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A Foodie Ode to Oakland

I don’t know if I’ve ever written an Oakland restaurant review and for that I am sorry. I’m working on getting over my bias of Oakland that most Bay Area-ites tend to have (although believe me, there are parts of the city that fit the stereotype). Most of my Oakland eating has taken place within an immediate radius of the Fox, but I have trekked as far as Beer Revolution for drink before. Make Westing has strong drinks and awesome sandwiches. Hutch Bar & Kitchen was bourgeois for the area, overpriced Southern food, super slow service, mediocre drinks and an overall disappointment.  A favorite standby of mine is Rudy’s Can’t Fail Café. Yes, it is typical diner food but it’s delicious and exactly what you need before a show sometimes. Plus they have a jalapeno cucumber margarita that’s to die for and outside seating right on Telegraph next to the Fox so you can laugh at all the under-agers who thought waiting in line for 2 hours prior to doors opening was worth it. If you’re sticking to a couple blocks of the Fox, Xolo Taqueria is my top recommendation. There’s a breakfast burrito that almost makes me wish there were morning concerts, but the surf-n-turf burrito’s a good dinner alternative. The tacos are comparable to those you would find at a more upscale Mexican joint in the Mission. If it’s not too sweet for you, get the horchata. Yes, there’s no alcohol in it but you’re going to drink enough at the show anyway and this beverage is worth the wait.

 

Anyway, I’m dedicating this post to my new favorite restaurant in Oakland, Mua Lounge. It’s semi-tucked away on Broadway, but the small patio area is buzzing on nice days. The inside of the restaurant is unexpectedly large, at two floors that span pretty far back. We were seated upstairs and quickly assessed the cocktail menu. I started with the strawberry ginger lemonade, which was so delicious it was hard to tell it was alcoholic at all. It’s a little sweet though, so later in the meal I switched to the Joe Smash, which is Belvedere vodka (it’s always nice when a place uses top shelf), Cointreau, mint, red grape and lemon. This was the favorite cocktail of the table, so I highly recommend it. For the food, we took a look at the starter salads and they all sounded so tasty that we ordered 3 different ones. And they were all worth it. The pressed watermelon with feat, pine nuts, mint and olive oil was light and refreshing. I want to try and recreate this salad on a hot summer day. The kale salad (you know my obsession with kale) was mixed with pine nut, currant, kohlrabi, onion and manchego shredded cheese. It was pretty good as kale salads go, I always like when pine nut is added and currant was a new flavor. Lastly we tried the beet salad, with mache (sweet, nutty and leafy- the newest rage in the lettuce world), goat cheese and pecan. I’m all for mache becoming the hottest new leafy green (behind kale of course) and I liked the pecans pairing with the beats in place of walnuts. We ordered the brussel sprouts, which were sautéed in a brown butter sauce so they weren’t greasy. The mac n’ cheese is a must order. The catch is, there’s no cheese in the dish! The pseudo-cheese is made with butternut squash and cream, yet tastes like a light and healthy version of mac n’ cheese. If I was a better cook, I would try to recreate this as well. The grilled artichoke was fine but not the best I’ve add. The tarragon aioli is was topped with needed citrus zest or something a little more punchy. There also wasn’t enough aioli on the dish and they were hard to cut up and share. The burrata cheese plate, with Portobello, red pepper, squash and balsamic was good, but you really can’t mess up burrata. The fried calamari was a nice warm addition to the meal. The chili and shallot mixed in helped bring it a step above your standard restaurant calamari dish. Lastly, the lamb cheeks are a must order. They were daube braised (a French style way usually reserved for making stew with wine, vegetables, garlic, and herbes de Provence) and served with parsnip. The meat was so tender and flavorful. They came in a plate filled with the sauce, which I then wanted to dunk my brussel sprouts in, it was so good. These may be easy to miss when scanning the menu but I definitely recommend them! 

