My first Eat Real Festival was three years ago, its inaugural year. It gets better every year. So much food! So much fun right here in Jack London Square in my beloved city Oakland.
For me Eat Real is more than just a lot of food in one place, about 70 food vendors. Eat Real reminds me to eat fresh and seasonally, to support local grocers, butchers, coffee roasters, bakers, to buy locally from farmer's markets or at markets that carry local produce. My rewards are health, ridiculously good flavors, and a clear conscience. I encourage you to read
Eat Real's Manifesto. It is really inspiring.
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| Just as we walked into the Festival on a rainy Sunday morning, the roasted pig is just coming out of its roasting box. |
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| The Chop Bar, Oakland, CA. Fresh sweet meat. Didn't need any sauce. Served with corn bread. Thank you Pig. |
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| Homeroom, Oakland, CA: Spicy Mac & Cheese. Just enough creaminess + just enough spicy bite. One of my favorites of the festival. |
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| My sistah and Jimmy came up to visit from LA. In their hands, Kara's Cupcakes. One Meyer Lemon and one S'mores (my favorite). I'm pretty picky about my cupcakes and I do like Kara's especially these 2 flavors. Moist and just the right amount of sweet. |
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| Chairman Bao Food Truck. Five-spice Pork Belly, Braised Pork, and Red Chicken. Seriously, always the longest line. I've had it three times and each time I ask: What's the big deal? Good but over-rated. |
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| Not sure what restaurant this was ... maybe Osteria Stellini. |
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| Brisket Grilled Cheese. If you think this looks good, you should have tasted the all cheese one. They really do it right with a good sourdough, grilled to a buttery crisp. |
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| Belcampo Food Truck. Kimchee hot dog on a brioche bun. I'm excited for Belcampo's opening in 2012. They run their own farm raising cows, pigs, goats, rabbits, etc. focusing on healthy animals and pastures. And they will run their own butchery. |
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Starter Bakery's Kouign Amann. Kouign Amann is a breton butter cake. It's similar to a croissant but denser so it can hold more butter and sugar. There come in many flavors ... plum, Tcho chocolate, nectarine. I'm hoping these appear around town with greater regularity. :) Starter only sells wholesale but you can find retailer on their website.
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| teehee! |
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| Gelateria Naia's Coffee Popsicle. Honesty I didn't taste it but their Grapefruit Sorbetto was fresh and refreshing and only 99 calories. |
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| Baia Pasta's Rooster combs "paglia e fieno" cooked with the best ingredients. The pasta is locally made in Oakland and absolutely delicious. Beautiful. Our favorite of the day. |
It was rainy day but it was worth it. My favorites were the grilled cheese, Homeroom's mac & cheese, Starter's kouign amann and the simply amazing pasta from Baia. I'll end this blog with a little soapboxing about a cause I believe in which is in Eat Real's Manisfesto.
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iv. No Apology We think that many of the technically incredible transformations that agribusiness has wrought on food – extraction, manipulation, reconfiguration – are wondrous in theory and disastrous in reality. We openly criticize the degree to which the manipulation of food has consequently manipulated the American palate, helping us lose our perspective on what real food tastes like. This is not a question of scale – big can be fantastic, small can be terrible – but of the degree of technology involved in food making. We believe that food that’s been good for humans for thousands of years is still the best food for humans."
Eat it. Make it. Grow it.
