2b2b2b;font-weight: 400\">\u003cb>\u003cstrong>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>\u003c/strong>\u003c/b>\u003c/span>Lutz, for her part, has survived three rounds of treatments, celebrated her 90th birthday in August and only recently hung up her apron. Even if it was only sitting in the shop for half an hour, “it’s kind of been her therapy over the years,” Rogers says. “With every bout of cancer she’s really sick, then she would come in after treatments, and it was giving her the will to live.” Rogers also has seven sons who “were raised cutting their teeth on these counters.” Her youngest, Chance, now 15 years old, isn’t too cool to hang out at cake shows.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today, Sugar ’n Spice prides itself on being a one-stop shop to cover all your baking needs. You can find essential ingredients, including flour, sugar and chocolate. Decorations to take creations over the top, such as sprinkles, food coloring and more. Trusty tools from every size of round pan to every shape of cookie cutter. Plus packaging, with cake boxes, cookie bags and ribbons to tie it all up in a bow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13939239\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13939239\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-071-JY-qut.jpg\" alt=\"A display of holiday-themed cookie cutters hanging from hooks.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-071-JY-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-071-JY-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-071-JY-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-071-JY-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-071-JY-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-071-JY-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cookie cutters in every size and shape you can imagine. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13939241\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13939241\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-076-JY-qut.jpg\" alt=\"A shelf displaying a variety of colorful sprinkles in small jars and large plastic bags.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-076-JY-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-076-JY-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-076-JY-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-076-JY-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-076-JY-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-076-JY-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Just a small sample of Sugar ‘n Spice’s vast sprinkle selection, which includes 102 different varieties in all. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In particular, shoppers drop jaws in the sprinkles aisle. Rogers stocks 102 different varieties of sprinkles, swapping them seasonally, so there’s always a new thrill. They range from tiny nonpareils the size of seeds to cupcake toppers shaped like Easter bunnies or Santa’s face. The mixes tend to be the most popular — like the Thanksgiving mix, which tosses together autumnal brown, orange and gold sprinkles, punctuated with mini pumpkins and maple leaves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Black Jet’s Shaw Lundgren has been a fan of the shop for over a decade, especially before she opened her own storefront. At that time, Amazon Prime didn’t exist, Michaels didn’t offer much and her business was too small to order wholesale. Sugar ’n Spice offered a few cake boards or boxes, without having to order a hundred. Even now, Shaw Lundgren swings through for small quantities of sprinkles, especially seasonal shapes like footballs. “It’s really reasonably priced,” she says. “They’ve figured out how to sell to home bakers, where you don’t need to buy a ridiculous amount.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13939070\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13939070\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-081-JY-KQED.jpg\" alt='Display case in a cookie decorating and baking supply shop. A sticker on the glass reads, \"Happy Holidays.\"' width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-081-JY-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-081-JY-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-081-JY-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-081-JY-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-081-JY-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-081-JY-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-081-JY-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The holiday-themed front display case. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Across the Bay Area, there are a few other baking supply stores, including the Cake Works in San Jose, open since 1975. Nancy’s Fancy’s in Santa Rosa carries baking supplies, folded into a wider selection of party supplies. Several others have closed over the years, including Spun Sugar in Berkeley, which \u003ca href=\"https://www.berkeleyside.org/2022/07/01/inspire-sailing-berkeley-marina-alternative-technologies-worker-co-op#bittersweet-end-for-longtime-candymaking-and-cake-business\">shuttered\u003c/a> in 2022.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Sugar ’n Spice still bustles through the holidays, doing ten times its usual business in November and December. It welcomes home bakers and pastry chefs alike — including a few from fancy hotels, though Rogers declined to drop names. Certain regulars have been coming for decades or generations. They still remember taking classes with Rogers’ mother and now send their kids to \u003ca href=\"https://sprinkleme.com/shop/ols/categories/classes\">her camps\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13939242\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13939242\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-078-JY-qut.jpg\" alt=\"The sign outside a baking supply shop reads "Sugar 'n Spice" with a picture of a gingerbread man underneath.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-078-JY-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-078-JY-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-078-JY-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-078-JY-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-078-JY-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-078-JY-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Holiday cookie enthusiasts flock to the Daly City strip mall shop during its busy winter season. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>More beginners walk in at this time of year. “Everybody who never goes into their kitchen during the rest of the year, they’re in their kitchen now,” Rogers sighs. Many flash an Instagram photo of a cake or cookie and ask, “How do I make this?” Rogers does her best to guide them in the right direction. She says one really buys cookbooks anymore. They go straight to YouTube and make a dozen mistakes before signing up for one of her classes. “I don’t say that you can’t learn something on the internet! But everybody’s not a visual learner.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From her vantage point across the counter, Rogers likes to ask what you’re making. She loves to see photos of customer creations. “No matter what you’re trying to do, whether it’s the first time, this is the place to come to get your stuff,” Rogers says. “There are so many more possibilities here than you would find at the grocery store.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13939069\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13939069\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-064-JY-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A woman in a red chef's jacket poses next to the counter of a baking supply shop.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-064-JY-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-064-JY-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-064-JY-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-064-JY-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-064-JY-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-064-JY-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/20231206-Sugar-n-Spice-064-JY-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘This is the place to come get your stuff,’ says Rogers, who loves helping customers with their baking projects. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Sugar ’n Spice is located at \u003c/i>\u003ci>2965 Junipero Serra Blvd. in Daly City.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "The Best Dishes I Ate in 2023",
