food: Bar César

beets, grapefruit and avocado salad

Last weekend K and I wanted to go out for dinner, and we looked through a short list of places we'd been and places we still wanted to try. We finally decided on trying Bar César on Piedmont. The place is almost always busy, so that seemed a good sign.

The food is described as "bar food and tapas", which we took to mean small plates, not necessarily Spanish food. We got there fairly early on Saturday, and while it was busy, we were able to get a table right away. Although the website says "bar césar has the most extensive wine list [...] in the East Bay", it looked pretty sparse to us. Maybe there's a separate wine list with more than is on the regular menu, but in any case, we decided to go with some choices from their better looking beer list.

We ordered a variety of dishes, starting with a couple of salads: a pear salad (which I don't see on the menu on the website) for me, and a purple beets with grapefruit and avocado salad for K. Both were beautifully presented and delicious.

We also ordered plantains with black beans, which is a favorite of ours when visiting my parents in Miami. It was nicely presented and quite good, though not up to Little Havana standards. The only disappointment were the empanadas, which seemed bland and a bit soggy. K and I ate a lot of empanadas when we were Argentina, and locally we can get El Porteño empanadas at farmers markets and other events, so we know what we like in that department.

Overall, it was very good. Better than pub grub, good beer selection, good service. I'll go again, but there are a lot of good restaurants in Oakland to choose from.

signs: Bar César

Not an amazing sign, but serious points for not being just a bunch of plastic with lights behind it like so many modern signs are these days.

Overall, it makes for a nice look with the rest of the building.

upcoming Oakland events

Avariety of interesting activities going on this week in Oakland. What other fun things are happening? Let me know in the comments!

Oakland Landmarks book signing - TONIGHT, Wednesday, June 27, 6-7:30pm. Meet author Annalee Allen and artist Heidi Wyckoff who will be signing their neautiful book, Oakland Landmarks and talking about the process of creating it. At the main library, 125 14th Street. (free)

Night of Laughter - Thursday, June 28, 8pm. A variety of comedians try to tickle your funnybone for a fundraiser for the downtown YMCA. At Miss Pearl's in JLS. ($8-$10)

Dancing Under the Stars - Friday, June 29, 8:30-10pm. This week's dance: merengue (free)

Oakollectiv closing party - Friday, June 29, 4-9pm. The Oakollectiv store on Broadway is closing down, and they're having a party (and a sale) to celebrate. A new store will be opening in its place later this summer.

Summer Nights at OMCA - Friday, June 29, 5-9pm. Music DJs, a 1968 film, special activities and more, with half price admission to the museum after 5pm.

Maya Dance Jarana at Chabot Space and Science Center - Saturday, June 30, 1-3pm. Join our journey through the Maya world with a celebration of dance. The Jarana is a traditional dance with origins in ranch houses of the 17th and 18th centuries infused with Maya rhythms. (with admission)

Rowing Regatta - Sunday, July 1. The Lake Merritt Rowing Club hosts the Southwest Masters Regional Championships. (free)

looking further ahead:

Family Fun on the Fourth - Wednesday, July 4. Fun for the whole family at Jack London Square, with food, live music, and lots of stuff for kids. See my coverage of last year's event. (free)

Oakland Landmarks art reception - Friday, July 6. Painter Heidi Wyckoff of the Oakland Landmarks book will have a reception at Caffe 817. (free)

OHA walking tours - Saturday, July 7. The Oakland Heritage Alliance's summer walking tour season kicks off with a tour of the former F.M. "Borax" Smith estate near Park Blvd. Read about last year's tour. ($10-$15)

Temescal Street Fair - Sunday, July 8. The annual street fair in Temescal features food, music, art and fun for the whole family. (free)

Community Arts Festival - Sunday, July 29. Art show at Mosswood Park. Music, snacks, art and more. Contact HellaCity@rocketmail.com if you'd like to participate.

Pedalfest - Saturday, August 18, 11am-8pm. The second annual Pedfalfest at Jack London Square. Last year's Pedalfest was hella fun, for cyclists and non-cyclists alike.

ongoing events:

Bites off Broadway (Fridays)
Piedmont Avenue Art Walk (3rd Thursday)
Art Murmur (1st Friday)
Saturday Art Stroll (Saturdays)
Mt. View Cemetery Tours (2nd and 4th Saturdays)
OMCA Summer Nights (last Friday of the month)

Oakland neighborhoods in the news

The questions of what a neighborhood is and where people consider it to be has long interested me. Clearly it interests other people, too, because my Oakland neighborhoods map post is by far the most popular post on Our Oakland, garnering 30 times the page views of most posts. (And of course, this post linking to it will further skew the imbalance.)

