Culinary & Wine Search
Chocolate and Chalk Art Festival
Fairs, Festivals, & Fiestas, Culinary & Wine, Kids Sat., June 1, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.510-548-5335
Nowhere do chocolate and chalk pair so well than at the annual Chocolate and Chalk Art Festival at Berkeley's Gourmet Ghetto (Shattuck Avenue, between Rose and Delaware streets), where artists transform the city's sidewalks into a veritable chalk canvas under the gaze of chocolate-chomping revelers. In addition to live music, kids activities, and vendors, this year's festival on Saturday, June 2, features unusual chocolate offerings including chocolate goat-cheese truffles, Caribbean chocolate soup, and chocolate ricotta pizza. Artists of all abilities can sign up for the chalk-art contest the day of the event and win up to $250 in cash prizes. Rain postpones to June 9. 10 a.m.-5 p.m., free. 510-548-5335 or AnotherBullwinkelShow.com
freeLate Night Little Bites
Culinary & Wine Thursdays-Saturdays, 9-10:30 p.m.510-444-1233
Out late? Can't face heading home hungry? Bocanova (55 Webster St., Oakland) has instituted a brand-new "Late Nite Boca Bite" menu, featuring bocaditos ("little bites") at happy-hour prices served from 9 p.m. until 10:30 p.m. every Thursday through Saturday. Bocaditos include yuca-and-cheese fritters, fried plantains with cilantro aioli, Dungeness crab deviled eggs with chipotle aioli, taco-del-día with pickled cabbage, and pork ribs with guava-barbecue sauce. Specially priced cocktails, wine, and beer wash it all down. $1.50 and up. 510-444-1233 or Bocanova.com
Phat Beets Crop Swap
Culinary & Wine First Saturday of every month, 11 a.m.-3 p.m.510-689-3068
Lorin Station Crop Swap
Culinary & Wine, Farmers' Markets Sundays, 1-2 p.m.Get super-seasonal and hyper-local: Bring your own homegrown garden produce to the Lorin Station Weekly Crop Swap (northeast corner of Alcatraz Avenue and Adeline Street, Berkeley) every Sunday, and trade it for backyard produce grown by others. Transition Berkeley and the Victory Garden Foundation organize these free hour-long weekly crop swaps throughout the late spring and summer; right now it's lemon, lettuce, kale, and beet season. 1 p.m., free. TransitionBerkeley.com
freeThis Week's Feature
FEATURE
A People-Focused Solution
Restorative justice programs may offer the best new hope for reducing violence in Oakland schools and the city overall, but their future funding is uncertain.
