Tom Llewellyn, a volunteer with the Proposition 37 campaign, chants at a rally in Santa Cruz on Nov. 4, 2012, two days before the election. Prop 37 lost with 49 percent of the vote. Credit: Gabriela Quirós, KQED

Genetically engineered foods, also referred to as genetically modified organisms (GMO), genetically modified foods or biotech foods, has sparked plenty of debate in recent years. Last November, California voters failed to pass Proposition 37, which would have required all genetically engineered foods to be labeled in the state. But Senator Barbara Boxer and Congressman Peter DeFazio are introducing a bill that would require similar labeling by the FDA. Their joint statement says, “According to surveys, more than 90 percent of Americans support the labeling of genetically engineered foods. In fact, many consumers are surprised to learn that GE foods are not already labeled.”

This rice at UC Davis has been genetically engineered to tolerate the droughts that are already becoming more common with climate change. Credit: Gabriela Quirós, KQED

Gabriela Quirós, the producer of a special half-hour documentary, Next Meal: Engineering Food, commented via email about why this subject generates so much discussion with the public.

“Many people are very interested in knowing where their food comes from and how it’s made. In the particular case of genetically engineered crops, in the past 15 years, U.S. farmers have rapidly started growing genetically engineered crops to the point where about 90 percent of all the soybeans, cotton, corn and sugarbeets grown in the United States are now genetically engineered. But the farmers and the seed companies didn’t ask consumers what they thought about genetically engineered food – these seeds were just adopted like any other farming technology. And so I think that some consumers are wary, in part because there wasn’t much of a discussion before the technology was rolled out.”

In the course of producing Next Meal, which explores how genetically engineered crops are made as well as their benefits and drawbacks, Gabriela discovered more facts about a unique tomato: Flavr Savr.

“The Flavr Savr tomato was the first genetically engineered food to be sold to consumers. A company in Davis flipped a tomato gene around so that tomatoes would stay firm on the vine for longer. The idea was for the tomatoes to get flavorful but not become mushy when they were transported. What I didn’t know was that these tomatoes were very popular with consumers when they were first sold, in 1994. What made them disappear wasn’t opposition to the tomatoes; it was a series of bad business decisions by the company that designed them, and the fact that the genetic engineering didn’t quite work — the tomatoes didn’t stay firm for longer on the vine and ended up requiring careful transportation, just like any other tomato.”

The main challenge of working on the special was the enormous scope of the topic. “I would have liked to have more time. The documentary is 30 minutes long. Genetically engineered crops touch on science, of course, but also on environmental, legal and social issues, just to name a few. We didn’t have time to go as in-depth into some aspects of the story. That said, we did cover a lot of ground!”

UC Berkeley biologist Peggy Lemaux is genetically engineering sorghum to make it more easily digestible. Sorghum, a cereal related to corn, is a staple food for 300 million people in Africa. Credit: Arwen Curry, KQED

Gabriela also noted that one of her favorite moments was filming “the process of genetically engineering a cereal called sorghum, at UC Berkeley. I think viewers will enjoy this scene in the film. You see the little sorghum embryos being plucked out of the immature seeds.”

KQED Science on Google+ is hosting a Hangout on Air about genetically engineered food 5/8 at 11am (PST). Gabriela will be joined by UC Berkeley biologist Peggy Lemaux and UC Davis biologist Eduardo Blumwald. RSVP for the online round table discussion.

Watch the archived Google+ Hangout from 5/8/13:

And Next Meal: Engineering Food will premiere tomorrow night (5/8) on KQED Channel 9 at 7:30pm (PST). Starting on May 9, the program airs on PBS stations throughout California. In October, it airs again on KQED and on five PBS stations nationwide in Seattle, Wisconsin, Cleveland, North Carolina and Nebraska.

Watch Next Meal: Engineering Food online:

The Third Annual Coffee Ride

It’s officially a yearly caffeinated tradition; my friend Pamela Palma and I led our 3rd Annual Coffee Ride through the streets of San Francisco yesterday. Close to 50 other coffee-loving cyclists met us at 10AM at Stanza Coffee Bar, our first stop in the Mission.

Everyone filled up their coffee mugs and fueled up with pastries to jumpstart their 30-mile jaunt around the city. By adding more miles and hill climbs, we had designed a more challenging route for this year’s group — including a scenic mid-ride stop on Twin Peaks.

I’d be visiting all of the spots on our schedule for the first time, so I was really excited about exploring these latest additions to the city’s ever-evolving coffee community. And several folks mentioned that they’d be biking in areas or checking out cafes they hadn’t heard of before; it’s always a pleasure to introduce our fellow cyclists to new destinations as well.

Co-organizer Pamela Palma

Stanza serves up an eclectic selection of coffees from around the world as well as some unique domestic offerings such as Blacksmith Espresso from Quills Coffee in Louisville, KY.

Along with their sidewalk seating and tables in the main cafe, they also have a lovely patio out back for their patrons.

