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Category Archives: California

Degrees Plato: A Oaxacan Bar Menu and Hella Beer in Oakland

12 / 19 / 178 / 22 / 19

I am a chip girl. BBQ potato chips, classic tortilla, new-age flax and chia speckled, doesn’t matter the flavor: pretty soon after opening I’m covered in crumbs and tossing the empty bag in the recycling. That’s why I don’t even keep them in my house. So when I tried the Totopoz Adobadoas at Degrees Plato, tortiila chips in a Guajillo salsa, topped with queso cotija and crema fresca, I was pretty happy for weight-control purposes that they came in a small bowl.

Degrees Plato is a newish beer bar in the Laurel with Oaxacan-inspired fare from Flor Crisostomo, a Oaxacan chef who has worked at Nido, Calavera and other spots around the Bay Area. With all the beer gardens and tap rooms opening in Oakland, it’s the Mexican bar food that attracted me to this place— and the overall vibe and menu that kept me interested.

Owners Rich Allen and Mercedes Sperling live in the neighborhood and wanted to make it a family friendly place, and even though I don’t have kids yet, a beer bar that garners a more diverse crowd than bearded beer bros was definitely a pleasant place to pass the evening. The Mexican twist on bar food pays homage to Rich’s mom, who is from Mexico, and I like that the kids furniture and books honor the next generation.

There’s a huge and varied selection of beer on tap here, as well as a long beer fridge that lines the back hallway with foreign and domestic craft beers that can be taken to-go. Ciders and wine are available on tap too, but the selection of beers is so wide I bet if you have a conversation with the bartender you’ll find a beer that’ll please your palate.

For food, go for the smokey totopoz, and don’t forget to squeeze a lime on them. I love epazote, the minty and earthy herb seen in Oaxacan cuisine, so I appreciated its addition to the quesadillas filled with black beans. Tortas are made with Fruitvale’s Peña’s Bakery bread, and can easily be split between a few people. The food is affordable, with the most expensive bites toppng out at $11.

Decor here is fun and comfortable: black, white and green murals from Denmark-born artist Anne Bundgaard decorate the walls and poke out of corners. It could almost be mistaken for a Mikkeller taproom, but the table tents holding colorful cards from the Mexican bingo game Loteria signal otherwise.

https://www.degreesplato.com

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Guest Post: Tomato Day Dream by Photographer Nicola Parisi

8 / 6 / 17

I met Nicola last year at Eat Real Festival, and fell in love with her dreamy California photo journals. Here’s a story from her on one of my favorite foods to return to during California summer: tomatoes!

Summer in San Francisco is here. Long stretches of daylight and long stretches of fog. North, south and east of the city are warm temperatures – and it’s here that I venture to get a true taste of summer.


Summer means tomatoes. Seeing them at farmers markets reminds me of tomato canning nearly a year ago with good friends up in Dixon, California. A straight shot northeast of the city, Dixon sits in the middle of a hot, dry, mosquito-filled desert. Aside from the mosquito bites, I remember it very fondly. Eat Well Farm is plentiful in the summer – thousands and thousands of tomatoes are piled into crates, ready to be canned and stored for the months ahead.

With a group of 10 or so friends, we spent all of our waking hours (12, to be exact!) coring, boiling, chopping and cooking down our vibrant red heirlooms and San Marzanos. At the end of it all, after much snacking and beer-drinking, we were canning tomatoes by candlelight. The next morning was when we were truly able to recognize the fruits of our labor…. over 100 jars of all shapes and sizes, brimming with punchy red tomato sauce.


My share of 12 jars has lasted me from then till now, and I still have 7 left, which I dole out only for the most special occasions and guests. The next tomato harvest is around the corner, and I’m excited for the long and sweaty hours of laboring over scalding pots, mosquitoes and all, knowing that the satisfaction that comes from creating something from scratch, with friends, is what makes it all worthwhile.

Looks like Eat Well Farm is selling tickets for their “Sauce Parties” now.

Visit Nicola’s site, follow her on Instagram.

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About Me

Hi! I'm Ferron Salniker. Storyteller, consultant, and tour guide.

