Savor Oakland: Fruitvale Food Tour

Pork tamale with red mole sauce from Tamales Acapulco de Doña Tere


Torta ahogada ("drowned sandwich") made with barbacoa beef from the Pipirin taco stand


Two types of pozole from Obelisco Restaurant


Left: Mangonada from Nieves Cinco de Mayo in the Fruitvale Public Market
Right: Iced cardamon coffee from Reem's California


Cheese man’oushe (left) and Sfoof (turmeric orange tea cakes) from Reem's California


Baklawa (baklava) from Reem's California


Pistachio panna cotta from Reem's California

This past Saturday I was invited to attend a press preview of Savor Oakland's new food tour through Fruitvale. Savor Oakland has been putting on tours that combine food, culture, and history in Oakland since 2012. Like all of their tours, ours began with a warm beverage made with arroz. We then walked over to the Tamales Acapulco de Doña Tere and enjoyed pork tamales with red mole. Next, we briefly visited El Charro market, where they sell goods like masa (the dough used to make tortillas) and interesting fruits that can be hard to find elsewhere. 

The tour also includes a look at murals in the area, which are used to preserve the history of the ever-gentrifying neighborhood. We saw one mural depicting the Chicano Movement of the 1960's that was quite beautiful. After hearing a brief history of Fruitvale and about its abundant fruit carts, we tried torta ahogada (a sandwich "drowned" in salsa) made with barbacoa beef at the Pipirin taco stand, which has been in the area for over twenty years. Then, we stopped outside the beautiful St Elizabeth Church across the street.

Next, we walked over to Obelisco Restaurant to try mango agua fresca, horchata, three types of pozole, and homemade tortillas. At the Nieves Cinco de Mayo stand inside the Fruitvale Public Market, we tried my favorite food from the tour, the mangonada, a drink made with chamoy sauce, mango, lime juice, chili powder, and a tamarind straw that reminded me of those Lucas candies I had in elementary school. Our tour ended with pastries and iced cardamon coffee at Reem's California, a new cafe selling traditional Arab street food right next to Fruitvale BART station.

I would like to thank Christina of East Bay Dish for inviting me and our tour guide, Ferron Salniker of Ferronlandia, who blogs about food from California and Mexico. We all had a great time!

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Dinner at Chef Joanne Weir's Home

Left: Kitchen Gypsy, Chef Joanne Weir's newest cookbook; Right: Joanne making her delicious Oaxacan Chocolate Milk Shakes (p. 268)


Grilled Prosciutto-Wrapped Figs with Goat Cheese & Thyme (p. 220)


Citrus Salad with Mint and Red Onions (p. 184)


Left: Tabbouleh (p. 63); right: Roasted Carrot Hummus with Vegetable Chips (p. 205)


Almond, Anchovy, and Fennel Toasts (p. 228)


Little Gem and Pickled Cucumber Salad with Green Goddess Dressing (p. 145)


Citrus Salad with Mint and Red Onions (p. 184)


Mom's Tomato Sandwich (p. 12)


Arroz con Pollo (p. 60)


Lemony Lemon Squares (p. 44)


Lettie's Lightning Cake with Wild Strawberry Jam (p. 22)

A couple weeks ago, I was invited to attend a special dinner at Chef Joanne Weir's home in San Francisco to celebrate the release of her latest cookbook, Kitchen Gypsy. Along with about a dozen other bloggers from the Bay Area, I spent the evening learning more about Joanne and her beautiful new book, watching her prepare dishes before our eyes, and eating incredible food. 

Joanne is a fourth-generation professional chef, who has written 17 cookbooks previously, is the owner of Copita Tequileria y Comida in Sausalito, and is the host of "Get Fresh." Published by Sunset Magazine and Oxmoor House, Kitchen Gypsy is Joanne's most personal book to date and contains stories from her life alongside 100 new recipes. The anecdotes cover her time spent in Morocco, Australia, and Italy, working at Chez Panisse in Berkeley, opening Copita, and more. My favorite part are the 250 images of her recipes, which I will definitely take as inspiration for my own food photography. She succinctly described Kitchen Gypsy as a "pure passion project," which was seen in how she talked about the book and how the recipes came to be.

The other bloggers in attendance and myself were asked to bring a dish from Kitchen Gypsy to the dinner. Since I'm not much of a cook, I opted to make a simpler dish: Mom's Tomato Sandwich, made with tomatoes, white bread, mayo, and salt. Some of the other dishes included Grilled Prosciutto-Wrapped Figs with Goat Cheese & Thyme, Citrus Salad with Mint and Red Onions, Tabbouleh, Roasted Carrot Hummus with Vegetable Chips, Little Gem and Pickled Cucumber Salad with Green Goddess Dressing, and Carrot Soup with Anise. For dessert, we had Lemony Lemon Squares, Lettie's Lightning Cake with Wild Strawberry Jam, and Café Almond Cake. Every dish was delicious in its own right and were often not as complicated to prepare as anticipated. Many of us joked how we are not great cooks and the prospect of preparing the dishes was intimidating at first. Fortunately, everything came together perfectly and it was nice to see each interpretation of Joanne's recipes.

