DeLuxe

I first went to Fenton’s Creamery more than 15 years ago when I was in college. At that time, it seemed like a kind of run-down ice cream parlor. At some point in the intervening years, there was a fire there and a few years ago the place was totally rebuilt and restored. The new Fenton’s is awesome, even more so because I live a few short blocks away. It reminds me of the places I went to as a kind like Friendly’s and Swenson’s. But Fenton’s is even better. It’s been around our ‘hood since 1894. Our house wasn’t even built until 1908 so we now know of at least one thing that attracted the people who built our place.

Fenton’s Creamery
4226 Piedmont Ave, Oakland CA 94611
510.658.7000

Last night heading over to Emeryville to see Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (it wasn’t at all as lame as the critics made it seem) we stopped at one of our Bay Street favorites Zao Noodle Bar. The movie was nearly 3 hours long and by the time it was over not too many places back in our ‘hood were still open for dinner. Zao is always a good choice. I like the Vietnamese rice noodle bowls and Susan had a nice Thai style coconut milk /lemongrass chicken soup.

Zao Noodle Bar
5614 Bay Street, Emeryville, CA
510.595.2888

This spot at the intersection where College and Claremont meet was an ice cream parlor for many years. Not long ago, the business was converted to a small restaurant called Noodle Theory. The food is super-d-duper. We’ve been there twice now and despite its size we never had to wait for a table. At the start of our lunch we got some free edamade with a soy/hoisin sauce dripped over the top. Susan had some flat noodles with ginger and chicken. I had round noodles with a spicy ground pork. We shared an extra dish of sauted green beans. Everything was great and the portions were pretty generous. They also make a nice mango black tea. They even serve all the fine flavors of Dry Soda.

Noodle Theory
6099 Claremont Ave, Oakland, CA 94620
510.595.6988

I had my first Top Dog the first day I moved to Berkeley when I was 17. 20 years later I’m still going to Top Dog whenever I get a craving for a hot dog. Top Dog carries many different kinds of sausages: bockwurst, kielbasa, bratwurst, linguiça, calabrese, hot links, bird dogs (turkey w spices), and even veggies dogs. Sometimes they even serve what they call “Bambi Dogs” which are, as you might have guessed, venison dogs. Although they are all over the Bay, I prefer to go to their outlet inside the Oakland uber-Longs.

Top Dog (Oakland)
5100 Broadway Oakland, CA 94611
510.601.1187

When Bittersweet Cafe opened a few years ago I didn’t give it much thought. It looked like just another cafe and we’ve already got a few we like. What I didn’t realize at the time was that they specialized in chocolate based beverages. Now I go there for the ‘Bittersweet’ and the ‘Classic’ (which used to be called the European and the American). Each of these is a coffee/chocolate combination better than any old mocha I’ve ever had. They use top quality chocolate and also sell bars of the stuff and desserts too. It’s well worth a visit. They close at 7 on every day except Friday and Saturday when they’re open ’til 9. Check it out and you will become a regular.

Bittersweet
5427 College Avenue, Oakland, CA 94618
510.654.7159

Lococo’s reminds me of the Italian restaurants I used to eat at when I was growing up on Long Island. Even when my parents moved back east and settled in Connecticut, we still sought out a place like this. They’ve got pizza, canneloni, lasagna, sphagetti with meatballs all served with a heft dose of tomato based sauce. There’s often a line outside if you don’t get there early. Go inside and order some beverages from the bar while you wait on the benches outside. If you like Italian food, especially Southern Italian, this is one of the Bay Area’s best.

Lococo’s Ristorante
4270 Piedmont Ave, Oakland, CA 94611
510.652.6222

For a few years when I lived in Oakland’s Temescal neighborhood, I got treated to some of the best BBQ I’ve ever had. Westbrook’s BBQ was a mobile BBQ grill made ingeniously out of an old Winnebago. Odell, the owner, had chopped off the back of the Winnebago and welded a giant barrel style grill into the back. A couple times a week, sometimes just a couple times a month, they’d pull the truck over at the intersection of Telegraph and 51st in North Oakland and open for business. We’d get the brisket and links combo with greens, mac ‘n’ cheese, and cole slaw. One meal there was big enough for two. I never see them there anymore, so perhaps they’ve moved on. Odell, the owner, had always told me he was open more often out at Durant Square in East Oakland. I don’t get out that way much but maybe they’re still out there.

