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Editor’s Note

The Best Room in the House

     Where do you spend most of your time at home? For many of us, one of the most-used rooms in our house is the kitchen.
     It’s where we chill, entertain, laugh and have heart-to-hearts. We cook in them, clink our wine glasses in them and marvel at the gardens we can see through their windows. Nowadays, they’re often big open spaces with a place for the kids to do their homework, a nook for us for the home office and dedicated specialty zones for baking or pizza making.
     If yours is outdated and could use a little love, Tiffany Carboni has some great advice for you in “Steal These Ideas,” our an annual peek into outstanding East Bay kitchens, from Alameda and the Hiller Highlands to Rockridge and Piedmont. Worried about the economy? It might just work to your advantage, she says. And if you’re still figuring out what you want the heart of your home to look like, these projects may spark your imagination. Even if you’ve just completed a stunning redo, looking is still fun, and you’ll delight in how these homeowners maneuvered the road to their perfect remodel, thanks to competent designers and solid contractors.
There’s more to the issue than super interiors: read how funny lady Phyllis Diller got her start in Alameda, take a walk through four historic downtown parks and visit the Pop-Up General store for fabulous food finds. Elsewhere on the food-and-wine front, Marsha McBride and her Café Rouge crew bring artisan butchery to the masses, Derk Richardson finds Gather’s deft attention to both vegetarians and carnivores to his liking, Kent Rosenblum explains the real meaning of wine competitions and bartender Lonnie Long introduces the Sömar Mango Fizz.
     In the Mix checks in with Audrye Sessions’ Alicia Campbell, Camino’s Russell Moore, Folkmanis puppets and sports extraordinaire Art Spander and then dishes on Clarine’s Florentines, sweet parents-night-out options and the amazing Robotics for Fun project of Jutiki Gunter. Oh, there’s more: circus arts, the Johansson Projects, new books and a scary Halloween CD from The Chills plus bargain wine deals at Grocery Outlet. Don’t waste a minute — start reading about your Oakland now.

 judy@oaklandmagazine.com