Bay Area Music, Memorialized

Sometimes, Lee Streitz doesn’t know where his photographs will end up. Usually, he shares his selects with the bands he shoots and they pass along the merch, album covers and promotional materials his photographs grace—but not always.

“Every once in a while they won’t tell me, and I’ll just randomly go to listen to them on Spotify and see my work on the landing page,” Streitz said in a Zoom interview. “And I love that.”

Read on East Bay Express | December 11, 2024

There’s an old adage about gifting that long predates Amazon and free shipping and Instagram targeting: It’s the thought that counts. The notion conjures up images of painstakingly hand-made gifts imbued with profound personalization. It’s a nice idea for loved ones, but highly impractical at the scale the holiday season usually requires.

A happy medium exists, one that’s low on effort, high on joy and imbued with meaning whilst requiring no physical craftiness.

Read in East Bay Magazine (print edition available here) | November 2024

‘Thangs Taken’ takes on the truth behind Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving as a national holiday began in a federal office in 1863 at the hands of President Abraham Lincoln. Since then, its lore has evolved as if through a cruel game of telephone: a story of pilgrims and Indians and a merry feast that snaked its way from textbooks to turkey-filled tables. 

This story is, plainly, a myth, one that a Berkeley event aims to not only expose, but also repair.

Read on East Bay Nosh (Berkeleyside) | November 18, 2024

It doesn’t get better than Donato and Co.

The white truffles arrive once a week from Piemonte. By the time this article is published, they’ll be gone, just like the black truffles from Umbria, whose precarious shelf life dictates a twice-weekly shipment. Each variety is flown from Italy to grace the pappardelle at Donato and Co. only when they are in season.

Read in East Bay Magazine (print edition available here) | November 2024

Vintage, tried and true

Oakland’s vintage shops may be one-of-a-kind, yet many have similar beginnings. Karen Fort, owner of Mercy Vintage in Rockridge, attests: “There’s a lot of origin stories that start like mine.”

Read in East Bay Magazine (print edition available here) | November 2024

Artist Jane Kim brings life to life

Over the past 12 years with her studio team at Ink Dwell, Jane Kim has painted dozens of larger-than-life monarch butterflies, 270 different types of birds, entire coastal ecosystems and an endless array of illustrations for cities, museums, homes and personal projects. Yet it wasn’t until 2023 that she had heard of an animal, native to California, called the ringtail. 

Read in East Bay Magazine (print edition available here) | November 2024

Tracking the Scent in Berkeley

After reading about Berkeley’s Aftel Archive of Curious Scents in T: The New York Times Style Magazine, Vogue and Smithsonian magazine—to name a few—I thought I knew what to expect when I got there.

Read in East Bay Magazine (print edition available here) | October 2024

Insert Art Here

When husband-and-wife team Sage and Tari Loring started their arts consultancy agency, Local Edition Creative, the vision for their company wasn’t fully formed. It didn’t matter. They had been sketching it out, year by year, with the very act of keeping their eyes wide open and their feet on the ground.

Read in East Bay Magazine (print edition available here) | October 2024

Can better marketing save Oakland restaurants?

On a day when many of Oakland’s restaurants were closed in preparation for the week, some chefs were still working. Not on menu prep or plating. Not on expenses or managing staff. Instead, they were gathered around the swanky seats of Sobre Mesa hashing out a recipe for a more promising future.

Read in East Bay Nosh (Berkeleyside) | September 24, 2024

Body ink shops revolutionize artist labor (Cover Story)

Four people roll themselves into the frame of a Zoom call, each with their own distinct look. Starting from the left, Piña is all color, from their bright, giving-’80s-vintage jacket to the neon streak in their hair. Next to them, Charm also rocks two-tone hair and brings along Sly, a two-tone dog. Down the line, Joe projects a kind of noir energy with her dark hair and dark sweater. And on Joe’s right, at the laptop’s helm, sits Billie Vale, neck tattoo peeking out of a shirt collar, nose ring front and center.

Read on East Bay Express | August 28, 2024

AyDea brings fresh Tatar cuisine and dacha vibes to SoMa.

Long before tech elites made summer homes in Tahoe a cliché, the Russians had perfected the art of the second residence with dachas, part of the inspiration behind SoMa's AyDea Café.

