Restaurants, cafes, bakeries and bars inject life and vibrancy into our communities, making the morning stroll for a latte or evening meet-up with friends all the more special. Following the pandemic shutdowns, there is a new appreciation of these precious third spaces, the places where we gather for support, companionship and celebration.
And, no matter how you slice it, the last few years have been challenging for restaurants and others in the food industry. Business-plan pivots, changing rules for parklets, surging commodity prices and hiring difficulties have all plagued restaurants — making the recovery from COVID-19 more stop-and-start than a straight line.
So, this Valentine’s Day Nosh is showing some love for our favorite East Bay restaurants, dishes and drinks, and readers are invited to join.
Broccoli Taco from Tacos Oscar
Too many people have told me that I’ll find love when I just stop looking. I don’t know what that means, but I can say for certain I wasn’t looking for a broccoli taco when I was introduced to Tacos Oscar by my restaurant-aficionado roommate. I saw it on the board: “charred broccoli, peanut-arbol salsa, pickled onion, cilantro, vegan ☺, contains peanuts!!!” I was dubious but I took a chance—and suddenly a love was born. Now, I find every opportunity I can to bite into that impeccably charred broccoli paired with the immaculate crunch of the peanuts crumbled on top. Love can be elusive, but I’m lucky to know now exactly where to find it. — Madeline Taub, Nosh contributor
Tacos Oscar, 420 40th St, Oakland
Saul’s Restaurant & Delicatessen
Whenever I feel overwhelmed, have a big decision to make, or simply want to hide from the world, I head to Saul’s Deli in Berkeley. I ask for a booth—like many patrons, I have a favorite — and always order the same thing; cabbage rolls a la carte with a side of mashed potatoes. Bite by bite, the tang and sweetness of the rolls schmoozing with the earthy savoriness of the puree, things usually start looking up.
Unlike many things in life, Saul’s, with its black-and-white photos, dreamy cheese blintzes and spot-on chopped liver, always remains reliably, blissfully the same. It’s a place where you can fall apart, knowing it will lift you back up, a place you needn’t pretend or keep appearances at. I mostly come alone, but whenever I bring someone, I delight in seeing them, too, become softer, nicer, and just a little happier, in Saul’s care. There’s simply no other outcome. — Flora Tsapovsky, Nosh contributor
Saul’s, 1475 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley
Ghost Town Laurel
“Can we go to Ghost Town?” my preschooler pleads when I pick her up on Friday evenings. It’s a conspiracy. All of the toddlers ask their adults for dinner at the beer garden across the street, knowing it means an extra hour of playtime. I feign resistance as the kid clutches my leg, but in reality, I want to go as much as she does. She gets a giant bowl of French fries with LOTS of ketchup. I get a hazy IPA and the Burgermortis, made with a beef patty encased in melted cheddar cheese with perfectly crispy edges. We grab a picnic table and the tireless-one alternates gobbling down a fry with sprints across the faux grass to play with a friend. I can have a conversation if I like, or just be. I take a sip of beer and a bite of my burger, and I know the weekend is here. — Tovin Lapan, Nosh editor
Ghost Town Brewing — Laurel, 3506 MacArthur Blvd, Oakland
Send love to your culinary crush
Swipe right to see more Valentine’s Day notes from the community!
Vien Huong
When I went back to eating inside restaurants in 2021, no dining room felt more satisfying to return to than Vien Huong’s.
My go-to at the bustling Oakland Chinatown restaurant has long been a bowl of Teochew noodle soup – chunks of pork, chicken and shrimp swimming with chewy ho fun noodles in a delicate broth. It’s a stellar lunch, especially on a chilly day, but like many of the restaurants we treasure, the great food isn’t the only thing that makes me love Vien Huong.
It’s the experience of that hectic dining room, full of seniors and young families, folks from the neighborhood and office workers popping in on their lunch breaks, crowding together around sparse metal tables and steaming bowls. This is what makes living, and eating, in the East Bay so great. — Nico Savidge, Berkeleyside associate editor
Vien Huong, 712 Franklin St, Oakland
kubé
Dear kubé,
I remember our first time together: Grand Lake Farmer’s Market, after a run in Redwood Regional. I was hungry, someone handed me a tasting spoon. Now, I’ll never look at vegan ice cream the same way again.
I eat vegan, except when I don’t feel like it, and I generally don’t feel like it when there’s ice cream around. That’s because vegan ice cream usually sucks. It doesn’t melt, which is weird, but it’s still icy somehow, and the flavor is mediocre.
Not you, kubé. Full fat creamy coconut milk goodness. Melty. None of that artificial sweetener taste. How do you get the flavors right, and not just taste like coconut? I heard a rumor that you were accidentally put in the dairy section of Berkeley Bowl because you’re so yummy, and I believe it. Thanks for raising my standard for vegan ice cream forever.