It's also interesting to note what the press, both locals and outsiders, refer to a neighborhood as. For a while I tracked stories to note how they refer to Oakland neighborhoods in an attempt to help answer the nebulous question, Where is East Oakland? In general, the stories refer to Oakland, downtown Oakland, some wealthier neighborhoods, but if about crime, mostly 'west Oakland' and 'east Oakland'.

So I was interested to read a story on SFGate, Longfellow a neighborhood key to Oakland's future which nicely sums up some of the issues facing Oakland. If the city can't reduce crime everywhere in Oakland, people will leave.

Justin Berton's article is mostly about the Longfellow neighborhood, which some folks call JAMMI - Just Above the MacArthur Maze Interchange (sadly, the JAMMI blog hasn't been updated in over 3 years). But it also mentions that not all residents think of their neighborhood as Longfellow; some think of it as Santa Fe (which is just north of Longfellow) because of the school there. It also refers to the nearby Golden Gate neighborhood (though it says it's to the northeast instead of to the northwest). I do wonder a bit about the reference by one resident to "the flat bottoms of West Oakland". Village Bottoms perhaps?

In any event, it's an interesting article, and nice to see reference to other Oakland neighborhoods, even if it is about crime.

Oakland History Getting a Pink Slip?

I'm a big fan of the city's free Downtown Walking Tours. I've been on all of them at least once, and have been looking forward to going on them again. Alas, there may not be a chance to do that in the future. Despite Mayor Jean Quan's 'no layoffs or cuts' announcement in May, this incredible program that teaches residents, tourists and students about Oakland's history is once again on the chopping block.

If it happens, it's not just fans of Oakland history like me that will lose out. The program is popular with visiting tourists, including recent visitors for the California Preservation Foundation conference that brought hundreds of people to Oakland. And it's been teaching Oakland students about the history of Oakland for decades—it's part of the 3rd grade curriculum to learn about their city.

The program dates back to the late 1970s, and was initiated by former councilmember Dick Spees, based on a similar program in Portland. The current program coordinator is Annalee Allen, who has been running the program since 1996. Her half-time position with the city is about to be cut, putting the future of the program in doubt. While many of the tours are led by volunteers, Annalee schedules the tours, recruits and trains the volunteers, and serves as a backup tour guide in case a volunteer is unavailable, which in my experience has been about 1/3rd of the time. Annalee also added a new tour to the program, New Era, New Politics, which focuses on more recent history and role of African Americans in Oakland's history. The program currently consists of 8 tours:

• Old Oakland
• Uptown
• Waterfront
• Chinatown
• Churches and Temples
• City Center
• Preservation Park
• New Era, New Politics

While it's possible the tours will continue in some form, there will be no one to coordinate them, recruit and train volunteers, or fill in as a guide when needed. Previously, volunteers were required to take an Oakland history class at Laney College or Holy Names University, but those classes are no longer offered so training a replacement will be more difficult. And while the Oakland Heritage Alliance ($10-$15) and Oakland Urban Paths (free) offer walking tours in Oakland, there is little overlap with the city's tours, and no overlap with the program for schools.

I know Oakland's finances are still a mess, and things like public safety are more important, but this is a drop in the bucket of the city's budget for a not easily replaced resource. I urge you to contact the city council and Mayor Jean Quan and voice your support for the program before Tuesday, June 26th. Particularly those councilmembers on the finance and budget committee (*) and the councilmembers for districts 2 and 3 where the tours are focused.

• Jane Brunner* – District 1
  jbrunner@oaklandnet.com 238-7001
• Pat Kernighan* – District 2
  pkernighan@oaklandnet.com 238-7002
• Nancy Nadel – District 3
  nnadel@oaklandnet.com 238-7003
• Libby Schaaf – District 4
  lschaaf@oaklandnet.com 238-7004
• Ignacio De La Fuente* – District 5
  idelafuente@oaklandnet.com 238-7005
• Desley Brooks* – District 6
  dbrooks@oaklandnet.com 238-7006
• Larry Reid – District 7
  lreid@oaklandnet.com 238-7007
• Rebecca Kaplan – At Large
  atlarge@oaklandnet.com 238-7008
• Jean Quan - Mayor
  officeofthemayor@oaklandnet.com 238-3141

Please help save this valuable Oakland resource and keep knowledge of Oakland's history available.