Locally Grown: Introduction

I have dinner out a couple of times a week, on average, but never in my neighborhood. If I'm that close to home, then I'm close enough to my kitchen to cook. That probably sounds either noble or crazy, depending on what type of eater you are, but I decided today that it's high time I explore what's cooking in my corner of North Oakland.

Starting tonight until whenever I'm done, I plan to try a new restaurant in my hood every week or so. The only rules are:

1. No chains (sorry, Col. Sanders).
2. Lunch or dinner only. Cafés are a whole separate universe, and I drank it dry when I was a full-time freelancer.
3. Each place will get a mini review of five words or less (I'll put them in red italics and parentheses so they're easy to spot), plus a longer review if I'm feeling inspired.
4. "My hood" means anywhere within 20 minutes of my house by foot.

It was going to be 10 minutes, but that would limit my options to the handful on my actual corner, plus the Elmwood district. There's a short main drag in Elmwood with a small collection of great low-key places, including delicious La Mediterranée (get the Middle Eastern plate), but I've already tried them all over the years. This experiment is aimed at finding some new gems.

The list of places within a few blocks of my corner includes: Mitama, Grasshopper (pricey and overrated), Saysetha Thai (mountains of noodles), and Café Colucci (slow but yummy). A little further north, over the Berkeley border, are Café Valparaiso, Sconehenge, Solé, and La Familia Taqueria. I'll have to bring in the carnivorous reserve troops to try the parade of Korean barbecue places between here and Temescal.

Brunch digression: RIP to Hideaway, a tasty breakfast place with a pretty outdoor garden that closed while I was in France. I was so excited to live a block away that I dashed over there the day after I moved in. The windows were whitewashed and barren. My only consolation was finding myself just a lazy half-hour walk from a mind-blowing breakfast at La Note or the bustling Thai temple Sunday brunch in Berkeley. (A special shoutout to La Farine bakery on College Ave. for their buttery pastries, hearty breads, and charming little website.)

In Temescal, my former hood and still home to my favorite café, there's a longer list of places to sample: La Calaca Loca (friendly, no black beans), Café Pippo, Genova Deli (big piles of meat), Asmara, Bakesale Betty (best. scones. ever.), Doña Tomas (upscale and fabulous Mexican), Milano Pizza, Pico Paco Taqueria, Tanjia, Your Own Black Muslim Bakery (creepy politics, great pies), Lanesplitter (decent pizza and beer), Pyung Change Soft Tofu House (I like my tofu firm), and Pizzaiolo. I'll add others as I remember or notice them.

Here's to keeping my belly local, at least part of the time.