At about 11AM, we headed east towards the Bayview / Hunters Point neighborhood. Tucked away on Yosemite Avenue off of 3rd, Trouble Coffee now has a second outpost in another remote locale. It radiates the same quaint charm and vintage decor as its Outer Sunset predecessor and most of its popular menu items: thick-sliced buttery toast topped with peanut butter, cinnamon or Nutella and and fresh baby coconuts. Giulietta Carrelli, Trouble’s irrepressible owner, was manning her cozy coffee nook solo. She greeted our large, thirsty crowd by solemnly announcing she’d be ‘making no lattes’ as she’d survived a rough mountain bike crash just the night before. “Just drip coffees for all of you — and tons of toast!” she said with a mischievous grin. But as her shop’s motto is, “We serve guts and honor,” she graciously prepared one of her delicious lattes upon request.

Energized with Trouble, it was now Twin Peaks time. We wound our way through the various neighborhoods of Crocker Amazon, Balboa Park, Monterey Heights and St. Francis Wood to reach the top.

After taking in the gorgeous views of San Francisco from the summit of Twin Peaks, we headed west towards the Pacific Ocean. Situated just above the Sutro Baths and the Cliff House, Lands End Lookout Cafe is nestled inside the relatively new visitor center that opened last spring. While the Peerless Coffee they brewed didn’t earn glowing reviews from our finicky group, the sandwiches, soups, salads and warm cookies consumed during our lunch stop received plenty of compliments.

Eager to leave the chilly seaside fog and return to some sunshine, we were luckily welcomed back into the warm weather in the Marina when we arrived at Dynamo Donuts’ cute little kiosk on the eastern edge of Crissy Field.

Unfortunately, by the time our group showed up, they were all out of donuts. So Pamela and I made an executive decision to skip the last two cafes in North Beach — Beacon and Reveille — and get our sugar fix at Stella’s Pastry and Cafe for tiramisu and other Italian delights.

Relaxing in North Beach with cappuccino and an assortment of desserts was a fine way to end our long day of caffeinated adventures. We’ll be back in the East Bay next spring for ride number four!

You can see additional photos from the ride in my Flickr set.

View 3rd Annual Coffee Ride! in a larger map

Lavash wrap with roasted chicken, avocado, roasted tomatoes, romaine lettuce and labneh.

As an Interactive Producer for KQED Science, I’ve always been drawn to cover a range of subjects about the natural world. Health and wellness-related stories interest me in particular — and this month happens to be National Nutrition Month — as I’m an avid cyclist. When I’m not behind a computer, you’ll more often than not find me riding one of my bicycles.

One challenge I decided to undertake this year is completing as many of the routes organized by the San Francisco Randonneurs as I can. (Randonneuring is a type of cycling endurance event that originated in France; check out this website for more info.) My third event on the calendar is the Russian River 300k coming up this Saturday. My husband and I will be pedaling 186 miles within a 20-hour period. That’s a lot of time on the bike — and we’ll need to eat a lot of calories to keep us going.

I’m generally not a fan of sports drinks, energy gels or bars that athletes typically rely on during training sessions or competitive events. (There are some exceptions I’ll make when it comes to bars, see my list further down in this post.) Many of them have a lot of artificial ingredients, additives and preservatives and frankly, aren’t really that appetizing to me. Some of them disagree with my stomach, especially ones that contain stimulants like guarana. I prefer to eat food that looks like, well, food — so that means I’ll avoid purple sugary liquids, gelatinous packets of goo and waxy energy bricks. For me, a big part of enjoying a meal is the psychological aspect. I just don’t feel as nourished when I eat junk food or a lot of processed, prepackaged products (although pizza and burgers definitely hold a dear place in my hopefully healthy heart.) So lately I’ve been brainstorming ways to make healthy, portable meals in the small amount of spare time that I have during the evenings or weekends.

I recently acquired a copy of sports physiologist Allen Lim’s book, “The Feed Zone,” a cookbook specifically geared towards serious cyclists (although his recipes can be used by anyone who leads an active lifestyle.)

“There is an overwhelming amount of scientific and real-world evidence that demonstrates that a diet rich in carbohydrates is critical to success in endurance sports,” Lim writes in the introduction of his book. “Carbohydrates are stored in the body as liver and muscle glycogen. Without it, an athlete’s ability to perform at high intensity is severely diminished, and when it is depleted the dreaded bonk is a distinct possibility.”

Many athletes ‘carbo-load,’ or build up their stores of carbohydrates in advance of an event. But are there carbs that are better than others? Lim feels there’s really no one-size-fits-all strategy and also discusses one of the more popular trends within health circles today — gluten-free eating — and his experimentation with the diet professionally.

“In the 2008 Tour de France, the Garmin cycling team did something that no other team had done before — the team went almost entirely gluten-free, or, more correctly, wheat-free. The idea came about when some of our doctors hypothesized that going wheat-free would help reduce the inflammatory load on our riders over the course of the race.”

Lim concludes that the results were mixed and it’s best for individuals to listen to their own bodies to determine whether a bowl of pasta or quinoa will provide the best energy source in the long run.

For my own diet, eating mostly yeast-free and gluten-free generally works best for me. I feel less bloated and sluggish when I limit my intake of white bread, pasta and pastries. So I rely more on whole grains, tortillas, lavash and multi-grain bread as carb sources, along with fruits and vegetables.