"headTitle": "The Best Dishes I Ate in 2023 | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>Whenever tragic things are happening around the world, food writers like to bring out that old saw about food bringing everyone together. \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/03/dining/israel-hamas-war-divides-american-chefs.html\">I don’t think it always does, really\u003c/a> — not when the problems and differences we face are so profound. But a good meal \u003ci>can\u003c/i> provide us with comfort, nourishment and a sense of community that helps us get through hard times.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite the headline, this list doesn’t \u003ci>necessarily\u003c/i> purport to identify the “best” version of any particular cuisine or dish. Instead, when I look back on 2023, these were the meals that brought me the most happiness. Some were from brand new restaurants; others were simply dishes I tried for the first time this year. In many cases, I returned to them again and again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here they are, then, presented in roughly the chronological order in which I ate them:\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13923360\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13923360\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/antojitos-guatemaltecos_churrasco_lead.jpg\" alt=\"Overhead view of a Guatemalan churrasco chapin plate: steak, rice, potato salad, fried plantains, cheese, and little tubs of salsa and refried beans.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1200\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/antojitos-guatemaltecos_churrasco_lead.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/antojitos-guatemaltecos_churrasco_lead-800x500.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/antojitos-guatemaltecos_churrasco_lead-1020x638.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/antojitos-guatemaltecos_churrasco_lead-160x100.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/antojitos-guatemaltecos_churrasco_lead-768x480.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/antojitos-guatemaltecos_churrasco_lead-1536x960.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The churrasco chapin is one of the very typical traditional Guatemalan plates that diners can find at Antojitos Guatemaltecos, a new restaurant in El Cerrito. \u003ccite>(Luke Tsai/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>1. Churrasco chapin at Antojitos Guatemaltecos\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>11252 San Pablo Ave., El Cerrito\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’ve been an Antojitos Guatemaltecos evangelist for going on four years now, from back when it was just a little \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13913355/guatemalan-rice-tamales-antojitos-guatemaltecos-richmond\">tamal cart\u003c/a> I’d sometimes stumble upon, when the stars aligned, just a block away from my house. Now that the Aguilar family has opened a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13923359/antojitos-guatemaltecos-guatemalan-restaurant-el-cerrito-tamales-pollo-campero\">full-blown restaurant\u003c/a> in El Cerrito, their tender, jiggly tamales still rank among the most delicious in the Bay, but I’ve been especially enamored with their expanded selection of homestyle Guatemalan entrees. The dish I keep coming back to is the churrasco chapin mixed grill plate, with its well-charred steak and sausage, fried plantains, queso fresco, seasoned rice and piping-hot tortillas — the perfect bit-of-this-and-that lunch or dinner.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926240\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13926240\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/ramen-champ_lead.jpg\" alt=\"Bowl of ramen with an exorbitant amount of toppings: bean sprouts, chopped raw garlic, pork belly, pork fat and marinated egg.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1320\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/ramen-champ_lead.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/ramen-champ_lead-800x550.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/ramen-champ_lead-1020x701.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/ramen-champ_lead-160x110.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/ramen-champ_lead-768x528.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/ramen-champ_lead-1536x1056.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Inspired by Tokyo’s legendary Ramen Jiro, the Buta MAX at Ramen Champ in San Jose comes overloaded with decadent toppings. \u003ccite>(Luke Tsai/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>2. Buta MAX ramen at Ramen Champ\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>6229 Santa Teresa Blvd., San Jose\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As I embark on my annual ritualistic fattening for the winter months, the dish I find myself thinking about all the time is Ramen Champ’s Buta MAX ramen — a bowl of noodles that is \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13926203/ramen-champ-jiro-style-ramen-cult-san-jose-tokyo\">as audacious and extreme as its name\u003c/a>. Modeled after Tokyo’s famous “Jiro-style” ramen, each super-sized bowl comes topped with extra-thick chunks of braised pork belly, an alarming amount of deliciously softened pork fat, and, most arresting of all, a preposterously large mound of bean sprouts, cabbage and raw garlic. It’s the most unique bowl of ramen I’ve ever eaten in the U.S. — and, on chilly nights when I can’t make it down to San Jose, the one that haunts my dreams.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13931336\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13931336\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/lulu_mezze_lead-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"An abundant spread of Palestinian mezzes served on a circular wooden board.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/lulu_mezze_lead-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/lulu_mezze_lead-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/lulu_mezze_lead-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/lulu_mezze_lead-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/lulu_mezze_lead-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/lulu_mezze_lead-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/lulu_mezze_lead-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/lulu_mezze_lead-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The mezze brunch board at Lulu in West Berkeley is a feast for the eyes and the tastebuds. \u003ccite>(Luke Tsai/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>3. Mezze brunch board at Lulu\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>1106 Solano Ave., Albany\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This glammed-up Palestinian brunch spot was one of my favorite discoveries of the 2023 — though I was clearly late to the party, as they were already booked up two or three weeks out by the time I managed to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13931303/lulu-berkeley-hottest-brunch-palestinian-mezzes\">snag a reservation\u003c/a>. Everyone orders the mezze brunch board, which is chef Mona Leena Michael’s ingenious, gorgeously herb-bedecked spin on the kind of three-tier cake stand you might enjoy for afternoon tea. The spread of Palestinian-inspired breads, dips and assorted bite-size snacks is as fun to share as it is perfect for the ‘gram. It’s also shockingly delicious: I couldn’t stop double-dipping into the hummus crowned with pine nuts and shimeji mushrooms, and I could have eaten a whole tray of the falafel topped with a smear of black garlic tahini. (Note that the restaurant is in the process of moving to a new, larger location on Solano Avenue, with plans to kick off the new year with an expanded dinner menu.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13933769\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13933769\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/tigon-banh-hoi-crop_LT.jpg\" alt=\"An abundant platter of fillings for make-your-own Vietnamese spring rolls, with shrimp, beef, fried egg rolls and more.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1200\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/tigon-banh-hoi-crop_LT.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/tigon-banh-hoi-crop_LT-800x500.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/tigon-banh-hoi-crop_LT-1020x638.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/tigon-banh-hoi-crop_LT-160x100.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/tigon-banh-hoi-crop_LT-768x480.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/tigon-banh-hoi-crop_LT-1536x960.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tigon’s make-your-own-spring-roll spread makes for a fun and refreshing communal dining experience. \u003ccite>(Luke Tsai/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>4. Bánh hỏi dặc biệt at Tigon\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>10086 San Pablo Ave., El Cerrito\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the Tsai household, there probably isn’t any greater-in-demand restaurant than this sweet, family-owned Vietnamese spot, where we order the same thing every time: the bánh hỏi dặc biệt, a build-your-own spring roll platter that generously feeds my entire family of four. The plate comes loaded with all of the major animal groups (beef, pork, chicken and fried shrimp), crispy egg rolls and bean curd skin, little rice noodle nests (the bánh hỏi) and a whole boatload of fresh herbs and lettuces. Kids (and grown-ups!) love the process of dipping rounds of rice paper into warm water to soften them, piling on their chosen ingredients and then rolling the whole thing into a tight, tasty, refreshing bundle. I listed Tigon on my list of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13933745/cold-food-hot-weather-sf-bay-area-fall-2023\">favorite places to eat during hot weather\u003c/a>, but the truth is, its bánh hỏi spread is the ultimate crowd-pleaser: I crave it all year long.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13939147\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13939147\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/aman-cafe-roti.jpg\" alt=\"Crispy, flaky roti (Malaysian flatbread) served alongside a bowl of curried chicken and root vegetables on a paper-lined metal tray.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/aman-cafe-roti.