Bay Wolf on Oakland’s Piedmont Avenue has been around for ages and is known far and wide. But you might not guess you can get a meal of equal (or better) quality right next door at Jojo. Jojo is a small restaurant that serves French Country cuisine. They change their small menu seasonally and their dishes are made with great care — so you’ll want to savor every bite. Despite that they always have steak and frites for those who want it. Unlike next door, it’s also very quiet and you get very attentive service. And luckily for us it’s one short block from our house.

Jojo
3859 Piedmont Ave, Oakland, CA 94611
510.985.3003

Lately many Bay Area foodies have added a new work to their vocabulary: Salumi.

In the old days, most restaurants would just call it an antipasto plate (including cured meats, mozzarella, and tomatoes). Salumi is merely a term that refers more specificially to the Italian cured meats that are served with an antipasto plate. Salami is just one of many types of salumi.

Here in the Bay Area, it seems everyone is offering salumi plates these days. Susan and I are fond of the salumi at several restaurants including: Berkeley’s Eccolo, and Oakland’s Oliveto, Cesar (ok, they’re also in Berkeley), and my favorite Dopo (linking to Yelp review until they get a website).

Some think hand made salumi products are a lost art that people will be happy to rediscover. Paul Bertolli, formerly of Oliveto, left the restaurant to start his own salumi business, Fra’mani. Although much of Fra’mani’s wares are sold in Bay Area markets and restaurants, he’s shipping more of it out of state each month.

There are so many kinds of salumi, it’s hard to know what to order. Sampler platters are great but who’s gonna remember what those little items you like best were next time?

Here’s a list of some varieties that I like:

Ciccioli: prepared by pressing and aging what is left of the pork after most of the other preparations have been carried to effect.

Pancetta: also referred to as Italian bacon. It’s taken from the pork belly but it’s both cured and dried unlike bacon. (thanks to Patrick for pointing out my typo on bacon vs pancetta)

Speck: The German type is mostly lard (they call it Lardo in Italian), the Italian type is made from hog legs and is cured.

Coppa, Capocollo and Soppressa: like salami, the meat is encased. Unlike salami the meat is not ground up with fat added. Using mostly neck portions of the hog, it’s often combined with wine, salt, and spices.

After spending waaaay too much time driving around in the rain trying to find the entrance to the Oakland Animal Shelter so I go license Duchess, I decided that I’d bring home lunch from one of my favorite burger places: In-n-Out Burger over near the Oakland airport.

My order was easy, just a couple combos off the menu. One of these days I will order something off the ‘secret’ menu such as:

2×4 Burger
Description: A “2×4″ is a burger with two beef patties and four slices of cheese. You can also order a “3×3,” a “4×2″ or any other meat/cheese combo your little heart desires.

3-by-Meat Burger
Description: Three beef patties, no cheese. You can pretty much order “any number”-by-Meat.

“Animal Style” Burger
Description: Mustard-cooked beef patty, additional pickles, extra secret sauce with grilled onions.

“Double-Meat” Burger
Description: A Double-Double without the cheese.

The Flying Dutchman
Description: 2 beef patties, 2 slices of cheese. That’s it. No lettuce. No onions. No bun. No nuthin’.

Grilled Cheese
Description: Cheeseburger without the “burger.”

“Protein Style” Burger
Description: Any burger you want wrapped in lettuce instead of that carbohydrate-laden bun.

Veggie Burger
Description: Hamburger with no burger and double tomatos.

“Extra Toast”
Description: Leaves your bread on the grill a tad longer resulting in “crispy buns,” which is not as dirty as it sounds. Can be ordered with any burger.

Fries: “Animal Style”
Description: French fries with secret sauce, onions and cheese on top.

Even In-n-Out acknowledges many of these special variations in ordering on their own site