The tricky part with my meals-on-wheels is figuring out how to carry as much food as possible in the small bag I have mounted on my handlebars.

Hopefully I can cram a ton of food into this bag for this Saturday!

While there are mandatory stops along the way where we can buy prepared food — we’re required to get receipts at designated stops such as supermarkets as proof we’re riding along the route — it’s faster, cheaper and oftentimes more delicious to eat our own homemade meals (although our lunch of flank steak bruschetta and tomato soup from The Cowgirl Cantina was superb.)

Here’s a small sampling of what I’ve brought with me on recent rides:

• Peanut butter, strawberry jelly and banana sandwiches on whole wheat bread
• Whole wheat lavash with roasted chicken, roasted tomatoes, romaine lettuce, avocado and labneh
• Hummus on whole wheat pita with cucumber and tomato
• Hard-boiled eggs
• Tangerines and small apples
• Baby carrots
• Dried nuts and fruit
• ProBars, 18 Rabbits and Bonk Breakers (I’ve found these brands to be the tastiest and most wholesome energy bars and great for low sugar emergencies.)

I tend to avoid most dairy products and chocolate as they don’t keep as well in my bag, so I’ll pick up those items during the ride.

For the 300k, more PB & J and lavash sandwiches will be the staple items of our meals as they don’t get soggy and are super filling.

I pack my wraps in a lined, reusable snack bag.

I’m also adding mini-burritos to the mix (made with roasted chicken or tri-tip, black beans, brown rice, avocado, roasted tomato salsa, sauteed zucchini and peppers).

And here’s one of Lim’s famous recipes: rice cakes. I adapted his version and made mine with brown rice, Niman Ranch ham, eggs, scallions wrapped with seaweed and omitted the sugar and cheese.

Future combinations I’d like to try would be a brown rice burritos made with sauteed onions and ground turkey, spinach, dried or fresh cherries and cashews wrapped in a tortilla.

I’ve made this brown rice and ground turkey dish in the past and think it would be a savory burrito filling.

I’m also a big fan of quinoa and have used a wide variety of ingredients in the past to make an assortment of salads.

Roasted chicken quinoa with roasted peppers, sheep and cow’s milk feta, mixed olives, scallions, spicy pork sausage and sherry vinegar.

Other potential candidates include roasted sweet potatoes with steak and arugula in a lavash wrap and roasted salmon, avocado and sesame rice balls. I’d also love to make some of my own energy bars. Lim includes recipes for sweet rice cakes in his book, including these variations: fig & honey; chocolate, peanut and coconut; almond and date.

So the next time you’re out on the bike, need to pack snacks for a hike or a camping trip or just want something to bring with you to eat before or after a workout — try some of these alternatives to candy bars and potato chips. And let me know if you have any great recipes of your own in the comments.

I’m a big fan of bicycles and beer. As luck would have it, there’s a trio of cycling beer aficionados, The Grand Cru, that organizes monthly rides for like-minded adults in search of tasty local craft beers.

Israel Figueroa, Colin Elliott and Phillip Yip of The Grand Cru with Max Hunter of the East Bay Bicycle Coalition.

Yesterday they led the 3rd Annual Tour de Biere, a 20-mile route through the East Bay in honor of San Francisco Beer Week. The $25 registration fee benefits the East Bay Bicycle Coalition, a local cycling advocacy group (and I’m serving as a board member for them this year, so I was along on the ride as an official representative.) The fee also included complimentary tastings and discounts from the participating breweries.

50 riders gathered at 9:30AM at Drake’s Brewing, a short 12-minute jaunt from San Leandro BART. (Riders were encouraged to take public transportation to and from the breweries.)

The organizers provided homemade muffins, fruit, hard boiled eggs and Bicycle Coffee for a tasty pre-ride breakfast.

Community Manager Jeff McClure and Bar Manager Gabbie Chang gave us an informative tour of the brewery, and we also sampled a new batch of their 1500 American Pale Ale. Drake’s produced 12,000 kegs last year and hope to churn out at least 20,000 in 2013, as well as broaden their distribution beyond the Bay Area.

As a parting gift, they sent us away with a souvenir bottle of their IPA, their flagship brew.

Around noon, we hopped on our bikes and headed to West Oakland’s Linden Street Brewery.

We had a special stop in Alameda, where one of the organizer’s parents treated us to peanut butter chocolate cookies that were fresh out of the oven. (And I do believe they were among the best cookies I’ve ever had.)

Israel Figueroa, one of the co-founders of The Grand Cru, moved to the Bay Area after attending grad school in Chicago. “I started delving into the world of beer [there] as I started frequenting Goose Island,” says Figueroa. “Around the same time, a friend of mine got me an old Bianchi off of Craigslist and got me into cycling. At some point I thought it would be a good idea to combine the two: providing a reason to drive out to an localish brewery and doing a scenic ride in a new area. I invited a bunch of friends to come along and eventually got an email list going.” Their first group ride dates back to September 2008.

“Tour de Biere’s always memorable because we often get a great mix of people. Some learn about it through the [East Bay] Bicycle Coalition who ride often but don’t know the beer riches they have in the backyard. We also get the Beer Week beer nerds who haven’t ridden in months/years and it’s great to see them realize that cycling is a viable transportation option.”