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/aman-cafe-roti-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/aman-cafe-roti-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/aman-cafe-roti-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/aman-cafe-roti-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/aman-cafe-roti-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Often relegated to appetizer status, the buttery, flaky roti at Aman Cafe is the star of the show. \u003ccite>(Luke Tsai/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>5. Roti at Aman Cafe\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>4021 Broadway, Oakland\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’ll order roti for the table anytime I see it on a menu, then monopolize far more than my fair share and wonder forlornly, as I pick at the last crispy shards, where it all went. What a pleasure, then, to eat at a restaurant where these buttery, flaky flatbreads are the centerpiece of the meal — equally delicious swaddled around a curried stew of chicken and root vegetables like golden beet (a revelation!) as it is when dipped, more simply, in the restaurant’s signature creamy coconut sauce. And of course, for good measure, you’ve got to save room for a sweet, sugar-dusted roti for dessert.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13939146\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13939146\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/masa-ramen-loco-moco.jpg\" alt=\"A plate of gravy-drenched Hawaiian loco moco with two burger patties, a runny egg, a big mound of white rice and a scoop of potato salad.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1320\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/masa-ramen-loco-moco.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/masa-ramen-loco-moco-800x550.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/masa-ramen-loco-moco-1020x701.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/masa-ramen-loco-moco-160x110.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/masa-ramen-loco-moco-768x528.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/masa-ramen-loco-moco-1536x1056.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Pure comfort food. \u003ccite>(Luke Tsai/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>6. Loco moco at Masa Ramen\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>1923 University Ave., Berkeley\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’ve written before about how this Hawaiian-inspired shop serves some of the Bay Area’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13925701/masa-ramen-bistro-hawaiian-ramen-shop-berkeley-broke-da-mouf\">tastiest ramen\u003c/a>. Would it surprise you to know that the last three or four times I’ve eaten here, I didn’t order ramen at all? That’s because Masa’s Hawaiian dishes (the garlic shrimp, oxtail soup and island-style beef stew) are just as lovingly prepared — and if anything, good Hawaiian is even more of a rarity here in the Bay. The one I keep coming back to is the heroically portioned loco moco: two beef patties cooked so that they’re crispy around the edges, served in a pool of rich gravy with a runny egg, a scoop of potato salad and a big mound of rice. This is pure comfort food, the kind of thing I could eat every week without ever getting tired of it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13939148\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13939148\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/rize-up-k-pop.jpg\" alt=\"A slice of toasted sourdough bread on a white plate.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/rize-up-k-pop.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/rize-up-k-pop-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/rize-up-k-pop-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/rize-up-k-pop-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/rize-up-k-pop-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/rize-up-k-pop-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A slice of toasted ‘K-Pop’ sourdough from Rize Up Bakery is a breakfast worth getting excited about. \u003ccite>(Luke Tsai/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>7. K-Pop bread at Rize Up Bakery\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>1160 Howard St., San Francisco (and \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://rizeupsourdough.com/pages/where-you-can-find-our-bread\">\u003ci>various farmers market and retail locations\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>)\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The most bourgeois food habit I’ve picked up in the past year is that almost every Sunday morning, I’ll go to the Marin Farmers Market to pick up a $16 loaf of sourdough. But not just any sourdough! In my house, we hold in highest regard Rize Up Bakery’s Korean-inspired “K-Pop” loaf — sourdough that has been infused with gochujang, flecked with toasted black sesame seeds and, most crucially, studded with whole cloves of sweet roasted garlic. Is it blasé to get excited about fancy toast from San Francisco in the year of our lord 2023? Let me tell you, dear reader: A slice of K-Pop, simply toasted and slathered with good butter, is a breakfast worth getting excited for.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13939149\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13939149\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/messob-combo.jpg\" alt=\"A colorful spread of Ethiopian stews and sautes, served on an injera-lined round metal platter.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/messob-combo.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/messob-combo-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/messob-combo-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/messob-combo-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/messob-combo-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/messob-combo-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Messob’s spectacular Ethiopian veggie combo — plus the lamb tibs, which is also excellent. \u003ccite>(Luke Tsai/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>8. Veggie combo at Messob Ethiopian Restaurant\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>4301 Piedmont Ave. B, Oakland\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"color: #2b2b2b;font-weight: 400\">\u003cb>\u003cstrong>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[aside postID='arts_13921917,arts_13907197,arts_13933745']\u003c/span>\u003c/strong>\u003c/b>\u003c/span>The convention of lists like this is to highlight trendy new restaurants, and Messob certainly isn’t that: It’s been a quiet neighborhood staple on Piedmont Avenue going back more than 15 years. But somehow I’d never eaten Messob’s veggie combo until I went on a bit of an Ethiopian food kick this past summer. Just a few bites in, I’d already declared it my favorite version that I’ve had in the Bay. Each of the stews and sautés that make up this injera-lined rainbow wheel have such a distinct spice profile — the intense, berbere-inflected heat of the mushroom wot; the natural sweetness of the slow-cooked carrots and cabbage; the mild, luxuriously silky shiro that less generous Ethiopian spots force you to order as a separate entree; and, my favorite, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13933745/cold-food-hot-weather-sf-bay-area-fall-2023\">cool and garlicky chickpea flour dip known as buticha\u003c/a>. The flavors are so punched-up and brilliant, it’s made me realize that somehow I’ve been eating an awful lot of bland Ethiopian food over the years. Now that you know, you don’t have to make the same mistake.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13933776\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13933776\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/oks-deli-tuna-salad_LT.jpg\" alt=\"The cross section of a tuna salad sandwich made with thick slices of milkbread.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/oks-deli-tuna-salad_LT.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/oks-deli-tuna-salad_LT-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/oks-deli-tuna-salad_LT-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/oks-deli-tuna-salad_LT-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/oks-deli-tuna-salad_LT-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/oks-deli-tuna-salad_LT-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The conbini-style tuna salad sandwich features Kewpie-style mayonnaise and thick, bouncy milkbread. \u003ccite>(Luke Tsai/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>9. Konbini tuna salad sandwich at Ok’s Deli\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>3932 Telegraph Ave., Oakland\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Probably my favorite among the Bay Area’s new crop of “fancy” delicatessens, Ok’s serves a rotating lineup of classed-up classics with obvious cheffy touches: roast beef with caramelized onion Dijonnaise, Sichuan hot chicken and bánh mì loaded up with a thick stack of house-made Spam. It’s all good. But my favorite sandwich is the most minimalist one — a tuna salad sandwich modeled after the kind you might find in any convenience store in Japan. Everything about it is perfect: the lavishly bouncy milkbread; the eggy, Kewpie-adjacent mayonnaise; and the cool, clean simplicity of line-caught tuna mixed with just enough finely chopped onion, celery and pickles to give it a bit of a bite.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13936342\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13936342\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/tchaka_oxtails.jpg\" alt=\"A plate of Haitian-style braised oxtails, served with a mound of rice and peas, tostones and pikliz.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/tchaka_oxtails.