Anna Mindess

Last Sunday, Derby Street by the Berkeley Sports Basement was lined with dozens of food trucks dishing out a range of foodstuffs, from corn dogs, funnel cakes and ice cream, to Peruvian ceviche, Nigerian Hausa stew, and Cambodian pineapple shrimp and lok lak (shaking beef). The cordoned-off street was also packed with more than 3,000 attendees who were thrilled that every single dish was vegan...

Every Easter, a brood of volunteers in Bessières, a small town in southern France, collects 15,000 eggs — not to dye them pastel colors or even hide them for children to find. Early on Easter Monday morning, they will crack open the prodigious pile, add two pounds of salt, a pound of pepper and a bucket of herbs, then whip it all up in massive pots. Another team, sporting tall chef’s hats, plops a dozen gallons of duck fat into a 13-foot-wide frying pan that weighs more than a ton and, wielding huge wooden paddles, stirs up a humongous omelet...

The pale-yellow walls of Haleluya Ethiopian Gourmet in Fremont are festooned with traditional art, woven baskets, and a chart of the Ethiopian alphabet—familiar symbols to diners who may venture here from the Bay Area’s large Ethiopian communities in Oakland and San Jose. But many of the hands busily tearing off pieces of spongy injera to dip into mounds of spicy stews spicy stews are occupied with a less-expected aspect of their convivial gathering: conversation in American Sign Language (ASL).

Eating lunch at The Royal Egyptian Food Truck in Berkeley is like dining with a cherished uncle who can’t wait to share his homemade sausage, the fresh fish he just grilled, his spicy sauces, plus a side of sage advice.

“My joy in life is to feed people,” said Chef Elmy Kader, 71, who grew up in Alexandria, Egypt. “I’ve traveled the world, and the best food is street food. My philosophy is very simple. If I can’t pronounce it, I don’t use it...

It is hard to believe that the shop with an imposing green and gold façade on rue du Faubourg Montmartre has been selling fine chocolates since 1761. À La Mère de Famille started as a family business and has been run for over 250 years by a succession of families. It is now in the very capable hands of four siblings, the Dolfis. Recently we spoke to the youngest sibling, Jonathan Dolfi to learn more about the business...

When Thien Pham was 5 years old, he, his mother, father and brother made a perilous journey, leaving Vietnam in a rickety boat. The crowded vessel ran out of food and water, but the worst was yet to come as their boat was also beset by pirates. His mother instructed Pham to close his eyes, a harrowing memory that he vividly illustrates in his recently published graphic novel, Family Style. A dozen totally black pages are a visceral depiction of his terror, broken up a few times by his mother’s comforting whisper...

Bouncy hush puppies, tender chicken and dumplings under a blanket of crisp spring vegetables, and a spicy Limpin’ Susan (often called “the wife of Hoppin’ John,” featuring plump shrimp perched atop okra and rice in a dried shrimp, tomato gravy). These were some of the exquisitely prepared dishes created by Geoff Davis at a recent private dinner in Oakland. The gathering was a run-up to the opening of Davis’s highly anticipated new restaurant, Burdell on Telegraph Avenue, slated to open this summer...

Sitting around an East Bay backyard fire pit on a recent clear, chilly evening, a group of two dozen guests shared their thoughts on soul food as an expression of resilience while feasting on a range of dishes made with ingredients honoring the African diaspora. The event, entitled Global Soul Food: Celebrating Black Journey, Food, and Resilience, was hosted by Richmond resident and Sacred Kitchen chef Jesse Bloom and Steve ‘Toúchef’ Coupet, who flew in from his home in Harlem...

What compels groups of grown men and women in France to wear white plush hats shaped like huge wheels of brie? Or red capes with jagged green collars, making them resemble giant strawberries? Or even gray caps with long, squiggly white tendrils, signifying their love of pig intestines? These aren’t the latest Paris fashions. Instead, such spectacular outfits symbolize a deep devotion to French food and produce...

Sitting at the bar of Juanita and Maude, we are entranced by bartender Julia Drazic, who with balletic grace, pours, shakes, stirs and twirls, almost dancing with various bottles and silver shakers as she creates the alcoholic cocktails ordered by the other guests. We ask for the two zero ABV drinks that are currently on the menu, one called Clark Kent (strawberry, Szechuan, dandelion, clove) and another called Keyser Söze (passionfruit, lime zest, black tea, mint). As Drazic serves our elegant drinks, we appreciate the classy presentation, with just-snipped mint and a tiny marigold...

For the last few years, every Chinatown in the nation has been sent reeling by the double whammy of COVID-19 and high-profile attacks on members of the Asian community. This situation motivated multi-award-winning cookbook author and wok-expert Grace Young to launch a campaign to support these neighborhoods, an effort that resulted in a grant to assist some of the East Bay’s most vulnerable residents...

Lunar New Year begins on January 22, but preparations are already underway at the 65-year-old Oakland Fortune Factory, one of the last bakeries that still makes these crisp cookies one at a time, using a traditional recipe that’s vegan and preservative-free.
The mother-daughter team of Jiamin and Alicia Wong took over the bakery in 2015. Jiamin supervises the bakery workers who form each cookie by hand and insert the fortunes. Alicia and husband Alex focus on custom orders...The Lunar New Year holiday is important to Alicia Wong. “It’s the only holiday I feel is inclusive,” she says...

No meal at Cafe Ohlone begins without an expression of gratitude to the elders who have endured times of great hardship but kept their culture alive to pass on to succeeding generations. Although Vincent Medina’s heartfelt words usually refer to his Ohlone ancestors, on a recent Friday, they also applied to Cafe Ohlone’s honored guests, a dozen diners from two East Bay organizations that serve Korean seniors.

Three languages intertwined during the evening’s program, with Medina greeting the assembled group in Chochenyo, Korean and English...

If you love the creamy unctuousness of Brie, you are not alone. The cheese is so popular that it has a French museum dedicated to it. The cozy little Maison du Brie de Meaux is only a 40-minute train ride from Paris, located in Meaux, a town famous for the cheese.
Brie was reportedly a favorite of Charlemagne and its irresistible charms seemed to seal the fate of King Louis XVI in 1791 when he stopped in Varennes on his hurried exit from Paris to elude the revolutionaries...

Tyrosemiophilia is a mouthful to pronounce. Breaking it down, the meaning is still murky: in ancient Greek, tyro means cheese, semio is sign or label, and philos is love. The term does not refer to savoring rich, creamy cheese. Rather, it defines a surprisingly popular hobby: collecting the cheese labels that have been affixed to French Camembert’s round wooden boxes for over 100 years. Each label is a miniature work of art....