The Grand Cru’s monthly rides vary in distance between 5 and 30 miles depending on proximity to a brewery and weather conditions — although the rides continue rain or shine, and bad weather doesn’t necessarily deter folks from venturing out for beer.

Phillip Yip, another co-founder, described one of his most memorable outings. “Despite having the worst weather for one of our rides, it somehow was our most-attended ride. My girlfriend and I decided to go for extra points and decided to add a loop through Occidental. To get there, we climbed Joy Road — which was the Worst Name Ever for a road that was a wet and miserable climb with a bunch of false summits. But now it’s a funny story. I’m amazed that my cell phone still worked after that ride. People weren’t happy during the ride but everybody was in a good mood at Russian River Brewing afterward.”

Linden Street Brewery is a perfect spot for parties, and I’ve written about their popular pig roasts in the past which they’ve co-hosted with Chop Bar. They’re in the midst of expanding their space, and a beer garden, restaurant and wine tasting room are currently under construction. Linden is aiming to have everything open by July 1st, so for now, they’re holding their tastings right out of their brewery.

Andrew Ritter, the lead brewer and manager, provided a flight of Linden’s offerings: Town Lager, Black Lager, Red Lager and his personal favorite, the Common Lager.

Here’s two Tour de Biere riders enjoying the Town Lager.

El Taco Bike also made an lunch time appearance and served up chorizo and pork tacos from its bicycle cart.

Our third stop was the Berkeley outpost of the Austrian company Trumer Pils Brauerei.

The Production Manager, Jeff Eaton, gave us a tour of their expansive facilities. They produce only one beer: a light, 4.9% abv German-style pilsner.

Their impressive in-house bottling facility can label up to 370 bottles a minute.

Then it was time to unwind in their posh tasting room.

The last stop on the tour was the Pyramid Brewery and Alehouse; unfortunately, I couldn’t stay for the final set of tastings. Although after a full afternoon of sampling beers and pedaling in the sunshine, I don’t think I had any more room for another round.

This year’s Tour de Biere sold out within 48 hours, and there was a waiting list with over 80 people. Israel, Colin and Phillip hope to expand the event to accommodate more participants next year and to increase support for the East Bay Bicycle Coalition.

I had a wonderful time with The Grand Cru group today, and I highly recommend joining them for one of their well-organized, pedal-powered adventures. I’m already looking forward to 2014′s Tour!

To learn more about The Grand Cru’s monthly beer rides, visit their blog.

Facebook: The Grand Cru
Twitter: @TheGrandCru

Drake’s Brewing
Address: map (detailed directions here)
The Brewery
1933 Davis Street, Building 177
San Leandro, CA
Ph: 510-568-BREW

Hours & Tours:
Wed.-Thurs. 3-9pm
Fri.-Sat. 12-9pm (except First Fridays)
Sundays 12-7pm

Held every Friday, excluding First Friday, at 1:30pm and 5:30pm. More info here.

Facebook: Drake’s Brewing
Twitter: @DrakesBrewery

Linden Street Brewery
Address: 95 Linden Street map
Suite 7/8 (at W. Embarcadero)
Oakland, CA
Ph: 510-251-8898

Hours & Tours:
Thurs.-Fri.: 5-9PM
Sat.-Sun.: Noon-5PM
Food served most days, tours for small groups and individuals by appointment.

Facebook: Linden Street Brewery
Twitter: @LindenStBrew

Trumer Pils Brauerei
Address: 1404 4th St. map
Berkeley, CA
PH: 510-526-1160

Hours & Tours:
Tours are offered at Trumer Brauerei Berkeley Monday through Friday at 3:15pm. Reservations are recommended. Please email tours@trumerbrauerei.com or call for more infor and to make a reservation.

Facebook: Trumer Pils USA
Twitter: @TrumerPilsUSA

Pyramid Brewery and Alehouse
Address: 901 Gilman Street map
Berkeley, CA
PH: 510-528-9880

Hours & Tours:
Mon.-Thurs. 11:30-10:00PM
Fri. 11:30-11:00PM
Sat. 11:30-11:00PM
Sun. 11:30-10:00PM

Tours are held everyday at 4:00pm, and last appx. 45 minutes long.

Facebook: Pyramid Breweries
Twitter: @PyramidBrew

The local bike shop pushbike organized a fun social ride to the Marin Brewing Company in Larkspur, and over 30 of us gathered to make the 40-mile round trip to the brewery. It was also a benefit ride for the local cap maker and home brewer Kachusha “Chuey” Munkanta.

After crossing the Golden Gate Bridge, we stopped at Cibo in Sausalito for some caffeine (like I said, we love our coffee.)

Cibo’s the home of 2girl Coffee, which has some clever descriptions for their assortment of beans.

After getting fueled up, we headed onwards to “Paradise Loop,” a scenic and popular route located just past Tiburon.

Marin Brewing Company was packed to capacity as it was a beautiful Saturday afternoon.

Just behind the bar, there’s a window where you can see their selection of fresh beer currently stored on the premises.

