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From the Editor

Spring Fever

     Put your umbrellas and rain boots away — spring is here, and the winter rainy season is over.

     The longer, sunnier days are perfect for getting outside, so here’s an idea: Head to your nearest local farmers market. For me, that’s the Temescal Farmers Market at the Claremont DMV. About now — and all year, actually — it’s full of seasonal produce, blooming flowers, artisan baked goods and kid-toting parents. My neighborhood is great, because it’s equally close to great dining and high-quality indie shops brimming with just-right specialty food items. A lot of the East Bay is like that; we’re lucky that way

     To share the bounty of spring and to celebrate the local independent market experience, we enlisted foodie freelancer Kathryn Jessup to embark on an ingredients-driven shopping spree at some of the East Bay’s best stores and purveyors of fine products. She seeks out offerings from local fish, poultry, produce, cheese, butcher, bakery and novel prepared foods outlets and suggests some of the best these experts have for the table. Along the way, she introduces a few favorites sure to wake up taste buds and gives a few hints about how to make the most of your marketing. See where her shopping list takes you.

     Meanwhile, Wanda Hennig, another local gourmand, explores the world of tofu and tofu tasting, heading to a state-of-the-art West Oakland tofu factory, Hodo Soy Beanery. Before you dismiss the idea of tofu as the next big thing, meet Minh Tsai, the passionate spirit behind Hodo. He’s on a mission to create the creamy, just-made tofu of his native Vietnam, and he wants to elevate bean curd to a new level and offers tours and tastings to promote his cause. It’s working: Top-notch restaurants are putting his tofu on their menus.

     Finally, restaurant reviewer Derk Richardson, who harbors nostalgic, but somewhat low-brow, prejudices about hotel dining, has a whole new attitude, thanks to Meritage at the Claremont Hotel Club & Spa. The redo is lovely but not too showy, and he praises the “wine-driven” “food-to-farm” approach as well as the service. “In every case,” he says, “the dishes tasted even better than they looked, and they looked fabulous.”

judy@oaklandmagazine.com