Love,
Ally
— Ally Markovich, Berkeleyside education reporter
kubé is made in Oakland and available at Berkeley Bowl West (920 Heinz Ave., Berkeley) and the Mandela Grocery Cooperative, 1430 7th St., Oakland
El Tio Juan
Dear El Tío Juan,
I would like to thank you for being there on days when I’ve been too tired to cook after a long day of meetings and writing. Whenever I drive to see you on 41st Avenue and Foothill, my mouth starts watering, thinking about whether I will get a chicharrón or spicy chicken burrito. While many flock to you for your tacos, I long for a belly-filling burrito that will put me into a blissful food coma shortly after my last bite.
Your food is delicious, but your desserts also make my heart skip a beat. Whether it is Loard’s ice cream on a hot summer day (how did you even land this tricked-out ice cream and food truck hybrid, anyway?) or a flan or slice of tres leches cake to satisfy my sweet tooth, you have it all, and for that, I’m thankful.
I hope to continue this fruitful relationship for years to come.
With love,
Azucena
— Azucena Rasilla, The Oaklandside arts and community reporter
El Tio Juan, 4075 Foothill Blvd Oakland
Handmade Noodles from Shan Dong
My love for Shan Dong’s handmade noodles and dumplings started in college, when I would venture from Berkeley to Oakland Chinatown in the late 90s. Shan Dong always reminded me a little of home. My paternal grandmother, my nainai, was always the one cooking delicious meals in our family. Originally from Shan Dong province, her meals included dumplings, green onion pancakes, and lots of noodles. Shan Dong’s sesame paste noodle dish can be made with their handcut, or knifecut, noodles. It’s delicious, and the chewy texture of the fresh noodles really elevates this dish. You can still see the noodle and dumpling makers at the front of the restaurant working with dough, cutting fresh noodles, and bringing a little bit of love — and maybe a sense of home — to the people who eat there. — Momo Chang, Nosh contributor
Shan Dong, 328 10th St #101, Oakland
Canelé from Fournée
Dear Canelé,
You live at Fournée.
Before I met you, I’d never known there were pastries of your kind.
Now I can’t get you out of my mind.
Did you have a precursor? You did, indeed you did.
There was the puffy, flaky peach pastry, with peaches from Frog Hollow.
It hailed from Acme Bread.
On Hopkins Street, I’d swallow my sweet treat in six bites, peach goo dribbling from chin to leg.
Canelé, I bought you on a whim.
You sat by the cashier near a handful of fluted peers,
With your stout little bundt cake body and your dully lustrous chestnut skin.
You cost three dollars even — a fair price for a slice of Eden.
Your custard passes muster, buster.
But it’s your copper-caramelized, burnt-sugar perfect crunch,
That makes me desire to eat you every day for lunch.
— Zac Farber, Berkeleyside managing editor
Fournée Bakery, 2912 Domingo Ave., Berkeley
Smokehouse
Five years ago on Valentine’s Day, a fire shuttered Berkeley’s Smokehouse burger shack, located at the corner of Telegraph and Woolsey since 1951. It reopened in 2020.
Roses are red
Smokehouse is, too,
a cool, classic red
in the best vintage hue.
Its French fries are salty,
and milkshakes are creamy.
No order is faulty.
The cheeseburgers? Dreamy.
In sun, families rainbow
across the green yard
for simple, fun picnics
while staffers work hard.
When lit from within
with all ages and walks
this corner joint glows
like a Berkeley Nighthawks.
Its mural’s a mirror
of classic delights —
seven decades, and the Smokehouse
still gets things just right.
Credit: Joanna Della Penna
— Joanna Della Penna writes the weekly openings and closings columns for Nosh. She hopes to enjoy a cheeseburger, fries and a chocolate milkshake with loved ones on Valentine’s Day.
Smokehouse, 3115 Telegraph Ave, Berkeley
Caffe Chiave
I have a distinct memory of watching many games of the 2006 World Cup on an awkwardly placed television at Caffe Trieste on the corner of San Pablo and Dwight in Berkeley. Now, years later, Caffe Trieste is Caffe Chiave, but little else has changed.
Sure there’s no television above the door, but there are still breakfast pastries in the self-serve counter, the same wooden chairs and basic cafe tables, and at least two of the same people behind the bar. Now, however, they’re owners rather than employees.
I don’t fetishize preserving places in amber. On the whole, I love to see the dynamic change that is part and parcel of a healthy city. But I also welcome the warm, welcoming ambiance of Caffe Chiave, something that is wholly in tune with its neighborhood even as West Berkeley has undergone dramatic shifts in demographics and house prices in the last 18 years.
It’s exactly the kind of place that every neighborhood deserves. I’m glad it’s in mine. — Lance Knobel, Cityside CEO
Caffe Chiave, 2500 San Pablo Ave., Berkeley
Orangettes from Love + Chocolate
I’m fifteen or sixteen, visiting my teenage cousins in their Southern California beach town. Our summer days consist of sleeping late, putting on swimsuits and flip flops and walking to the beach. We have sunglasses, plenty of Sea & Ski and Coppertone, beach towels, and a little spending money. We usually stop at the candy store on the main drag. While the others take their time choosing what to buy, I always ask for a small bag of chocolate-covered orange peel. Something about biting into the dark chocolate and getting that hit of orange gets me every time.