They also serve up the usual array of bar food including burgers, sandwiches and wood-fired pizza.

I ordered their Platypus Venom, a strong 10% ABV Imperial Stout (which I had to try since the platypus is my favorite animal) seasoned with star anise and blackstrap molasses. It’s a pretty hefty brew that would go well with a dark chocolate dessert.

After a leisurely lunch, most folks opted to take the ferry home afterwards from Larkspur.

But a small group of us slowly rolled back to SF — after waiting for our beer buzzes to wear off – so we could spend more time in the warm winter sunshine. Bicycles + beer = bliss!

Marin Brewing Company
Address: 1809 Larkspur Landing Circle map
Larkspur, CA 94939
Ph:(415) 461-4677

Facebook: Marin Brewing Company
Twitter: @MarinBrewingCo

Chuey is also participating in a free event at the Cervecería de MateVeza this upcoming Monday.

Cerveceria & Chuey Collaboration Benefiting the Glen Hay Falconer Foundation
February 11
5:00pm – 9:00pm
“Our good friend and prolific homebrewer Kachusha “Chuey” Munkanta came over to brew a Falconer’s Flight hopped, yerba mate infused collaboration beer. We brewed only 20 gallons, so get it while you can! Proceeds of our collaboration will benefit the Glen Hay Falconer Foundation, a non-profit organization created to commemorate and celebrate the life, interests, and good works of a well-loved and leading Northwest brewer.”

Address: map
Cervecería de MateVeza
3801 18th Street
San Francisco, CA 94114
Ph: (415) 273-9295

Admission: Free

I’ve said before that Chop Bar is one of my all-time favorite restaurants in Oakland — especially when I don’t want to stray too far from home to get a savory cheeseburger or a cast iron skillet brimming with mac-and-cheese. So when I heard that one of the co-owners, Chris Pastena, was branching out to open Lungomare in Jack London Square (along with partners Tom Henderson and Temoor Noor of Oakland’s Grand Tavern), I couldn’t wait to book a reservation.

Lungomare means “waterfront” or “promenade” in Italian, and the restaurant occupies the former space of Miss Pearl’s Jam House & Lounge. Bay Area Bites editor Wendy Goodfriend and I stopped by yesterday evening for their opening night dinner service.

Via email, Pastena said the inspiration behind his new venture was a trip he took to Italy two years prior. He journeyed along the coast and felt that the climates and food were similar to the Bay Area and thus could source comparable ingredients locally.

The spacious 120-­seat restaurant — with an additional 80 ­seats in the outdoor patio — is adjacent to the Waterfront Hotel. While its newly renovated interior has removed all traces of its Caribbean predecessor, it now has the generic, rather bland ambiance that one would expect to find in a hotel restaurant.

It’s quite a different feel from the rustic, intimate atmosphere of Chop Bar, but Pastena is hoping to cater to both locals and tourists with this spot. “I enjoy Jack London Square as a business owner and resident and feel that the more we can expose people to this great area the better.”

I kicked things off with the cocktail “Italian 75,” devised by bar manager Paul Christensen formerly of Haven: Col di Rocca prosecco, Cocchi Americano, lemoncello and kumquat bitters ($9). It was a rather unmemorable cocktail that was neither sweet nor dry and tasted only faintly of the lemoncello.

Housemade fountain sodas, spirits, wines from Italy, Portugal and Argentina as well as an assortment of international beers round out the restaurant’s liquid offerings — including special custom beers made by the neighboring Linden Street Brewery.

Chef Craig DiFonzo, previously of the now-shuttered Cantinetto Piero, researched Italian cooking techniques and has filled the menu with dishes that evoke Tuscany and Liguria: handmade pasta, seafood and shellfish, cured meats and wood-fired pizzas.

The fluke crudo accompanied with grapefruit and mint ($8) was by far the most flavorful course we sampled over the course of our meal. Dressed in a rich, fruity olive oil and a sprinkling of sea salt, the simple dish shone on the merits of its tasty ingredients.

The mussels with chickpeas and Tuscan kale served in a tomato broth seasoned with Calabrian chili, however, lacked the freshness of our appetizer ($11). The chickpeas were undercooked and didn’t pair well with the shellfish; we left most of them behind in the bowl as we made our way through the mussels. We weren’t tempted to sop up the broth with the buttered toast, which is usually one of the highlights of ordering this dish.

The lamb meatball pizza with sweet peppers, Calabrian chili, fresh mozzarella and goat cheese (which was omitted from the description on the menu) was far too salty, but the light and airy crust was cooked to perfection ($14).

I moved onto my next drink, the “Italian Job,” mixed with Rittenhouse rye, Christina Nocino, coffee falernum and chocolate bitters ($11). It was the complete opposite of my first cocktail; heavy on the rye, I couldn’t discern between the different notes of walnut, chocolate and coffee — it was a muddled and overpowering drink.

A pillowy-soft gnocchi, surrounded by a rich pork cheek ragu, golden raisins and pine nuts was a bit pricey ($16) for the size of the serving but was buttery and delicious.