The only establishment in the U.S. offering food from the Republic of Tatarstan outside of Russia, chef and co-owner Chris Dumesnil describes his restaurant's offering as “home cooking with technique” and full of “dacha flavors."

Read on 7x7 | August 15, 2024

Tony Gemignani brings Slice House back home

World-renowned pizza chef may have restaurants all across California but his roots will always be in the Bay.

[Note: This story was a revised version of my original Tony Gemignani profile written for Metro Silicon Valley, revised to focus on a more East-Bay Centric audience.]

Read on East Bay Express | August 13, 2024

Steeped in History

The fragrant roots of tea reach back centuries to Chinese soil, discovered, according to myth, by a divine farmer named Shunan Teng. In search of edible offerings from the lands he roamed, a leaf drifted into his mouth and cured the ailments of the many poisons he had ingested during his quest. Although there’s no evidence to suggest any poisoning in the process along the way, the origin of Oakland-based fragrance company Juniper Ridge’s botanical teas follows a similar path.

Read on East Bay Magazine | August 7, 2024

Best places to shop summer trends in the East Bay

Spring cleaning may get all the credit but there’s nothing like a summer wardrobe refresh. Sahra Brandt, the Oakland-based personal stylist behind Shop the City, recently dropped her summer trend report, making it the perfect time to let a little sunshine into a cold closet.

Read on East Bay Magazine | July 24, 2024

Temescal Brewing’s unstuffy Drinking Society

At Temescal Brewing, Monday night is “Society Night,” dedicated to the “distinguished members” (their words) of its new Summertime Drinking Society.

That’s also when Temescal regular and SDS member Tony McGinn likes to go—to claim his free round and grab a torta from the nearby Tacos La Patrona food truck. This past Monday, he also tried to take on one of the challenges from his membership “passport” and name every bartender.

Read on East Bay Magazine | July 18, 2024

Tony Gemignani Brings Slice House to the South Bay

The Fremont of Tony Gemignani’s childhood looks a lot different than the Fremont of today. The world-renowned pizza chef and restaurateur remembers a landscape filled with farms and a wide expanse of city. He remembers cruising up and down the boulevard and dirt biking across his neighbor’s land. Mostly he remembers the farms.

“It sounds like it was 100 years ago,” the renowned pizza entrepreneur recalls in a phone interview. “At one time Fremont was filled with corn and apricots and cherry trees.”

Read on Metro Silicon Valley | July 10, 2024

Cheeky Chong Is Oakland (Cover Story)

Something about illustrator and designer Shirley Chong is undeniably Oakland. Strangers feel it when they meet her. San Francisco friends witness it when they make plans with her. And Chong recognizes it, though she’s not quite sure what to attribute it to.

It might be her look. She describes herself as “a darker-skinned Asian woman with a shaved head most days and very visible tattoos.”

Read on East Bay Express | July 2, 2024

Porcelain beetles + blooms came to life at 7x7's workshop with Malia Landis

Balls of paper clay morphed into endless iterations of beetles, flowers, petals, and leaves when we hosted our debut creative workshop at 7x7 Social Club on June 25th.

In the house was Mendocino-based ceramic artist Malia Landis, who let us into her world of beautiful organic objects in this two-hour, sold-out class.

Read on 7x7 | June 27, 2024

Don’t Stop the Music, Baby

LOUIZA stands behind her keyboard in the spotlight of a searing sun. Dwarfed by the cavernous, 70-foot-high stone alcove of the surrounding Golden Gate Park Bandshell, she takes command of the stage instantly, establishing a presence with her otherworldly vocals and hypnotic beats. After a few songs, she makes an announcement that brings us very quickly back to earth:

“Come see me briefly after the show,” she says, “before I rush home to breastfeed my child.”

Read on East Bay Express | June 26, 2024

Senior Pets Find Their Senior People

When Sally Brook and Luna go for walks in her West Berkeley neighborhood, Brook likes to describe, out loud, what’s going on around them. 

“This house has a very big dog that’s going to bark when we go past,” she tells Luna. “But don’t be afraid.”

Luna is an 11-year-old terrier mix who’s nearly blind. That’s not a problem for Brook. When the 79-year-old was looking to adopt a dog, she only had a few requirements.

