Comment Archives: stories: Food & Drink
Re: “MLK Cafe Connects Kitcha and Pizza”
I simply love MLK Cafe! I eat the 8" spinach and goat cheese pizza 3 times a week. Plus, my neighborhood group (Longfellow Community Association) hosts a Tuesday night Happy Hour at MLK Cafe.
The owner AG, his family, and staff are very special folks devoted to supporting and improving the community.
Re: “Totally Hot Italian”
I had a great experience at hot italian. My pizza was perfectly crispy. Our salad had tart/sweet plums that offered a good contrast to the spinach and cheese. Our dessert was good (well besides the minty vanilla gelato). It is definitely the best option in E-ville.
Re: “Happy Accidents”
Congrats on Sunset's GOLD! And lots of gratitude to 2Mile for being a true anchor at the 25th Street Collective!
Re: “Santo Coyote Is the Wallflower of Fruitvale”
Yes! I love this place. La Mexicana is great too.
Re: “Santo Coyote Is the Wallflower of Fruitvale”
Great review. I love this place!
Re: “Soleil's African Cuisine Finds an Unlikely Home in Alameda”
I went there several weeks ago because it's around the corner from my house, and, while I forgot what I had but I know this much: I really liked what they prepared. I think it was a lamb dish, but I can't recall precisely. It was very good!
Re: “Missouri Lounge's State of Disrepair”
On the note of bathroom soliloquies, Lucky 13 in Alameda has some of the most inspiring and practical bathroom graffiti, and an icy piss trough for the dudes. I love that place.
Re: “Santo Coyote Is the Wallflower of Fruitvale”
It's commonplace to describe high-fat food as "artery clogging," but there is no scientific research to support that at all, in spite of Big Pharma making a fortune off statin drugs. Organic high saturated food is good for your arteries and heart. It's carbs that cause heart and artery disease. Check out Dr. Malcolm Kendrick's "The Great Cholesterol Con."
Re: “The Lake Chalet and the Life Coach”
Maybe give more press to new and/or locally owned places rather than couple year old joints owned by food conglomerates? You know, because multi-billion dollar food conglomerates need so much help...
Re: “Soleil's African Cuisine Finds an Unlikely Home in Alameda”
I can't wait to make it to this restaurant to get more of Soleil's food. They catered my wedding three years ago and have been craving more of their delicious food ever since. I'm thrilled they have a location!
Re: “Soleil's African Cuisine Finds an Unlikely Home in Alameda”
Thanks for the comments, Antoinette and Sarah! For the record, I didn't dislike any of the appetizers that I tried — just thought they were less interesting/distinctive than the entreés, comparatively speaking. The new menu additions, on the other hand, sound great...
Re: “Soleil's African Cuisine Finds an Unlikely Home in Alameda”
I am so glad for this marvelous review. This place is run by wonderful people who make each dish with love and it comes through in every delicious bite. Let me piggyback on Sarah's comment here. I agree that the appetizers are too yummy to be called boring. Take my advice and try them all. You won't be disappointed. Bon appetit!
Re: “Soleil's African Cuisine Finds an Unlikely Home in Alameda”
Great review of Soleil's African Kitchen. I have tried nearly everything on the menu and LOVE all that has passed through my lips! My only issue with this review is the statement about boring appetizers. The fresh homemade vinaigrette on the salad is AMAZING. The hummus is like no other, and very enjoyable. My friends and I actually devoured a bowl of that yumminess Wednesday night, and wanted more to take home! And the samosas are a delicious work of art! TJ hand-makes each and every one of those heavenly morsels. I love it all. I recommend this place to all my friends, acquaintances, and strangers on the street. Don't walk, RUN to Soleil's and ENJOY :)
Re: “FuseBOX Serves Food for the People”
Having lived both in West Oakland and Incheon, the resemblance between the two is a bit of a stretch. But I do want to check out FuseBOX next time I cross the dateline!
Re: “Schmendricks Continues the Bagel Revolution”
*out of my depth
Re: “Schmendricks Continues the Bagel Revolution”
Thanks, Gene. I'm out of depth here, so I'll defer to others who have spent more time studying the history...
Re: “Schmendricks Continues the Bagel Revolution”
Luke,
Yes, the "baker made a roll in the shape of the king's stirrup and called it a beugel" segment is speculative, but still possible.
What I'm focusing on though are the reasons for the Bagel, the "decree of 1496 limiting the production of white bread and Obwarzanek". Both Jews and Catholics baked all of these, so anti-semitism was not a factor in the motive for producing the Bagel.
Re: “Schmendricks Continues the Bagel Revolution”
Gene, thanks for the rich historical detail. I'll admit that my one-sentence summary was a simplification of an already-condensed version. My impression, however, was that the "bread in the shape of a stirrup" portion of the story has been disavowed by historians. Is that not the case? Even the article you quote says that it's "completely speculative and perhaps even fictitious."
Re: “Schmendricks Continues the Bagel Revolution”
Dear Luk Tsai and East Bay Express,
Now the history of the Bagel is being revised to being invented as a response to "anti-semitic legislation"? I think the reader gets the wrong impression when reading your article, as the entire story is incomplete.
It was not only the Jews who couldn't bake bread, this included Catholic bakers as well. It applied to the production of both "White Bread" and "Obwarzanek", and Jewish bakers were *not* the only ones producing this.
The history actually goes like this, according to the best source of the Bagel's history by Maria Balinska's "The Bagel: The Surprising History of a Modest Bread" :
"Polish-born and half-Jewish, Balinska, who works at the BBC in London, tells us that the boiled and baked bagel as we know it comes from her homeland. She tells the story of the Krakow bagel, which was a product of the 1683 Battle of Vienna. Although the story is completely speculative and perhaps even fictitious, it is a piece of gastronomic lore that has endured throughout the ages. As the story goes, 17th-century Poland was the breadbasket of Europe, and King Jan Sobieski was the first king not to confirm the decree of 1496 limiting the production of white bread and obwarzanek (bagellike rolls whose name derives from a word meaning "to parboil") to the Krakow bakers guild. This meant that Jews could finally bake bread within the confines of the city walls. Furthermore, when Sobieski saved Austria from the Turkish invaders, a baker made a roll in the shape of the king's stirrup and called it a beugel (the Austrian word for stirrup). As Balinska says, "Whatever its origin, the story of the bagel being created in honor of Jan Sobieski and his victory in Vienna has endured."
Source: http://www.slate.com/articles/life/food/20…
Re: “Mooncakes in Chinatown”
Cardiologists like it too!