The big disappointment of the night was our main entree, the Berkshire porchetta with caramelized sunchokes, farro and chard ($22). I consider Roli Roti’s juicy version with an abundance of crispy skin to be the gold standard of locally-produced porchetta. Lungomare’s version was slightly dry, uniform in taste and texture and underwhelming in flavor.

The dessert selection was a typical array of Italian confections — cheesecake, apple tart or panna cotta — so we chose the chocolate mousse-like budino with salted caramel and sea salt ($8). It was perfectly adequate, though certainly not a stellar conclusion to our meal.

Throughout the evening, the smooth sounds of Dean Martin crooned from the overhead speakers. We were expecting a live performance from Karyn Paige and the Scoundrels, but they were nowhere to be seen; perhaps they’ll make an appearance during the remainder of the opening weekend festivities.

While our first impressions of Lungomare are that the food — as well as the service, which alternated between attentive and spotty — will continue to evolve over time as they find the flow of their new locale. I hope it eventually equals the steadfast charm of Chop Bar and becomes a mainstay of the Jack London Square culinary scene.

And Lungomare is only the first of several projects on Pastena’s plate; two other places are in the works in the next two years: Tribune Tavern will open in the ground floor of the Tribune Tower this spring, and he plans to open a fine-dining Mexican restaurant in the Uptown neighborhood in 2014.

Lungomare
Address: Map
One Broadway
Oakland,CA
Ph: 510-444­‐7171

Schedule:

Lungomare Grand Opening Weekend Schedule

Friday, February 8: dinner, 5:30–11:00 PM; lounge 5:30PM–1:30AM
Saturday, February 9: dinner, 5:30–11:00 PM; lounge 5:30PM–1:30AM
Sunday, February 10: dinner, 5:30–10:00 PM

Reservations are recommended and can be made online, as the restaurant will have limited seating for the opening weekend.

Regular hours begin Monday, Feb. 11, serving breakfast (in the cafe), lunch and dinner seven days a week.

Monday-­‐Thursday:
Lunch 11am-­‐3pm; Mid-­Day 3pm-­‐5:30pm; Dinner 5:30pm-­‐10pm
Thurs – Sat 11am to 11pm
Friday: same hours, dinner until 11pm
Saturday & Sunday: Brunch 8am-­‐3pm; Mid-­‐Day 3pm-­‐5:30pm
Saturday dinner 5:30pm-­‐11pm; Sunday dinner: 5:30pm-­‐10pm

Cafe Hours:
Monday-­‐Friday, 7am-­‐2pm;
Saturday & Sunday, 8am-­‐3pm

Facebook: Lungomare
Twitter: @LungomareOakJLS

Rosamunde is conveniently located right next to Taylor’s Sausage in Swan’s Marketplace, a venerable 20-year-old institution that will be supplying some of its delicious meats to its new neighbor.

The opening night menu only featured Taylor’s turkey sausage and spicy Louisiana hot links, but co-owner Jennifer Tucci (who also recently opened Lake Merritt’s Portal) said, “We’ll be running other specials from Taylor’s. And if you want to get a sausage from there, you can bring it over here and we’ll cook it for you anytime.”

As the main room was packed to maximum capacity, Tucci said the opening night crowd was “pretty overwhelming. I knew it was going to be a good crowd, but this is excellent!” The main reason she opened up this new venue was that “a lot of people wanted us to. And I love Oakland and think it’s a booming, upcoming city. A lot of my friends have moved over here; it’s the place to be. I still live in the city, but I’m thinking about moving here!”

$1 dollar beers from West Oakland’s Linden Street Brewery were highlighted as the grand opening special — Urban Peoples Common Lager and Burning Oak Black Lager — but they also have 16 craft beers on tap.

The sausages were just as delicious on this side of the bay, and Rosamunde Downtown Oakland will certainly remain just as busy as its crowded counterparts in the Lower Haight and Mission.

Rosamunde Downtown Oakland
Address: Map

Swan’s Marketplace
911 Washington Street
Oakland, CA
Ph: 510-338-3108

Schedule:
Sun – Wed 11am to 10pm
Thurs – Sat 11am to 11pm

Facebook: Rosamunde SausageGrill SF
Twitter: @rosamundesf

Ramen Shop ramen

Ramen is one of those dishes that evokes obsessive tendencies with its fans. As seen in the Japanese cult classic film Tampopo, you don’t just love ramen — you are fanatically in love with ramen. And while there’s plenty of ramen to go around in the Bay Area, Ramen Shop may be the first venture that will inspire ramen mania in the East Bay. After months of planning, Chez Panisse alumni Sam White, Jerry Jaksich and Rayneil De Guzman officially opened the doors of their new restaurant in Rockridge tonight.

Ramen Shop

With its plate glass windows shrouded in brown paper, Ramen Shop still seemed to be operating in soft launch mode. Perhaps they wanted to remain somewhat incognito to keep the crowds at a minimum, although by 5 o’clock we were told there was already an hour and a half wait for a table.

We didn’t mind waiting in the roomy lounge, which was furnished with old schooldesks and fixtures reminiscent of dimly lit ramen shops in Japan.

But luckily our wait time was cut in half as several large groups cleared out within 45 minutes, and I and my two dinner companions were able to snag three seats at the beautiful long wooden counter — crafted from Oregon Douglas fir — that faced the kitchen.

