Eat Real

Seriously, Saturday I spent the entire day blissed-out in Foodie Heaven. I got back from my 6-mile trail run and Shrek was busy cheffing up his mouthwatering omelets and potatoes. Around noon we hit up Oakland’s Eat Real Food Festival with few friends where I ate everything from Chairman Bao chicken and pork buns to Sam’s Chowder House lobster rolls and chowder, Mogo Korean burritos, and Phat Matt’s BBQ Pork Sliders. In the evening I met up with my tennis girlfriends for drinks at Vintage Wine Merchants and dinner at Thea Mediterranean Restaurant (to be highlighted in another post) on Santana Row.

…Sunday I spent running 6 miles and playing 2.5 hours straight of tennis just to work it all off.

I went to Oakland Eat Real last year and I’ve gotta say, this year was MUCH better. Why?

MORE VENDORS. Last year we went on a Sunday, the last day out of the three that the festival is held, and there weren’t nearly as many food carts. Also, the vendors that were there only had one item which went fast… You’d wait 15 minutes in a line only to be told the person 5 people up would get the last serving and that was the end of that.
LESS CROWDS. The fest is held at Jack London Square which also has a farmer’s market on Sundays, so it was less crazy on Saturday since it was minus the market crowd.
PLASTIC. Many vendors including the drink ticket tent accepted plastic instead of cash only. I guess this could be a negative, though, too. I withdraw a specific amount from the ATM so I can only spend so much.
WINE BARN. I missed the Wine Barn last year. This year, I found it and drank a lovely Zinfandel by R&B Cellars.