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/tchaka_oxtails-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/tchaka_oxtails-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/tchaka_oxtails-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/tchaka_oxtails-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/tchaka_oxtails-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">T’chaka’s take on Caribbean braised oxtails is as good as it gets. \u003ccite>(Luke Tsai/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>10. Oxtails at T’chaka\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>901 Washington St., Oakland\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In my life as a professional eater, it’s a relatively rare occasion that, three bites into a meal, I’m already sending out a bold-faced, all-caps text to every food-loving friend in my contact list. In 2023, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13936332/tchaka-haitian-restaurant-oakland\">T’Chaka was that place\u003c/a>. The Haitian restaurant’s griots, a dish I’d never had before, are the platonic ideal of crispy pork: juicy, tender and full-flavored, with a satisfying crunch. Even better, the braised oxtails are about as good as I can imagine oxtails being — so succulent and luscious that I think about them constantly, months after I first sucked the whole plate of bones clean. To paraphrase what I said when I first reported on the restaurant: Plainly stated, T’Chaka is a knockout. Go eat there now.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Whenever tragic things are happening around the world, food writers like to bring out that old saw about food bringing everyone together. \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/03/dining/israel-hamas-war-divides-american-chefs.html\">I don’t think it always does, really\u003c/a> — not when the problems and differences we face are so profound. But a good meal \u003ci>can\u003c/i> provide us with comfort, nourishment and a sense of community that helps us get through hard times.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite the headline, this list doesn’t \u003ci>necessarily\u003c/i> purport to identify the “best” version of any particular cuisine or dish. Instead, when I look back on 2023, these were the meals that brought me the most happiness. Some were from brand new restaurants; others were simply dishes I tried for the first time this year. In many cases, I returned to them again and again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here they are, then, presented in roughly the chronological order in which I ate them:\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13923360\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13923360\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/antojitos-guatemaltecos_churrasco_lead.jpg\" alt=\"Overhead view of a Guatemalan churrasco chapin plate: steak, rice, potato salad, fried plantains, cheese, and little tubs of salsa and refried beans.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1200\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/antojitos-guatemaltecos_churrasco_lead.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/antojitos-guatemaltecos_churrasco_lead-800x500.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/antojitos-guatemaltecos_churrasco_lead-1020x638.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/antojitos-guatemaltecos_churrasco_lead-160x100.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/antojitos-guatemaltecos_churrasco_lead-768x480.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/antojitos-guatemaltecos_churrasco_lead-1536x960.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The churrasco chapin is one of the very typical traditional Guatemalan plates that diners can find at Antojitos Guatemaltecos, a new restaurant in El Cerrito. \u003ccite>(Luke Tsai/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>1. Churrasco chapin at Antojitos Guatemaltecos\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>11252 San Pablo Ave., El Cerrito\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’ve been an Antojitos Guatemaltecos evangelist for going on four years now, from back when it was just a little \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13913355/guatemalan-rice-tamales-antojitos-guatemaltecos-richmond\">tamal cart\u003c/a> I’d sometimes stumble upon, when the stars aligned, just a block away from my house. Now that the Aguilar family has opened a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13923359/antojitos-guatemaltecos-guatemalan-restaurant-el-cerrito-tamales-pollo-campero\">full-blown restaurant\u003c/a> in El Cerrito, their tender, jiggly tamales still rank among the most delicious in the Bay, but I’ve been especially enamored with their expanded selection of homestyle Guatemalan entrees. The dish I keep coming back to is the churrasco chapin mixed grill plate, with its well-charred steak and sausage, fried plantains, queso fresco, seasoned rice and piping-hot tortillas — the perfect bit-of-this-and-that lunch or dinner.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926240\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13926240\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/ramen-champ_lead.jpg\" alt=\"Bowl of ramen with an exorbitant amount of toppings: bean sprouts, chopped raw garlic, pork belly, pork fat and marinated egg.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1320\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/ramen-champ_lead.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/ramen-champ_lead-800x550.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/ramen-champ_lead-1020x701.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/ramen-champ_lead-160x110.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/ramen-champ_lead-768x528.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/ramen-champ_lead-1536x1056.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Inspired by Tokyo’s legendary Ramen Jiro, the Buta MAX at Ramen Champ in San Jose comes overloaded with decadent toppings. \u003ccite>(Luke Tsai/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>2. Buta MAX ramen at Ramen Champ\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>6229 Santa Teresa Blvd., San Jose\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As I embark on my annual ritualistic fattening for the winter months, the dish I find myself thinking about all the time is Ramen Champ’s Buta MAX ramen — a bowl of noodles that is \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13926203/ramen-champ-jiro-style-ramen-cult-san-jose-tokyo\">as audacious and extreme as its name\u003c/a>. Modeled after Tokyo’s famous “Jiro-style” ramen, each super-sized bowl comes topped with extra-thick chunks of braised pork belly, an alarming amount of deliciously softened pork fat, and, most arresting of all, a preposterously large mound of bean sprouts, cabbage and raw garlic. It’s the most unique bowl of ramen I’ve ever eaten in the U.S. — and, on chilly nights when I can’t make it down to San Jose, the one that haunts my dreams.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13931336\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13931336\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/lulu_mezze_lead-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"An abundant spread of Palestinian mezzes served on a circular wooden board.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/lulu_mezze_lead-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/lulu_mezze_lead-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/lulu_mezze_lead-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/lulu_mezze_lead-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/lulu_mezze_lead-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/lulu_mezze_lead-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/lulu_mezze_lead-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/lulu_mezze_lead-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The mezze brunch board at Lulu in West Berkeley is a feast for the eyes and the tastebuds. \u003ccite>(Luke Tsai/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>3. Mezze brunch board at Lulu\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>1106 Solano Ave., Albany\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This glammed-up Palestinian brunch spot was one of my favorite discoveries of the 2023 — though I was clearly late to the party, as they were already booked up two or three weeks out by the time I managed to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13931303/lulu-berkeley-hottest-brunch-palestinian-mezzes\">snag a reservation\u003c/a>. Everyone orders the mezze brunch board, which is chef Mona Leena Michael’s ingenious, gorgeously herb-bedecked spin on the kind of three-tier cake stand you might enjoy for afternoon tea. The spread of Palestinian-inspired breads, dips and assorted bite-size snacks is as fun to share as it is perfect for the ‘gram. It’s also shockingly delicious: I couldn’t stop double-dipping into the hummus crowned with pine nuts and shimeji mushrooms, and I could have eaten a whole tray of the falafel topped with a smear of black garlic tahini. (Note that the restaurant is in the process of moving to a new, larger location on Solano Avenue, with plans to kick off the new year with an expanded dinner menu.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13933769\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13933769\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/tigon-banh-hoi-crop_LT.jpg\" alt=\"An abundant platter of fillings for make-your-own Vietnamese spring rolls, with shrimp, beef, fried egg rolls and more.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1200\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/tigon-banh-hoi-crop_LT.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/tigon-banh-hoi-crop_LT-800x500.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/tigon-banh-hoi-crop_LT-1020x638.