Apparently the magic at Ramen Shop happens in threes, just like the trio of owners. Each course — appetizers, ramen and dessert — listed only three items, so we decided to be decadent diners and order the entire menu. We began with a plate of pickled vegetables that included an assortment of foraged wild matsutake mushrooms, broccoli stems, carrots and watermelon radishes ($5). This starter was followed by a delicious little gems lettuce and grapefruit salad tossed with green goddess dressing and brightened by hints of fish sauce, mint and cilantro ($10). The wild nettle fried rice with Monterey Bay squid and chili paste ($9) was my personal favorite with its mildly spicy and savory flavors.

Assorted pickles: matsutake mushrooms, broccoli stems, carrots and watermelon radishes

Little gems lettuce salad with green goddess dressing, fish sauce and cilantro

Wild nettle fried rice with Monterey Bay squid and chili paste

Onto the signature dish: the ramen, which arrived in deep, handmade ceramic bowls. The evening specials featured a vegetarian miso ramen with matsusake mushrooms, Mendocino nori, salt-cured egg, sesame and green garlic ($13); Meyer lemon ramen with salt-cured egg, spit-roasted chashu and mizuna ($15); Tonkotsu (pork bone) ramen with soy-marinated egg, spit-roasted chashu, shungiku and black garlic oil ($16).

The chefs’ Californian sensibility was most evident with the Meyer lemon ramen. Despite its unusual citrusy notes, I found the broth to be too understated in its flavors — especially in comparison to the other ramen dishes. The Tonkotsu’s soup was smoky and truly imparted the salty, rich taste of pork, while the miso ramen’s broth was densely packed with complex flavors. There was definitely much care and preparation in the noodles — due to the tutelage the chefs received overseas — which were perfectly light and springy. The eggs and vegetable garnishes were fine accompaniments, although we were admittedly disappointed by the serving of only one slice of the pork with the non-vegetarian ramen.

Veggie miso ramen with mushrooms, Mendocino nori, salt-cured egg, sesame and green garlic

Tonkotsu ramen with soy-marinated egg, spit-roasted chashu, shungiku and black garlic oil

Meyer lemon ramen with salt-cured egg, spit-roasted chashu and mizuna

Dessert was a trio of ice cream sandwiches, all were $5 each and presented with a side of Meyer lemon gelée: black sesame ice cream with a brown sugar cookie; amarena cherry ice cream with a chocolate cookie; pineapple lime ice cream with a vanilla cookie. The pineapple confection was far too sweet and piña colada-esque for our taste, but the other two were among the highlights of our meal.

Black sesame ice cream with brown sugar cookie

Amarena cherry ice cream with chocolate cookie

Pineapple lime ice cream with vanilla cookie

As we finished up our dinner, we noticed the lounge had filled up to capacity with patrons eagerly waiting for an empty table. I’m sure Ramen Shop’s locally-sourced, seasonally-driven take on these beloved noodles will become a neighborhood staple, just like the perennially popular Zachary’s Pizza located right across the street. Maybe even some South Bay folks will travel northward to see how it compares to their own nearby favorites.

Ramen Shop
Address: Map

5812 College Avenue
Oakland, CA
Ph: 510-788-6370

Schedule:
4PM to midnight, except Tuesdays
No reservations

Twitter: @ramenoakland

The American Grilled Cheese Mousetrap

My colleagues and I at KQED are starting to get spoiled by all of the new tasty food offerings that have been steadily popping up in our neighborhood. Mission Dispatch, Salumeria, Mission Bowling Club and the Blue Bottle location at Heath and have all cropped up in the past year.

The American Grilled Cheese Kitchen blackboard

Now The American Grilled Cheese Kitchen has moved in at 20th and Harrison across the street from flour + water. Their cheesy creations are the polar opposite of their predecessors, the vegan / raw food restaurant Cafe Gratitude, the former occupants of the space.

Co-Owner Nate Pollak

Several of us stopped in this afternoon for their soft launch opening. Co-owner Nate Pollak was busy attending to the lunch rush, but stopped to briefly chat with us about his excitement over his new location. Their menu will continue to evolve and expand over the coming weeks, and they’ll have longer hours and dinner service as well.

Smoky Tomato Soup

My co-workers and I ordered their Smoky Tomato Soup ($4.50), served with garlicky croutons, a perfect complement to their grilled cheese sandwiches. Two of us ordered the Mousetrap (Tillamook sharp cheddar, havarti and Monterey jack cheese on sourdough — $6), while the rest of us tried the Mushroom Gruyère (fontina, gruyère, roasted wild mushrooms, roasted potatoes, melted leeks, caramelized onions, thyme butter on levain — $9). All were served on Pinkie’s Bakery bread, the fine foundation of their grilled delights. And a side of fresh seasonal fruit — in this case, juicy tangerines — accompanied our meals.

Mushroom Gruyère

Unfortunately, we didn’t have time for dessert — although we did try one of their De La Paz lattes — but we’ll be back to sample their baked goods, breakfast fare and other items in the near future.