Oh Oakland, You Grown On Me

As any slightly dedicated reader of my blog knows (I like to pretend there’s a few of you), the Fox Theater in Oakland is my favorite place to catch a show. I’m probably there at least once a month (although I aim for less than once a week). Two Fridays ago I was there for the second night of Alt-J, an English indie rock quartet. According to their Wikipedia page, they formed in 2007 but didn't release their debut album until 2012. The first few years was just them jamming in their college dorm. Interesting fact: The band's unusual sound stems from the fact that due to living in student halls, noise had to be kept to a minimum and so they were unable to use bass guitars or bass drums. They were then signed to a label in 2011. The band is actually one of the more interesting ones I've read about. There’s a clear adoration of triangles, with two different ways to decipher their name and on the album cover. I actually spent a while at the merch table trying to find secret triangles in one of their concert shirts. At the show we got tickets a little late in the game and ended up in the balcony, which I’m not a huge fan of but is sometimes okay for a more chill show. I’m actually glad we were up there for this show, as they had one of the most beautiful lighting/special effects shows I've ever seen. They used the fog to create geometric shapes in the fog. The majority of the show was back lit  as these are not egocentric guys, which gave it a dramatic effect. The colors and lights changed every song and were very reflective of the mood/beat of each song. They only have one album, so it was a short show but they played every song. They have a very apparent zealous fan following, as most of the audience knew every single song. They didn't even sing the chorus of “Matilda,” as the crowd more than carried it. And who could resist a song that references “Where the Wild Things Are” (found in Breezeblocks)? The only negative thing I have to say is that I really wasn't as fan of their opener, Canadian band Royal Canoe. To me they sounded like an unpolished garage band but in the restroom I overheard two girls raving about them, so to each their own.

Last Friday I was back at the Fox for Big Gigantic, a two man group from Boulder, CO. If you ever go to the Fox on the first Friday of the month, take a stroll down Telegraph and check out the art murmur, First Friday. We went to dinner at Mua Lounge beforehand, which is my new favorite Oakland food spot (review to follow). The Big Gigantic show was interesting. Definitely a fun group to dance to. Feeling that “electronica” is a label that does not fairly cover their sound, I looked them up on Wikipedia too. They are described as an “instrumental livetronica, hip-hop and jazz musical group.” The best way I can paint a picture is imagine Justice but then take the electronica down a notch and add in a killer saxophone. Seriously, the guy who played the saxophone absolutely killed it. The light show was pretty stellar and almost felt like being at a Pretty Lights show. I don’t think I could sit around listening to their music but the live show is a lot of fun so if they come through your town or are playing at a festival, go check them out. Very high energy and an entertaining crowd.

It's Almost Caturday and Autumn!!

Aliment (noun): Food, Nourishment

For the last couple years I've been living in Nob Hill, directly above Union Square. Like every neighborhood, it has its pros and cons. Most of the cons have slowly grown on me and are a source of comfort now. I don’t know if I could sleep as soundly without the dinging of the trolley and hum of the tracks. The tourists that I zoom by every day while jetting up the hill now offer words of encouragement and envy, as only a local could manage that steep of an incline like a pro. And even in a city of amazing restaurants, sometimes you just need a slice from the Cheesecake Factory.

This brings me to my point. The one con that I still struggle with is the lack of good restaurants in my area. It’s either chain restaurants or kitschy SF tourist traps that charge too much. I've got my hole-in-the-wall favorites that are always good for takeout (Sushi Toni tops that list!) but the closest decent restaurant is probably the Nob Hill Café. I found my neighborhood bar (Tunnel Top, a must visit for any SF resident) but I've been yearning for a good place to have a glass of wine and enjoy some quality food. Well, finally I have found such a place! Aliment, a new American/California restaurant just opened on Bush between Mason and Powell. The 49-seat restaurant feels small but open. Giant windows that slide open face the street and there’s bar seating along it for those who like to people watch. Every day I walk by there’s little vases filled with fresh flowers sitting out on it. The rest of the interior is minimalist outside of the wine wall behind the bar. 

We sat by the window and checked out the wine list. They featured a good selection of local and world wines. I just read that the managing partner comes from Nob Hill Grille and shares the chef duties with a guy coming from Blue Plate. This makes sense as the food is classic California, simple and seasonal. We started by tasting the Churchpoint oysters, which were topped with fresno chile vinegar and fennel. It had a spicy after-kick that really livened up a standard oyster. I then continued my kale obsession with their chopped kale salad, diced with toasted pepitas (squash seed), radish and pecorino. The dressing was a thick avocado and anchovy dressing, which didn't taste fishy at all. We also split the fried brussel sprouts, which were crispy but a little on the greasy side (they’d be perfect if strained a tad bit more). The sauce they’re served in tasted like a mix of soy and something a little sweet/syrupy, which combined made a delicious tangy combo. Just in case we were getting a little too healthy, we also got an order of the French fries, which were standard but served with a garlic chive ranch. I’d recommend also requesting ketchup as they make their own smoky ketchup in-house that I really enjoyed and I usually hate ketchup. We stopped after appetizers and wine but their entrees were in the same genre (think hanger steak, diver scallops, fried chicken and braised short rib). 

This place offers a little something for everyone. I’d be fine dining there solo, with friends or on a date. They’re also open for brunch so I’ll be checking that out next!