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/tigon-banh-hoi-crop_LT-160x100.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/tigon-banh-hoi-crop_LT-768x480.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/tigon-banh-hoi-crop_LT-1536x960.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tigon’s make-your-own-spring-roll spread makes for a fun and refreshing communal dining experience. \u003ccite>(Luke Tsai/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>4. Bánh hỏi dặc biệt at Tigon\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>10086 San Pablo Ave., El Cerrito\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the Tsai household, there probably isn’t any greater-in-demand restaurant than this sweet, family-owned Vietnamese spot, where we order the same thing every time: the bánh hỏi dặc biệt, a build-your-own spring roll platter that generously feeds my entire family of four. The plate comes loaded with all of the major animal groups (beef, pork, chicken and fried shrimp), crispy egg rolls and bean curd skin, little rice noodle nests (the bánh hỏi) and a whole boatload of fresh herbs and lettuces. Kids (and grown-ups!) love the process of dipping rounds of rice paper into warm water to soften them, piling on their chosen ingredients and then rolling the whole thing into a tight, tasty, refreshing bundle. I listed Tigon on my list of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13933745/cold-food-hot-weather-sf-bay-area-fall-2023\">favorite places to eat during hot weather\u003c/a>, but the truth is, its bánh hỏi spread is the ultimate crowd-pleaser: I crave it all year long.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13939147\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13939147\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/aman-cafe-roti.jpg\" alt=\"Crispy, flaky roti (Malaysian flatbread) served alongside a bowl of curried chicken and root vegetables on a paper-lined metal tray.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/aman-cafe-roti.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/aman-cafe-roti-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/aman-cafe-roti-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/aman-cafe-roti-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/aman-cafe-roti-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/aman-cafe-roti-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Often relegated to appetizer status, the buttery, flaky roti at Aman Cafe is the star of the show. \u003ccite>(Luke Tsai/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>5. Roti at Aman Cafe\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>4021 Broadway, Oakland\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’ll order roti for the table anytime I see it on a menu, then monopolize far more than my fair share and wonder forlornly, as I pick at the last crispy shards, where it all went. What a pleasure, then, to eat at a restaurant where these buttery, flaky flatbreads are the centerpiece of the meal — equally delicious swaddled around a curried stew of chicken and root vegetables like golden beet (a revelation!) as it is when dipped, more simply, in the restaurant’s signature creamy coconut sauce. And of course, for good measure, you’ve got to save room for a sweet, sugar-dusted roti for dessert.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13939146\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13939146\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/masa-ramen-loco-moco.jpg\" alt=\"A plate of gravy-drenched Hawaiian loco moco with two burger patties, a runny egg, a big mound of white rice and a scoop of potato salad.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1320\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/masa-ramen-loco-moco.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/masa-ramen-loco-moco-800x550.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/masa-ramen-loco-moco-1020x701.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/masa-ramen-loco-moco-160x110.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/masa-ramen-loco-moco-768x528.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/masa-ramen-loco-moco-1536x1056.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Pure comfort food. \u003ccite>(Luke Tsai/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>6. Loco moco at Masa Ramen\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>1923 University Ave., Berkeley\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’ve written before about how this Hawaiian-inspired shop serves some of the Bay Area’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13925701/masa-ramen-bistro-hawaiian-ramen-shop-berkeley-broke-da-mouf\">tastiest ramen\u003c/a>. Would it surprise you to know that the last three or four times I’ve eaten here, I didn’t order ramen at all? That’s because Masa’s Hawaiian dishes (the garlic shrimp, oxtail soup and island-style beef stew) are just as lovingly prepared — and if anything, good Hawaiian is even more of a rarity here in the Bay. The one I keep coming back to is the heroically portioned loco moco: two beef patties cooked so that they’re crispy around the edges, served in a pool of rich gravy with a runny egg, a scoop of potato salad and a big mound of rice. This is pure comfort food, the kind of thing I could eat every week without ever getting tired of it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13939148\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13939148\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/rize-up-k-pop.jpg\" alt=\"A slice of toasted sourdough bread on a white plate.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/rize-up-k-pop.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/rize-up-k-pop-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/rize-up-k-pop-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/rize-up-k-pop-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/rize-up-k-pop-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/rize-up-k-pop-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A slice of toasted ‘K-Pop’ sourdough from Rize Up Bakery is a breakfast worth getting excited about. \u003ccite>(Luke Tsai/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>7. K-Pop bread at Rize Up Bakery\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>1160 Howard St., San Francisco (and \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://rizeupsourdough.com/pages/where-you-can-find-our-bread\">\u003ci>various farmers market and retail locations\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>)\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The most bourgeois food habit I’ve picked up in the past year is that almost every Sunday morning, I’ll go to the Marin Farmers Market to pick up a $16 loaf of sourdough. But not just any sourdough! In my house, we hold in highest regard Rize Up Bakery’s Korean-inspired “K-Pop” loaf — sourdough that has been infused with gochujang, flecked with toasted black sesame seeds and, most crucially, studded with whole cloves of sweet roasted garlic. Is it blasé to get excited about fancy toast from San Francisco in the year of our lord 2023? Let me tell you, dear reader: A slice of K-Pop, simply toasted and slathered with good butter, is a breakfast worth getting excited for.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13939149\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13939149\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/messob-combo.jpg\" alt=\"A colorful spread of Ethiopian stews and sautes, served on an injera-lined round metal platter.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/messob-combo.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/messob-combo-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/messob-combo-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/messob-combo-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/messob-combo-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/messob-combo-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Messob’s spectacular Ethiopian veggie combo — plus the lamb tibs, which is also excellent. \u003ccite>(Luke Tsai/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>8. Veggie combo at Messob Ethiopian Restaurant\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>4301 Piedmont Ave. B, Oakland\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"color: #2b2b2b;font-weight: 400\">\u003cb>\u003cstrong>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>\u003c/strong>\u003c/b>\u003c/span>The convention of lists like this is to highlight trendy new restaurants, and Messob certainly isn’t that: It’s been a quiet neighborhood staple on Piedmont Avenue going back more than 15 years. But somehow I’d never eaten Messob’s veggie combo until I went on a bit of an Ethiopian food kick this past summer. Just a few bites in, I’d already declared it my favorite version that I’ve had in the Bay. Each of the stews and sautés that make up this injera-lined rainbow wheel have such a distinct spice profile — the intense, berbere-inflected heat of the mushroom wot; the natural sweetness of the slow-cooked carrots and cabbage; the mild, luxuriously silky shiro that less generous Ethiopian spots force you to order as a separate entree; and, my favorite, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13933745/cold-food-hot-weather-sf-bay-area-fall-2023\">cool and garlicky chickpea flour dip known as buticha\u003c/a>. The flavors are so punched-up and brilliant, it’s made me realize that somehow I’ve been eating an awful lot of bland Ethiopian food over the years. Now that you know, you don’t have to make the same mistake.