The American Grilled Cheese Kitchen (The Mission)
Address: Map
2400 Harrison St.
San Francisco, CA

Opening Month(s) Schedule:
W-F 8AM-6PM
Sat. & Sun. 10AM-6PM
Closed Mon. & Tues.

Twitter: @TheAmericanSF
Facebook: The American Grilled Cheese Kitchen

Tucked away inside a cozy storefront along the quaint corridor of Temescal Alley is north Oakland’s newest coffee shop, The CRO Cafe. Owner Luigi Oldani named his business after his daughter, Camille Rosemary, and officially opened its doors on a First Friday art walk this past November.

Prior to having a permanent brick-and-mortar location, Oldani held pop-ups at the now-defunct Cafe Fanny in Berkeley (currently the home of Bartavelle). While they were remodeling, Oldani rolled in with his coffee cart everyday for three months during the summer.

He’d also host open houses with espresso at his metal fabrication shop, Oldani Art Studio, where he runs his other full-time enterprise creating custom furnishings for local businesses.

“The shop is a spot where we make anything and everything,” he says. “Mostly the big jobs have been build-outs for cafes and restaurants. We opened up three La Boulange restaurants right before they sold out to Starbucks. We did a whole bunch of tables, counters, bars, handrails, stairways — lots of architectural details. Our showpiece space is the work that we did at Sightglass, which was collaborative. We didn’t do all of the metalwork over there, but we did some.”

Oldani is a former mechanical engineer, so he enjoys the process of coming up with solutions for spaces — especially for his own tiny cafe.

“It’s 170-square-feet, so there’s not a lot of electricity or amenities. It was a challenge to figure out how to get in and operate.” He and the group of friends he regularly works with at his studio designed everything for the interior just a few weeks before opening. Oldani says there’s still lots of items on his to-do list, including adding more shelving for retail products, finishing up planter boxes for vines that will snake up towards the counter, an awning, producing a copper-clad storefront using scraps from his dad’s art studio, and most importantly, “get a sign so that people can see that there’s a little hole-in-the-wall spot to get coffee.”

“I wanted to do a coffee business long before I knew what good coffee was,” Oldani chuckles. Disenchanted with his engineering job, he started to look for a different outlet. Oldani got the idea that, “running a coffee shop would get me a better work-life balance where I’d get to interact with people on a more personal level and hand my work product directly over to the person who was going to be consuming it. And to really be able to do that in a much shorter cycle than I was able to do as an engineer.”

Oldani’s former job did help inform his next career path. “With coffee, there’s a bit of an idealization of the machinery. Coffee people tend to take their gear and their preparation really seriously. Coffee in itself is a volatile and tricky product to prepare well. And so the disciplined process and art of production and equipment appealed to me.”

His work at Sightglass helped inspire him to transition out of his engineering job and pursue coffee as one of his next ventures. It was through his interactions with its proprietors that Oldani became serious about how he tasted and brewed coffee. He attended their training sessions to supplement his own independent study efforts and practiced brewing coffee at his art studio for two years. Oldani slowly acquired his equipment over time, including a vintage La San Marco espresso coffee machine that was formerly used at Oliveto.

“I have an affinity for the lever mechanism. A lot of the new machines are trying to duplicate what the old machines inherently do with the lever. There’s a quick, ramping up of pressure at the beginning of the shot which tapers off to a lower pressure at the end. And the newer machines try to do it by controlling pumps and a lot of electronics, whereas this machine is almost all mechanism. And it does a really beautiful job of the exact same thing mechanically, which also happens to make it a really great machine for doing portable business as it requires less electricity and is more of a workhorse.”

In addition to its coffee drinks, CRO Cafe also serves up a delicious hot chocolate. Oldani’s fiancee and business partner, Sacha Badme, honed her culinary skills by taking a chocolate class at Tante Marie’s cooking school. She uses unsweetened TCHO chocolate as the base and creates her own custom blend that imparts a rich sweetness to their warm confection.

Looking ahead to the future, Oldani is currently converting an antique milk truck into a mobile espresso truck and hopes to roll it out in the East Bay in the near future. He’s also building food service tricycles for the Exploratorium and hopes the experience will spur his ability to finish the truck soon. While he has no plans to roast his own coffee — “although I could totally see a time when that would be really compelling and could see myself becoming obsessed with it” — Oldani plans to keep a limited menu at CRO Cafe to keep the focus on serving great espresso drinks.

“The thing that is compelling to me is that there’s so much mediocre coffee available and maybe it’s a better business model. But there’s a growing interest in fanatical preparation and sourcing the highest quality ingredients. It feels like we’re serving people who are only interested in that, although that’s a much smaller segment of the market. The larger roasteries and multiple cafe outlets really control the cost of a cup of coffee and have the advantage of bigger vertical integration in that they source, roast and distribute on a larger scale so their margins are better than ours. But if you spend a lot of time and money trying to make the best coffee, people do appreciate it. I’m hoping that this market will increase, and I’m really excited to see that growth and be a part of that.”

Information:
Cro Cafe
Temescal Alley Oakland, CA (map)
Hours: Tuesday-Sunday, 8-5PM. Closed on Mondays.
Twitter: @TheCROCafe
Facebook: The CRO Cafe