Read in East Bay Magazine (print edition available here) | July 2024

Hundreds celebrate the opening of 7x7 Social Club's Vacant to Vibrant pop-up.

It's been more than 20 years since 7x7 launched as a monthly print magazine in downtown San Francisco and, since then, we've had as many lives as the city itself. This month, we're celebrating our latest iteration. On Thursday, June 20th, hundreds came out to Jackson Square to fete the opening of 7x7 Social Club, a three-month pop-up made possible by SF's Vacant to Vibrant program.

Read on 7x7 | June 24, 2024

Downtown Parking Promo Has Promise

If we make it affordable, will they come? Oakland set out to answer that question by reducing parking fees at a downtown parking garage.

In October, the city announced “Five After Five” at the Franklin Plaza parking garage, aiming to lure people to local businesses and boost nightlife with the promise of safe, secure and cheap parking. It extended the garage’s hours, reduced parking costs to $5 after 5pm and all day on Saturdays and Sundays, and beefed up security.

After nearly eight months, the program’s official future remains in flux.

Read on East Bay Express | June 19, 2024

Youthful energy still flows in Cow Hollow, from heart-pumping workouts to boozy brunch

Anchored by Union Street between the Marina and Pacific Heights, Cow Hollow is a haven of trends, treats, and eats for the millennial set.

This is a neighborhood to sweat and stretch, detox and retox. Local yuppies have their endless pick of outlets for health-conscious beverages and comfort foods alike, along with fitness studios for any life stage and a string of boutiques to satisfy every sense.

Read on 7x7 | May 31, 2024

It's (almost) always sunny in Hayes Valley, a haven for shopping + choice food and drink

A sun-filled land of mainstay brands and neighborhood institutions alike, Hayes Valley is a charming microcosm of culture wedged between Mid-Market, Lower Haight, and the Western Addition.

Centering on Patricia's Green, which is a perfect patch for enjoying a coffee from Ritual or takeout from Souvla, Hayes Valley is a neighborhood where celebrity chefs Dominique Crenn (Petit Crenn) and Kim Alter (Nightbird) share a zip code with several casual dining spots, stylish cocktail bars, and patios perfect for day-drinking.

Read on 7x7 | May 21, 2024

At Uptown Market, tech pays the rent for local retailers

A partnership between Oakland’s Black Cultural Zone and Block Inc. is helping vendors of color make the leap from online to in-person sales.

Read on Oaklandside | March 1, 2024

Downtown is a key part of Oakland’s economic engine. How’s it working?

We sifted through economic studies, tax data, and historical records to better understand how our urban center generates revenue for the city.  Article co-written with John Klopotowski.

Read on Oaklandside | Jan. 4, 2024

Oaklanders are the art in new Uptown Station exhibit

Over the past few months, two photographers have been roaming Oakland’s streets, striving to capture the style of the city. Their work, a collection of 100 portraits, will debut to the public on Saturday at the “100 Faces of Oakland” photo exhibit at Uptown Station.

The free exhibit, open from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., is part of the inaugural Oakland Style Week, a new series of more than 50 events that opened this week and runs through Sunday. It includes everything from costume contests to cocktail tastings. The exhibit will showcase a huge body of work from local photographers Brian Molyneaux and Kola Shobo that aims to elevate Oakland’s everyday people — and its most stylish ones.

Read on Oakland North | October 20, 2023

Oakland artists make strong showing in new San Francisco exhibition

Over 200 Alameda County artists — many living and working in Oakland — joined the ranks of world-renowned names when their works graced the walls of the de Young Museum in San Francisco on Tuesday.

In its second year, the “de Young Open 2023” is an exhibition for visual artists from the nine Bay Area counties. It debuted Tuesday to the press and its 883 contributing artists, including 209 hailing from Alameda County.

Read on Oakland North | September 27, 2023

Celebrating Oakland Pride: ‘It’s just beautiful that we have everybody coming together.’

Oakland’s eighth annual Pride Parade began Sunday with a roar — the rev of motorcycles as parade leaders Dykes on Bikes rode up Broadway.

Thousands of people attended the parade, waving flags, cheering and dancing. The 83 community groups, government affiliates and corporate sponsors in the lineup bore their own messages, played music ranging from ABBA to the Jonas Brothers, and invited attendees to join in the celebration.

Read on Oakland North | September 10, 2023