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13933776\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13933776\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/oks-deli-tuna-salad_LT.jpg\" alt=\"The cross section of a tuna salad sandwich made with thick slices of milkbread.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/oks-deli-tuna-salad_LT.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/oks-deli-tuna-salad_LT-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/oks-deli-tuna-salad_LT-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/oks-deli-tuna-salad_LT-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/oks-deli-tuna-salad_LT-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/oks-deli-tuna-salad_LT-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The conbini-style tuna salad sandwich features Kewpie-style mayonnaise and thick, bouncy milkbread. \u003ccite>(Luke Tsai/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>9. Konbini tuna salad sandwich at Ok’s Deli\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>3932 Telegraph Ave., Oakland\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Probably my favorite among the Bay Area’s new crop of “fancy” delicatessens, Ok’s serves a rotating lineup of classed-up classics with obvious cheffy touches: roast beef with caramelized onion Dijonnaise, Sichuan hot chicken and bánh mì loaded up with a thick stack of house-made Spam. It’s all good. But my favorite sandwich is the most minimalist one — a tuna salad sandwich modeled after the kind you might find in any convenience store in Japan. Everything about it is perfect: the lavishly bouncy milkbread; the eggy, Kewpie-adjacent mayonnaise; and the cool, clean simplicity of line-caught tuna mixed with just enough finely chopped onion, celery and pickles to give it a bit of a bite.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13936342\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13936342\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/tchaka_oxtails.jpg\" alt=\"A plate of Haitian-style braised oxtails, served with a mound of rice and peas, tostones and pikliz.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/tchaka_oxtails.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/tchaka_oxtails-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/tchaka_oxtails-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/tchaka_oxtails-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/tchaka_oxtails-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/tchaka_oxtails-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">T’chaka’s take on Caribbean braised oxtails is as good as it gets. \u003ccite>(Luke Tsai/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>10. Oxtails at T’chaka\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>901 Washington St., Oakland\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In my life as a professional eater, it’s a relatively rare occasion that, three bites into a meal, I’m already sending out a bold-faced, all-caps text to every food-loving friend in my contact list. In 2023, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13936332/tchaka-haitian-restaurant-oakland\">T’Chaka was that place\u003c/a>. The Haitian restaurant’s griots, a dish I’d never had before, are the platonic ideal of crispy pork: juicy, tender and full-flavored, with a satisfying crunch. Even better, the braised oxtails are about as good as I can imagine oxtails being — so succulent and luscious that I think about them constantly, months after I first sucked the whole plate of bones clean. To paraphrase what I said when I first reported on the restaurant: Plainly stated, T’Chaka is a knockout. Go eat there now.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "The Bay Area’s Famous ‘Pinay Pie Lady’ Gears Up for One Last Christmas Bake Sale",
"headTitle": "The Bay Area’s Famous ‘Pinay Pie Lady’ Gears Up for One Last Christmas Bake Sale | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>For hundreds of Bay Area Filipinos, Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without holiday pie — and not just any pie, but one of \u003ca href=\"https://sweetcondesapastries.com/\">Sweet Condesa’s\u003c/a> Filipino-inspired pies, which come in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13906834/sweet-condesa-filipino-holiday-pie-bibingka\">nostalgic seasonal flavors\u003c/a> like bibingka and queso de bola.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Owner Melody Lorenzo, the Bay Area’s self-styled “\u003ca href=\"https://sweetcondesapastries.com/our-story\">Pinay Pie Lady\u003c/a>,” says the end-of-year holidays have always been Sweet Condesa’s busiest time. But this Christmas season will also be bittersweet: It’ll be the Filipino dessert shop’s last-ever holiday pie sale before it transitions from being a bakery business into more of a consulting agency next summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In other words, this might be the last year you’ll be able to secure an ube pie for your holiday table, short of having to bake one yourself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sweet Condesa’s graham-cracker-crust custard pies have enjoyed cult favorite status in the Bay ever since the pandemic \u003ca href=\"https://sf.eater.com/2020/11/9/21557156/sweet-condesa-filipino-bakery-ube-calamansi-turon-pie-thanksgiving-oakland\">turned Lorenzo’s baking side hustle into a full-time business\u003c/a>. But the past year has been particularly difficult, Lorenzo explains. She’d moved Sweet Condesa from Oakland to the old Tselogs location in San Francisco’s Mission District with the idea of setting up an in-person storefront — but then city inspectors wound up nixing that plan. To make up for that loss, Lorenzo redoubled her efforts on the events and wedding catering side of her business. But it has been slow going.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13938806\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1707px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13938806\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Headshot-2-PC_-Hillary-Jeanne-Photography-scaled.jpg\" alt='A Filipina woman seated on a staircase poses for a portrait. The text on the front of her pink sweatshirt reads, \"100% Pinay\".' width=\"1707\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Headshot-2-PC_-Hillary-Jeanne-Photography-scaled.jpg 1707w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Headshot-2-PC_-Hillary-Jeanne-Photography-800x1200.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Headshot-2-PC_-Hillary-Jeanne-Photography-1020x1530.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Headshot-2-PC_-Hillary-Jeanne-Photography-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Headshot-2-PC_-Hillary-Jeanne-Photography-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Headshot-2-PC_-Hillary-Jeanne-Photography-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Headshot-2-PC_-Hillary-Jeanne-Photography-1365x2048.jpg 1365w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Headshot-2-PC_-Hillary-Jeanne-Photography-1920x2880.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1707px) 100vw, 1707px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Melody Lorenzo has been running Sweet Condesa as a full-time business since the start of the pandemic. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Hillary Jeanne Photography)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I don’t know if it’s because of inflation, but [business] is not the same compared to the past,” she says. “Sales are down.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And so, after having spent the last three years of the pandemic grinding away to keep the bakery afloat, Lorenzo says she’s going to reboot the business when her lease runs out at the end of July. Instead of selling baked goods herself, she wants to step outside the kitchen and turn Sweet Condesa into a resource for other aspiring small business owners, especially folks of color. Part of that will take the form of consulting and mentorship. She’d like to help other bakers who are new to the industry draft their business plans and navigate the permitting process. She’ll assist with recipe development and conduct baking and dessert decorating workshops. Eventually, she’d like to write a cookbook.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Sweet Condesa isn’t going anywhere,” Lorenzo says. “It’s just sad that there’s not going to be holiday pies.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13938807\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1707px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13938807\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Puto-Bumbong-PC_-Rezel-Kealoha-vertical-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A graham cracker crust pie topped with black glutinous rice, shredded coconut and sesame seeds.\" width=\"1707\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Puto-Bumbong-PC_-Rezel-Kealoha-vertical-scaled.jpg 1707w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Puto-Bumbong-PC_-Rezel-Kealoha-vertical-800x1200.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Puto-Bumbong-PC_-Rezel-Kealoha-vertical-1020x1530.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Puto-Bumbong-PC_-Rezel-Kealoha-vertical-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Puto-Bumbong-PC_-Rezel-Kealoha-vertical-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Puto-Bumbong-PC_-Rezel-Kealoha-vertical-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Puto-Bumbong-PC_-Rezel-Kealoha-vertical-1365x2048.jpg 1365w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Puto-Bumbong-PC_-Rezel-Kealoha-vertical-1920x2880.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1707px) 100vw, 1707px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The puto bumbong pie comes topped with shredded coconut, sesame seeds and muscovado sugar. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Rezel Kealoha)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"color: #2b2b2b;font-weight: 400\">\u003cb>\u003cstrong>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[aside postID='arts_13923127,arts_13938479,arts_13936639']\u003c/span>\u003c/strong>\u003c/b>\u003c/span>For her final big “Pasko,” or Christmas, dessert drop, Lorenzo has brought back all of her \u003ca href=\"https://www.hotplate.com/sweetcondesapastries/504dbbae-0bf2-4dab-8527-f3ea805e088c\">signature holiday pies\u003c/a>, which draw inspiration from the items you would find at any traditional Filipino Christmas feast. There’s the bibingka pie, inspired by the steaming-hot coconut rice cakes that vendors in the Philippines sell after Christmas mass. There’s a savory-sweet pie that features queso de bola, a cheese that Filipinos traditionally eat for Christmas, and another one that incorporates the flavors of the purple steamed rice cakes known as puto bumbong. Sweet Condesa’s year-round classics will also be available — the tangy-sweet calamansi pie (the highlight of my family’s socially distanced Thanksgiving 2020) and, of course, the neon-purple ube pie. All of the pies have a cold custard base and a graham cracker crust.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year, Lorenzo is also selling of mixed baker’s dozen of Pasko cookies, including a gingerbread-adjacent cookie that includes pieces of dried Philippine mango, a cookie inspired by Filipino hot chocolate and an “ube pie” cookie — a happy accident that Lorenzo created when she had to repurpose a less-than-aesthetic batch of pies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13938808\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13938808\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Pasko-Cookies.jpg\" alt=\"A plate of Christmas cookies surround by presents and other holiday-related decorative paraphernalia.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1933\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Pasko-Cookies.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Pasko-Cookies-800x773.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Pasko-Cookies-1020x986.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Pasko-Cookies-160x155.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Pasko-Cookies-768x742.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Pasko-Cookies-1536x1485.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Pasko-Cookies-1920x1856.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lorenzo’s Christmas cookies incorporate Filipino ingredients such as dried mango and ube. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Sweet Condesa)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>As Sweet Condesa’s post-bakery life nears, longtime customers will have to take solace in the fact that they’ll still have access to Lorenzo’s desserts for about eight more months. Even after the holiday pie sale ends, customers will still be able to order pies and other sweet treats \u003ca href=\"https://www.exploreneon.com/store/restaurant/486/?utm_source=sweetcondesa&utm_medium=partner&utm_campaign=fbb\">online\u003c/a>, for pickup and home delivery, twice a month. The desserts are also available three days a week at \u003ca href=\"https://www.abanicocoffee.com/\">Abanico Coffee Roasters\u003c/a> in the Mission. And Lorenzo will continue to do events catering and occasional afternoon tea pop-ups over that same time period, before she closes the books on this chapter of her business.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I still want to do a lot of weddings,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003ca href=\"https://sweetcondesapastries.com/\">Sweet Condesa\u003c/a>’s \u003c/i>\u003ci>Christmas pre-sale\u003c/i>\u003ci> is open for \u003ca href=\"https://www.hotplate.com/sweetcondesapastries/504dbbae-0bf2-4dab-8527-f3ea805e088c\">online ordering\u003c/a> from now through Dec. 19. Pickup at the bakery’s Mission District headquarters (518 S. Van Ness, San Francisco) will take place on Friday, Dec. 22 and Saturday, Dec. 23. Limited home delivery is available for Dec. 21–22.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>For hundreds of Bay Area Filipinos, Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without holiday pie — and not just any pie, but one of \u003ca href=\"https://sweetcondesapastries.com/\">Sweet Condesa’s\u003c/a> Filipino-inspired pies, which come in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13906834/sweet-condesa-filipino-holiday-pie-bibingka\">nostalgic seasonal flavors\u003c/a> like bibingka and queso de bola.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Owner Melody Lorenzo, the Bay Area’s self-styled “\u003ca href=\"https://sweetcondesapastries.com/our-story\">Pinay Pie Lady\u003c/a>,” says the end-of-year holidays have always been Sweet Condesa’s busiest time. But this Christmas season will also be bittersweet: It’ll be the Filipino dessert shop’s last-ever holiday pie sale before it transitions from being a bakery business into more of a consulting agency next summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In other words, this might be the last year you’ll be able to secure an ube pie for your holiday table, short of having to bake one yourself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sweet Condesa’s graham-cracker-crust custard pies have enjoyed cult favorite status in the Bay ever since the pandemic \u003ca href=\"https://sf.eater.com/2020/11/9/21557156/sweet-condesa-filipino-bakery-ube-calamansi-turon-pie-thanksgiving-oakland\">turned Lorenzo’s baking side hustle into a full-time business\u003c/a>. But the past year has been particularly difficult, Lorenzo explains. She’d moved Sweet Condesa from Oakland to the old Tselogs location in San Francisco’s Mission District with the idea of setting up an in-person storefront — but then city inspectors wound up nixing that plan. To make up for that loss, Lorenzo redoubled her efforts on the events and wedding catering side of her business. But it has been slow going.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13938806\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1707px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13938806\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Headshot-2-PC_-Hillary-Jeanne-Photography-scaled.jpg\" alt='A Filipina woman seated on a staircase poses for a portrait. The text on the front of her pink sweatshirt reads, \"100% Pinay\".' width=\"1707\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Headshot-2-PC_-Hillary-Jeanne-Photography-scaled.jpg 1707w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Headshot-2-PC_-Hillary-Jeanne-Photography-800x1200.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Headshot-2-PC_-Hillary-Jeanne-Photography-1020x1530.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Headshot-2-PC_-Hillary-Jeanne-Photography-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Headshot-2-PC_-Hillary-Jeanne-Photography-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Headshot-2-PC_-Hillary-Jeanne-Photography-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Headshot-2-PC_-Hillary-Jeanne-Photography-1365x2048.jpg 1365w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Headshot-2-PC_-Hillary-Jeanne-Photography-1920x2880.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1707px) 100vw, 1707px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Melody Lorenzo has been running Sweet Condesa as a full-time business since the start of the pandemic. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Hillary Jeanne Photography)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I don’t know if it’s because of inflation, but [business] is not the same compared to the past,” she says. “Sales are down.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And so, after having spent the last three years of the pandemic grinding away to keep the bakery afloat, Lorenzo says she’s going to reboot the business when her lease runs out at the end of July. Instead of selling baked goods herself, she wants to step outside the kitchen and turn Sweet Condesa into a resource for other aspiring small business owners, especially folks of color. Part of that will take the form of consulting and mentorship. She’d like to help other bakers who are new to the industry draft their business plans and navigate the permitting process. She’ll assist with recipe development and conduct baking and dessert decorating workshops. Eventually, she’d like to write a cookbook.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Sweet Condesa isn’t going anywhere,” Lorenzo says. “It’s just sad that there’s not going to be holiday pies.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13938807\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1707px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13938807\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Puto-Bumbong-PC_-Rezel-Kealoha-vertical-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A graham cracker crust pie topped with black glutinous rice, shredded coconut and sesame seeds.\" width=\"1707\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Puto-Bumbong-PC_-Rezel-Kealoha-vertical-scaled.jpg 1707w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Puto-Bumbong-PC_-Rezel-Kealoha-vertical-800x1200.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Puto-Bumbong-PC_-Rezel-Kealoha-vertical-1020x1530.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Puto-Bumbong-PC_-Rezel-Kealoha-vertical-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Puto-Bumbong-PC_-Rezel-Kealoha-vertical-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Puto-Bumbong-PC_-Rezel-Kealoha-vertical-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Puto-Bumbong-PC_-Rezel-Kealoha-vertical-1365x2048.jpg 1365w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Puto-Bumbong-PC_-Rezel-Kealoha-vertical-1920x2880.