It’s been many years since those carefree summer days at the beach. But the orangettes at Love + Chocolate—candied orange peel dipped in bittersweet chocolate—transport me back to a time when all things were possible, and I could find joy in a little bag of candy. — Risa Nye, Nosh contributor
Love + Chocolate, 6309 College Ave., Oakland
Gregory’s Gourmet Desserts
Dear Gregory’s,
Living across the street from this hidden gem is the best and worst. Every time I leave my house, I’m tempted by the peach cobbler cheesecakes, lemon bars, sweet potato cakes, red velvet cakes, and other sweet treats that fill the tiny underground space. At the end of a long week, I can’t wait to see what new confections are on the shelf that I haven’t tried yet. My guilty pleasure is the peach cobbler cheesecake, but I haven’t met a dessert I haven’t liked from Gregory’s. One day I’ll make it there in time for the fresh cinnamon rolls that sell out within minutes of going on the shelves. Whenever friends and family visit, I can’t let them leave without taking them to Oakland’s underground bakery.
See you on Friday! — Ashley McBride, The Oaklandside education equity reporter
Gregory’s Gourmet Desserts, 285 23rd St., Oakland
Me and Jungle Cafe
Amid all the minimalist salad chains, neon affirmations on cafe walls, and identical spots specializing in endless iterations of “bowls,” I immediately feel affection for any place that still does things a little differently. Even the name “Me and Jungle Cafe” is creative. The storefront in a strip of shops along Piedmont Avenue belies the lush garden patio in the back—one of the most pleasant outdoor eating arrangements in Oakland. They specialize in sweet beverages—basil cucumber, grape mint lemonade, butterfly pea latte—and the most massive rice-paper spring rolls I’ve seen in my life, with crunchy vegetables and tasty spicy cilantro lime dipping sauce. Sure, some of the experimental filling combos (parmesan cheese with guacamole, say) are not immediately enticing to me, but I’ll take it over another avocado toast (though they have that too). — Natalie Orenstein, The Oaklandside housing and homelessness reporter
Me and Jungle Cafe, 3943 Piedmont Ave., Oakland
Star Grocery
Walking into Star Grocery for the first time in 2011, I had a Proustian moment. It wasn’t the taste of a madeleine, but the aesthetics of the store that immediately transported me to Fire Island circa 1995.
As a 20-something, some friends and I rented a beach cottage on the island, a thin spit of land off the coast of Long Island. Cars are forbidden and the only way to get there is by ferry. For a few years, it was a delightful ritual, the slog through Manhattan to Penn Station, the train to Long Island, a walk to the ferry, then the feel of salt air on your face. In the nearby village was a grocery store seemingly stuck in the 60s, close enough to my own time that I had some nostalgia for its wonky carts, manual registers and store credit program. People purchased their saltines, beer, and salad and hauled it home in little red wagons.
Until you notice the gourmet imported jams, pizza, and amazing craft beer selection, Star is similarly stuck in time, its narrow aisles, teenage workers, and very generous store credit system giving me that warm summer feeling despite the fog outside. — Elise Proulx, Nosh contributor
Star Grocery, 3068 Claremont Ave., Berkeley
Burger Cake from Merritt Restaurant & Bakery
Few things remind me of childhood more than the Burger Cake. If you grew up in Oakland and had birthdays sometime in the late 20th century and into the new millennium, you wanted a colorful, large, airy, and berry-filled cake that looked like a hamburger. It was funny, unusual, and actually tasted great for an unrepentant sugar bomb. The sweet treat was made famous by the Merritt Restaurant & Bakery at its original 203 E 18th Street location, and even when the bakery suffered through financial difficulties and moved around Lake Merritt, the cake came with it. The cake burger even made it into the movie UP as an adventure badge. But with the bakery gone, so are the cake and the many wonderful memories it made for Oakland kids of all ages. Will it ever return? If it does, and if I get to taste it with a dollop of rich vanilla ice cream, I know my inner kid will be right there with me. — Jose Fermoso, The Oaklandside road safety reporter
Merritt Restaurant & Bakery, last located at 3355 Lakeshore Ave. in Oakland, closed in April 2023.
East Bay Bakery
Early pandemic, I was diagnosed with complex PTSD. So naturally, I turned to pastries. The pandan custard cruffin from Indonesian chef Gaby Lubaba of East Bay Bakery, specifically. Impossibly flaky croissant dough, grassy pandan custard, butterscotchy palm sugar caramel and dried coconut: a dream baked in a muffin tin. I wasn’t healed. That would’ve been impressive—I was lost in a “tsunami of trauma” and therapy. It was a five-minute stress vacation, highlighting that impeccably laminated dough. I was captivated; trips there gave me a purpose without the high stakes of therapy. Their scope of creative flavors is unmatched, like the Zeytoon Parvardeh Danish, with an Iranian mix of herbs, Castelvetrano olives, walnuts and pomegranate molasses. There’s also lemongrass beef meatball bahn mi danishes, Snickers croissants, ube swirls and spiral supreme croissants with seasonal flavors like passion fruit curd or strawberry pastry cream. This year, my Valentine is a bakery. I regret nothing. — Leena Trivedi-Grenier, Nosh contributor
East Bay Bakery, 9000 Crow Canyon Rd., suite C, Danville
