From the Editor

The Very Best of Alameda

    Wow! The votes from the annual readers’ choice poll are in, and guess what? Alameda, it turns out, rocks because it’s jam-packed with great places, outstanding goods and superb services.
    The ballot counting nearly kills us every year (that might be overstating things a tad), and this year’s contest took longer than ever to tally because a record number of readers filled in ballots. The hot contests of 2008 were in the categories of overall restaurant, best chef, breakfast, coffee shop and hamburger, to name a few.
    Kamakura, Toomie’s, Dragon Rouge, Rosenblum Cellars, Pagano’s, Alameda Bike and Scott’s Shoes were among the top-netting vote-getters. And some local businesses are so good at what they do that they just keep winning and winning—exactly the case with Ramiro & Sons, La Piñata No. 3 and Tucker’s, with the three claiming bragging rights respectively for burritos, margaritas and desserts. Practically every reader lauded LP3’s margs, making the tequila concoctions the most-voted-for item on the ballot.
    We added new categories this year—brunch, Chinese, Italian, Thai, Vietnamese, bar, kid’s clothing, women’s clothing and yoga studio—so there’s a new crop of players receiving kudos this year, too.
    While readers get to have their say, so do the editors by writing editors’ choices, so we keep notes all year long on potential bests and then share them in our Best Of issue. See whether you agree with our favs, and let us know yours.
    Two photographers, Craig Merrill and Lori Eanes, bring the winners and the best of Alameda to life with colorful imagery of winning smiles, high fives and fists in the air. Congratulations to all the winners—keep up the awesome work.
    There’s more in store than Best Of coverage in this issue. For the eco-aware, check out the Green Guide and the Treasure Hunt on eco-friendly products and then flip through to read about Alamedans entering the solar economy. Art lovers ought to be impressed by a new gallery in town, Autobody, and food and wine lovers can learn a thing or two from a review of the hot new restaurant, Havana, and a profile of local winemaker Matt Smith of Blacksmith Cellars. Meanwhile, Kent Rosenblum completes his journey through South American wine country, and Roy Creekmore offers up a winning potato salad recipe.
    For those who noticed Just Between Us missing from the July/August issue, Gina Jaber is back, and historian extraordinaire Woody Minor pens an Island church story about Immanuel Lutheran.
    And all that’s just scratching the surface. So don’t wait another moment—get reading.
 

Judith M. Gallman
judy@oaklandmagazine.com