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1707px) 100vw, 1707px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The puto bumbong pie comes topped with shredded coconut, sesame seeds and muscovado sugar. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Rezel Kealoha)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"color: #2b2b2b;font-weight: 400\">\u003cb>\u003cstrong>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>\u003c/strong>\u003c/b>\u003c/span>For her final big “Pasko,” or Christmas, dessert drop, Lorenzo has brought back all of her \u003ca href=\"https://www.hotplate.com/sweetcondesapastries/504dbbae-0bf2-4dab-8527-f3ea805e088c\">signature holiday pies\u003c/a>, which draw inspiration from the items you would find at any traditional Filipino Christmas feast. There’s the bibingka pie, inspired by the steaming-hot coconut rice cakes that vendors in the Philippines sell after Christmas mass. There’s a savory-sweet pie that features queso de bola, a cheese that Filipinos traditionally eat for Christmas, and another one that incorporates the flavors of the purple steamed rice cakes known as puto bumbong. Sweet Condesa’s year-round classics will also be available — the tangy-sweet calamansi pie (the highlight of my family’s socially distanced Thanksgiving 2020) and, of course, the neon-purple ube pie. All of the pies have a cold custard base and a graham cracker crust.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year, Lorenzo is also selling of mixed baker’s dozen of Pasko cookies, including a gingerbread-adjacent cookie that includes pieces of dried Philippine mango, a cookie inspired by Filipino hot chocolate and an “ube pie” cookie — a happy accident that Lorenzo created when she had to repurpose a less-than-aesthetic batch of pies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13938808\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13938808\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Pasko-Cookies.jpg\" alt=\"A plate of Christmas cookies surround by presents and other holiday-related decorative paraphernalia.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1933\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Pasko-Cookies.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Pasko-Cookies-800x773.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Pasko-Cookies-1020x986.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Pasko-Cookies-160x155.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Pasko-Cookies-768x742.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Pasko-Cookies-1536x1485.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Pasko-Cookies-1920x1856.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lorenzo’s Christmas cookies incorporate Filipino ingredients such as dried mango and ube. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Sweet Condesa)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>As Sweet Condesa’s post-bakery life nears, longtime customers will have to take solace in the fact that they’ll still have access to Lorenzo’s desserts for about eight more months. Even after the holiday pie sale ends, customers will still be able to order pies and other sweet treats \u003ca href=\"https://www.exploreneon.com/store/restaurant/486/?utm_source=sweetcondesa&utm_medium=partner&utm_campaign=fbb\">online\u003c/a>, for pickup and home delivery, twice a month. The desserts are also available three days a week at \u003ca href=\"https://www.abanicocoffee.com/\">Abanico Coffee Roasters\u003c/a> in the Mission. And Lorenzo will continue to do events catering and occasional afternoon tea pop-ups over that same time period, before she closes the books on this chapter of her business.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I still want to do a lot of weddings,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003ca href=\"https://sweetcondesapastries.com/\">Sweet Condesa\u003c/a>’s \u003c/i>\u003ci>Christmas pre-sale\u003c/i>\u003ci> is open for \u003ca href=\"https://www.hotplate.com/sweetcondesapastries/504dbbae-0bf2-4dab-8527-f3ea805e088c\">online ordering\u003c/a> from now through Dec. 19. Pickup at the bakery’s Mission District headquarters (518 S. Van Ness, San Francisco) will take place on Friday, Dec. 22 and Saturday, Dec. 23. Limited home delivery is available for Dec. 21–22.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
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"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
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"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
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"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
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"politicalbreakdown": {
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"title": "Political Breakdown",
"tagline": "Politics from a personal perspective",
"info": "Political Breakdown is a new series that explores the political intersection of California and the nation. Each week hosts Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos are joined with a new special guest to unpack politics -- with personality — and offer an insider’s glimpse at how politics happens.",
"airtime": "THU 6:30pm-7pm",
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"possible": {
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"title": "Possible",
"info": "Possible is hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman and writer Aria Finger. Together in Possible, Hoffman and Finger lead enlightening discussions about building a brighter collective future. The show features interviews with visionary guests like Trevor Noah, Sam Altman and Janette Sadik-Khan. Possible paints an optimistic portrait of the world we can create through science, policy, business, art and our shared humanity. It asks: What if everything goes right for once? How can we get there? Each episode also includes a short fiction story generated by advanced AI GPT-4, serving as a thought-provoking springboard to speculate how humanity could leverage technology for good.",
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"pri-the-world": {
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"title": "PRI's The World: Latest Edition",
"info": "Each weekday, host Marco Werman and his team of producers bring you the world's most interesting stories in an hour of radio that reminds us just how small our planet really is.",
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"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-World-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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},
"radiolab": {
"id": "radiolab",
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"info": "A two-time Peabody Award-winner, Radiolab is an investigation told through sounds and stories, and centered around one big idea. In the Radiolab world, information sounds like music and science and culture collide. Hosted by Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich, the show is designed for listeners who demand skepticism, but appreciate wonder. WNYC Studios is the producer of other leading podcasts including Freakonomics Radio, Death, Sex & Money, On the Media and many more.",
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},
"reveal": {
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"title": "Reveal",
"info": "Created by The Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX, Reveal is public radios first one-hour weekly radio show and podcast dedicated to investigative reporting. Credible, fact based and without a partisan agenda, Reveal combines the power and artistry of driveway moment storytelling with data-rich reporting on critically important issues. The result is stories that inform and inspire, arming our listeners with information to right injustices, hold the powerful accountable and improve lives.Reveal is hosted by Al Letson and showcases the award-winning work of CIR and newsrooms large and small across the nation. In a radio and podcast market crowded with choices, Reveal focuses on important and often surprising stories that illuminate the world for our listeners.",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.revealnews.org/episodes/",
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},
"rightnowish": {
"id": "rightnowish",
"title": "Rightnowish",
"tagline": "Art is where you find it",
"info": "Rightnowish digs into life in the Bay Area right now… ish. Journalist Pendarvis Harshaw takes us to galleries painted on the sides of liquor stores in West Oakland. We'll dance in warehouses in the Bayview, make smoothies with kids in South Berkeley, and listen to classical music in a 1984 Cutlass Supreme in Richmond. Every week, Pen talks to movers and shakers about how the Bay Area shapes what they create, and how they shape the place we call home.",
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"order": 16
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},
"science-friday": {
"id": "science-friday",
"title": "Science Friday",
"info": "Science Friday is a weekly science talk show, broadcast live over public radio stations nationwide. Each week, the show focuses on science topics that are in the news and tries to bring an educated, balanced discussion to bear on the scientific issues at hand. Panels of expert guests join host Ira Flatow, a veteran science journalist, to discuss science and to take questions from listeners during the call-in portion of the program.",
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