MONTCLARION: October 7, 2011

Like the Kennedy assassination and 9/11, most of us remember where we were when the Oakland hills fire broke out.

I was in Minneapolis covering the World Series, and watched reports of the blaze on a lone TV in the pressroom. I remember Oakland A’s Manager Tony LaRussa saying he might go back early, and that’s when I realized my home and family were in danger. Continue reading →

OAKLAND TRIBUNE: September 29, 2011

Three smartly dressed women stroll through the handsome brick dining room past the warm wood bar, smiling as they say “arrivederci” to a gentleman nearby.

“Arrivederci” the dapper man answers, letting the r-r-r-r roll off his tongue in a rich, Italian accent that can only belong to a native speaker.

Umberto Gibin is the gregarious owner of one of San Francisco’s most popular restaurants, Perbacco, at 230 California St.

His home in Montclair reflects his love for his Italian roots. It’s a terra cotta villa that he and his wife fell in love with when they were first looking for a place here. Continue reading →

HILLS NEWSPAPERS: September 3, 2011

Happy hours I have known ….

Someday I’ll write a book about this spectacle we call happy hour. Did it really start in the 1920s as a way for ship-bound sailors to relieve stress? Did it explode onto the civilian scene in the decadent ’60s, as Wikipedia says?

Whatever the history, happy hour has morphed into a marketing miracle for everything from cocktails and appetizers to massages and pet products. Even the Ritz-Carlton, Lake Tahoe has a summer Yappy Hour — where dogs (accompanied by their owners) can get liver-flavored libations for $10 in the outdoor cafe. Continue reading →

MONTCLARION: September 2, 2011

It’s block-party season, and nothing brings folks together like the tangy aroma of barbecued chicken and ribs. It certainly drew us in last weekend, when we saw the party outside the little grouping of businesses on Thornhill Drive, across from the 7-Eleven.

Thornhill Salon was celebrating its one-year anniversary, and new neighbor Gruber’s Deli was bringing in local musicians for its weekly Sunday jazz event in the parking lot (owner Joshua Gruber is a jazz saxophonist).

This is what I love about Oakland. Catherine Pham and her family cooked up a feast of Korean and Vietnamese dishes that they truly enjoyed sharing with customers and friends. “We want to give back to the community,” she said as she served up a plate of savory lemon pepper wings and Korean short ribs. Continue reading →

MONTCLARION: August 18, 2011

In my parents’ town of Chanhassen, Minn., the heart of the community is the library. It’s well funded and beautifully decorated and serves as a great place to gather.

Several years ago, the libraries in their county partnered with Target to offer free passes to dozens of museums in Minneapolis and St. Paul. My family and I made the rounds — touring the Twin Cities without spending a dime. It was a beautiful thing.

Finally, a similar program has kicked off this week in Alameda County. Launched by the Contra Costa County Library, Discover & Go started Monday in our Alameda County libraries (www.aclibrary.org). If you live here and have a library card, you can make reservations online for everything from the Oakland Museum to the Aquarium of the Bay. Continue reading →

Culinary historian Andrew Sigal shows some of his garden treats, including homemade sauerkraut and pickles.

OAKLAND TRIBUNE: August 11, 2011

We’ve all heard the saying, you are what you eat. But how true is this philosophy, attributed to Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin?

The man with the answer is Oakland culinary historian Andrew Sigal, who says. “I eat pork, you don’t. I don’t eat meat on Friday, you do. I eat insects, you don’t … these things are very important to our identity.”

In fact Sigal, who started one of the earliest food and travel blogs back in 1999 after a successful career as a software engineer, sees his collection of cookbooks as a portal into the lives of ordinary women, going back centuries. Continue reading →

MONTCLARION: August 11, 2011

The adage that if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself certainly applies to fighting crime in Oakland.

Citizens are banding together to keep a watch on their neighborhoods — to the point that they’re even paying extra for security patrols. Last week I wrote about Piedmont Pines’ pilot program with a local security company. Neighbors are voluntarily paying $30 a month to have Bay Alarm patrol their hills streets. Continue reading →