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1 week ago | 
mercurynews.com | Kate Bradshaw |John Metcalfe |Linda Zavoral
Shops in San Jose, Hayward, San Mateo, Bay Point and Oakland prepare for summer’s rush of customers
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2 weeks ago | 
mercurynews.com | John Metcalfe |Kate Bradshaw |Linda Zavoral |Jason Mastrodonato
Combine food trucks, arts vendors, libations, live music and an open-air scene and what do you get? A foodie night market that brings communities together. The Coco Swirl mascot greets visitors while at the Off the Grid event held behind the Pleasant Hill City Hall on a recent Thursday. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group) These events are back for summer and early fall, from San Jose and Foster City to Pleasant Hill and Oakland on the other side of the bay.
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1 month ago | 
mercurynews.com | Linda Zavoral |John Metcalfe |Jason Mastrodonato |Kate Bradshaw
Burgers are always big, but fried-chicken sandwiches (and tenders, strips, fingers and wings) have dominated the Bay Area’s fast-casual restaurant scene in recent years. Until now. Seems that smashburgers are having yet another moment. Here’s the lowdown on the new joints to try, along with some hefty trad burgers that have popped up on new menus.
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1 month ago | 
mercurynews.com | Kate Bradshaw |Linda Zavoral |Jackie Burrell
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1 month ago | 
sacbee.com | John Metcalfe |Kate Bradshaw
What's the dill with pickles and drinks? It's not just the rise of the pickleback – a dive-bar favorite combining a shot of bourbon followed by a shot of pickle juice that has been growing in popularity since its reported 2006 invention. Pickles seem to be having a moment, popping up increasingly in and near our beverages. Pickle juice has long been a cult favorite of endurance athletes, some of whom swear by its cramp-prevention powers (though the data is less conclusive).
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1 month ago | 
mercurynews.com | John Metcalfe |Kate Bradshaw
Get your trendy pickle fix at Little Bird or Fox Tale Fermentation Project
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2 months ago | 
mercurynews.com | John Metcalfe |Jason Mastrodonato |Linda Zavoral |Kate Bradshaw
But with the change in seasons comes another opportunity to dive into the delicious world of sandwiches. Take them with you on hikes, midday picnics in the park, road trips or just a lazy night in. Many of these sandwiches are big enough to have one half for dinner and leftovers for lunch the next day.
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2 months ago | 
mercurynews.com | Kate Bradshaw |Kate Bradshaw
At Greens, a vegetarian restaurant in San Francisco, Executive Chef Katie Reicher waits eagerly each year for the potaotes to come in from the farm, Green Gulch. “These potatoes haven’t been cured (a several-week process that helps to preserve them), so their skins are still paper thin, and their flesh still sweet from the earth,” she writes in her forthcoming cookbook, “Seasons of Greens” (Weldon Owen, $45).
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Mar 24, 2025 | 
mercurynews.com | Kate Bradshaw |John Metcalfe |Jason Mastrodonato |Linda Zavoral
Public libraries have always been busy spots, but they’ve grown even more so in the years since the pandemic. They’ve become not just spots for homework or book browsing but free co-working spaces, with desks filled with people quietly but busily typing away. Of course, using up all that brain energy can work up an appetite. And fortunately, long gone are the days of snackless stacks. Here are eight library-cafe pairings across the Bay Area with great vibes and even better eats. Croissant, anyone?
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Mar 17, 2025 | 
sanluisobispo.com | Jason Mastrodonato |Linda Zavoral |John Metcalfe |Kate Bradshaw
A clam chowder bowl made by Walnut Creek Yacht Club chef and co-owner Kevin Weinberg at his restaurant in Walnut Creek, Calif., on Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2025. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group) Ray Chavez Ray Chavez The calendar may say spring is nearly here, but apparently it hasn't told the meteorologists. Sunny skies one day, torrential rain and hail the next. But soup is ideal for all kinds of weather - and chowder most of all.