Joanne and her assistant chef prepared the Arroz con Pollo before we arrived. She gave us a tutorial on how to make the Almond, Anchovy, and Fennel Toasts as an appetizer and the Oaxacan Chocolate Milk Shakes for dessert. The chicken in the Arroz con Pollo was very tender and the dish had dynamic flavors that complemented each other well. The toasts had a bit of a kick from the anchovy. The Oaxacan Chocolate Milk Shakes were my favorite: the ice cream had a spicy, rich taste that blended well with the tequila added to the milk shake.

Joanne also chatted with each of us, which was quite a treat. We talked about different types of social media and how there's always a new platform we have to learn to master. She is a very lovely person and the perfect host for such an occasion. I also enjoyed comparing notes with the other bloggers and the members of Joanne's PR and cooking team. I couldn't ask for better company or a more delightful evening.

Thanks again to Joanne, Elka, and the folks at Dadascope for inviting me to this truly wonderful event. It has inspired me to try some of the recipes in my signed copy of Kitchen Gypsy, such as the Citrus Salad or maybe even the Carrot Soup. You can order your copy of Kitchen Gypsy here.

Check out more posts from San Francisco.

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Racked LA: Smashbox Studios Launch Party

A few weeks ago, I covered the Smashbox Studios Cosmetics launch party for Racked LA. To see the photos, click on the screen shot above or on this link.

Check out more photos I've taken for Racked LA.

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Your Chance to be on Refinery29 SF!

As announced on my Twitter, I will be shooting street style for Refinery29 San Francisco this Sunday, October 16 at 3pm at Dolores Park in San Francisco. Scramble together your best look for a chance to show off your sartorial skills and be featured on their website. Keep up with my Twitter updates for details on how to find me. See you there!

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Refinery29: Fashion's Night Out at 3.1 Phillip Lim

As mentioned yesterday, here are the original photos and unpublished outtakes I took at Refinery29's Fashion's Night Out party at 3.1 Phillip Lim in West Hollywood. Feel free to comment on your favorites (or your not-so-favorites) below.

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Berkeley Swap Meet This Sunday

Although I don't normally do promo posts, I feel like this one may interest my readers in the East Bay. This Sunday, there will be a swap meet at the MLK Jr. Civic Center Park in Berkeley. If you want more information, please view the details for the Facebook event here.

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Outside Lands Music Festival

As mentioned yesterday on Facebook and Twitter, I was just approved to cover street style at the Outside Lands Music Festival in San Francisco for ELLE.com. Expect to see tons of photos of awesome street style from the festival!

Craving some festival style? Check out the photos I took at the Sasquatch! Music Festival.

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Sasquatch! Music Festival

As some of you know from the blog's Twitter and Facebook pages, I recently received press passes to capture the street style of concert-goers at the Sasquatch! Music Festival in George, Washington this Memorial Day weekend. I expect to take tons of photos from this four-day event -- stay tuned!

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FAST's Spring 2011 Fashion Show this Sunday

I've been invited to cover the Fashion and Student Trends' (FAST) Spring 2011 Runway Show, which will be this Sunday at 8pm in Pauley Ballroom. I encourage you all to check out the Facebook event to learn more and RSVP to the show.

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Panel Discussion at FIDM

Yesterday I had the special privilege of being a part of a panel discussion about fashion blogs at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising (FIDM) in San Francisco. Along with Ashley of Fashionably Ashley and Lorraine of SF Indie Fashion, we talked about our blogs, how we got started, and how we connect with our followers, among other topics. The students in the audience had great questions for us and I definitely enjoyed interacting with them and sharing what I love. This was a great experience for me and I'd like to thank Ashley, FIDM's Student Activities Coordinator, for inviting me to be a part of it. Plus, I got to sit in a director's chair!

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FAST's Fall 2010 Fashion Show

As mentioned on Twitter, last night I attended the fall runway show hosted by Fashion and Student Trends (FAST), UC Berkeley's student-run fashion organization. Like last semester's show, it featured the amazing designs of eighteen students worn by dozens of models. Here are some photos I took while covering the event.

Before the Show / Backstage

The Runway Show

Designer: Miles Mathews

Designer: Sherrie, Models: Paige Dunn-Rankin (center), Emily Rossi (right)

Designer: Nikki Dance

Designer: Jenna Kim

Designer: Gina Su

Designer: Grace Colletta

Designer: Jennifer Huang

Designer: Christine Fukushima, Models: Deanna Wagner (right)

Designer: Jennifer Kung

Designer: Patrick Xu

Designer: Kacey Anderson

Designer: John Kim

Designer: Tuyen Nguyen

Designers: Rachel and Stephanie, Models: Nic Blair (center)

Designer: Maya Menon

Designer: Kirstyn Hom

Designer: Victoria Lim

Designer: Jaymie Ngov, Models: Adrienne Chiu (center)

Models: Emily Rossi (left)

Guests / After the Show

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