Tag Archives: Urban Adamah
Bites: What’s new in East Bay food, XVII
Bites is Berkeleyside Nosh’s round-up of restaurant, bar and food-related news in the East Bay. To stay up-to-speed with all that’s going on locally, read our daily Nosh Wire, and check out previous editions of Bites. We always love receiving food-related tips at nosh@berkeleyside.com.
NEW OAKLAND TASTING ROOM A Hopland-based winery, Campovida, is launching a new tasting room at 95 Linden St. on Thursday, April 4, from 5-8 p.m. A message posted by Campovida indicates that the owners started their family in Oakland, then moved to Hopland to take over an organic farm and working vineyard. Now they’re reclaiming their Oakland roots (“think green acres, just an oakland/hopland version”), starting with a party Thursday in conjunction with Linden Street Brewery and the Fist of Flour Pizza Company. RSVP to Campovida at 707-744-8797 or info@campovida.com. … Continue reading »
The It List: Five things to do in Berkeley this weekend
WATCH THE AUDITIONS The San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival auditions start in Berkeley this weekend (continuing in San Francisco on Jan. 19-20) and are open to the public. According to those who have attended in the past, it’s a great event to see with each performance of a few minutes offering an incredible variety of dancing. Kids go free, adults $10 and it’s in-and-out privileges, so you can watch for a while, go out to lunch, come back and watch some more. Auditions take place on Saturday and Sunday Jan. 12 and 13 at Zellerbach Hall on the UC Berkeley campus from 11am – 7pm. For details visit the Festival’s website. … Continue reading »
The It List: Five things to do in Berkeley this weekend
NATURAL WONDERS A visit to the UC Botanical Garden is always an exercise in amazement. The garden’s collection of thousands of plants from around the world grabs the senses and immerses them into sights, shapes, and smells. Now a number of artists have built site-specific installations in the garden, drawing their inspiration from the various exotic plants. Their work is on display at In Natural Discourse: Artists, Architects, and Scientists in the Garden, an exhibit that runs through Jan. 20, 2013.
Three Squares benefit to help free cooking class program
For the past three years Sarah Nelson has run free cooking classes for low-income families under three different names. While working as a special projects coordinator for the Pacific Coast Farmers’ Market she brought the program then known as Operation Frontline to the Bay Area.
That effort, a national initiative sponsored by the nonprofit Share our Strength, changed its name to the more apt Cooking Matters in October 2010. Last August, when Nelson left the farmers’ market, she took the cooking class concept with her and now heads up the non-profit organization Three Squares, which is holding a fundraising brunch at UC Berkeley’s Pauley Ballroom this Sunday.
Name changes aside, the core concept of this program remains the same: six weeks of cooking instruction that focuses on kitchen skills, fresh foods, and meal planning for those in need. Three Squares is a lean operation: in addition to Nelson, 31, the staff includes three AmeriCorps members and relies on 400 volunteers to teach about 15 classes a week in the Bay Area, typically two each week in Berkeley. … Continue reading »
Shop Talk: The ins and outs of Berkeley businesses
GETTING MEATY Green Papaya, the Thai vegetarian restaurant at 2016 Shattuck in downtown, is switching it up. It’s changing its name to Thanu’s Kitchen and is adding meat to the menu. A notice on the door says that the new spot will open soon. “Although we’re changing things up a bit here, we will still offer vegetarians our selective menu and, no worries, our utilities such as pots, pans, and ingredients for vegetarian will most definitely be separated from non-vegetarian,” write the owners, who say the change is due to ”a low volume of vegan/vegetarian consumers”.
SPORTY OPENING Berkeleyans who are still missing Blakes, which closed its doors last year after 71 years, can now patronize Pappy’s on Telegraph, which opened a couple of weeks ago in the old Blake’s space at 2367 Telegraph Avenue. According to the East Bay Express, there is “a giant TV screen, plenty of sips, pitchers and noshes, and enough blue and gold to satisfy any Oski devotee”. The name is a nod to former football coach Pappy Waldorf. … Continue reading »
Top food stories from Berkeley in 2011
As the year draws to a close, it’s time to look back to see what food stories created a buzz around town and on Berkeleyside in 2011.
Granted, there’s an arbitrary nature to such end-of-year lists. But it’s an opportunity to take stock of the city’s culinary culture.
For the purposes of this post we’ve focused on food news stories, which doesn’t take into account the dozens of interviews with foragers, farmers, artisans, advocates, chefs, cooking teachers, preservers, pasta makers, cheese purveyors, pop-up restaurateurs, and farmers’ market vendors we’ve published during 2011.
This year also saw controversial coverage of corner stores, reporting on detractors of school food, an insider’s take on speed dating with a veg-friendly focus, and a widely criticized first-person piece on disappointing camp chow.
Readers may differ on what food stories caught their attention. Feel free to add your own highlights (or low points) in the comments section.
In alphabetical order: … Continue reading »
Urban farm Urban Adamah celebrates the harvest
Urban Adamah, a community organic farm and Jewish environmental education center on Parker and San Pablo, celebrated the holiday of Sukkot on Sunday. There was music, yoga in the sun, a food festival, and good eats. People were asked to bring a can of food to donate to local food banks. Sukkot is a celebration of the harvest.
Faith-based urban farm opens in Berkeley
Sunday marked the grand opening of Urban Adamah, the first faith-based, modern urban farm in West Berkeley, at 1050 Parker Street near San Pablo Avenue, opposite Fantasy Studios. The one-acre farm with Jewish roots offers a residential fellowship program for young adults, summer camps for kids and teens, and plans to help feed the needy in the community.
On an uncharacteristically warm June day, several hundred people, including many families with young children, turned out to tour the farm, meet chickens, bake pizzas, pickle cucumbers, make ice cream, and whip up bicycle smoothies — as well as learn a little about the philosophy behind the farm, currently boasting greens, squashes, tomatoes, and other summer crops.
Local urban farming icon Novella Carpenter welcomed the newbies to the neighborhood, along with Assemblymember Nancy Skinner and Councilmember Darryl Moore. Fellow West Berkeley urban farmer Jim Montgomery, who walked his goats over to say hello, was a big hit with the younger set. … Continue reading »