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Laksa albondigas & fried chicken conchawich (conch Laksa albondigas & fried chicken conchawich (concha flavored with tumeric, coco & makrut lime leaves) are my food baby dreams. Terima kasih @nora_haron ❤️
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 #brunch #indomex #bestfoodinoakland #popup  #feedyoursoul #tasteintravel #foodphotography #foodwriter #instafood
Oh hi friends👋🏼 I’m back on the gram after Oh hi friends👋🏼 I’m back on the gram after getting a concussion in December that made it painful to read or write or look at the screen until a couple of weeks ago! It has been a long journey since I couldn’t do much besides chill on this floor in the dark and listen to records (not even something I can deeply complain about) but sometimes I still come here to ground myself and thank the universe for my magical lil brain. I hope to never take reading, writing, or remembering what the hell I was getting in the kitchen for granted again. 
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If you or a loved one ever gets a minor brain injury please holla at your girl and I will share all the resources and healing tips my fam and chosen fam found me. I am forever grateful to them and to get back to work.
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#concussed
This date last year was the first day of our @mezc This date last year was the first day of our @mezcalistas Michoacán tour with a bunch of friends in the industry from across the country.  We drank snake mezcal and ate carnitas and followed the light up the hills for inaquidens agaves. How things have changed for all of us. Putting tour dates on the calendar for the end of 2021 makes me feel hopeful (stay tuned!) In the meantime, sipping my copita pretending like it’s from the still and scrolling through the memories captured by @renecervantes. 
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#michoacan #travelgram #instatravel #traveldeeper #travelmexico #pasionxmexico #tasteintravel #livecolorfully #instacolor #igtravel #whereitravel #mezcal #mezcaltour #mezcalovers
Taiwanese breakfast today is daikon cakes, dan bin Taiwanese breakfast today is daikon cakes, dan bing, fan tuan with purple sticky rice, red bean mochi with osmanthus, Taiwanese breakfast sandwich, and dou hua with ginger syrup. Remember to support your local restaurants & makers if you can this weekend and always❤️
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#picnicbreakfast #brunch #picnic  #feedyoursoul #tasteintravel #foodphotography #foodwriter #instafood #taiwanesefood #shopsmall
🌊Family day🌊 🌊Family day🌊
Doin so much social media consulting these days I Doin so much social media consulting these days I get exhausted by the screen and don’t really get on my own gram. Plus this quarantine is an emotional roller coaster and I’m setting hella boundaries on and off the screen so I can stay grounded and grateful. But then I miss seeing all my friends’ work and all the art & activism & community that everyone is making happen. So hi friends, keep at it, also here is one of my favorite quarantine creations - an agave bandanna from @tuyo_nyc 🖤🤍⚡️
When missing breakfast in Istanbul🌹 . . . . . # When missing breakfast in Istanbul🌹
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#turkishbreakfast #brunch #picnic  #feedyoursoul #tasteintravel #foodphotography #foodwriter #instafood
New article up on Life & Thyme as part of a series New article up on Life & Thyme as part of a series on institutional racism and agriculture, link in bio • repost @lifeandthyme "Most of the country’s 2.5 million farmworkers are of Mexican descent, and at least half are undocumented. Wages are generally low; in 2019 farmworkers earned less than what workers with the lowest levels of education in the U.S. labor market earned. They typically endure long hours, face occupational health and safety hazards, lack health coverage, reside in crowded housing, and many of them live below the federal poverty guidelines. At least six percent of farmworkers identify as Indigenous, and for those without English or Spanish fluency, accessing medical care or information can be even more difficult. And while immigrant farmworkers are some of the most vulnerable to Covid-19 due to these circumstances, they have been deemed essential workers. ⠀
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This inequity of including people in an economy for their labor and skills and yet excluding their humanity in narrative and policies is part of maintaining racial and economic power structures—and the nation’s food system was built on it." -- L&T Contributor @ferronlandia⠀
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Today on Life & Thyme, Ferron Salniker explores how a history of immigration, trade and discriminatory economic policies have made U.S. farms dependent on exploitable labor mostly by Latinx immigrants. Read, "How Immigration and Trade Policy Have Shaped U.S. Agriculture" at the link in our bio.⠀
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#lifeandthyme
Been resisting social media, submitting to water a Been resisting social media, submitting to water and California. Plumas County to Topanga Beach this week 🐬🌊
New piece up on the women behind the Black Chef Mo New piece up on the women behind the Black Chef Movement, who are fueling protesters in NY. Repost from @lifeandthyme: 

“McCallum and Davis are responding to a singular moment in history, facing the combined hardships of an economic crisis, increased hunger, the Covid-19 pandemic, and swelling protests across the country demanding transformation of our political and economic systems. Black Chef Movement is meeting the needs of this moment in its own way, continuing a tradition of Black activists showing up to nourish communities while organizing for liberation.” — L&T Correspondent @ferronlandia
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Honoring a historic tradition, New York chefs Kayla Davis and Rasheeda McCallum founded the @blackchefmovement to feed and fuel a movement. Read the full story at the link in our profile.
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Photos by L&T Photographer @jonvachon
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#lifeandthyme #blacklivesmatter #nyc #ny
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