Welcome to Oakland!
Yes, it's the soulless city that Brad Pitt's character drove through in Moneyball: Breaking the rules. It is true, his name may end up associated with that of not exactly safe metropolises in the United States such as Baltimore or Detroit. And no, Oakland is definitely not San Francisco. Although more and more San Franciscans are escaping to Oakland to take a walk through some of its neighborhoods with more personality, savor a delicious meal or go shopping. And there are fewer and fewer reasons for the residents of this city to cross to the west of the bay and go to San Francisco. We tell you why...
- Restless artists always have something to do.
Whether going to a session of auteur cinema in theaters such as the Grand Lake Theater or the Piedmont Theater; watch a revival of _Casablanc_a or a talk by the feminist Gloria Steinem in The Paramount ; browse second-hand books at one of the city's many independent bookstores like Pegasus Books or Walden Pond Bookstore; or see an exhibit on Californian history at the Oakland Museum of California...
Thoreau would have wanted it that way
- Can be bought like a true gourmet For the most purist hippies, nothing like the Saturday morning farmers market in the Grand Lake area. Ideal to be made with some Satsuma mandarins, a bunch of kale or a zero kilometer cheese from Cowgirl Creamery. For hipsters with pasta, the Market Hall of the very posh but full of charm neighborhood of Rockridge. In this delicatessen market you can find fresh and imported pasta, Idiazábal cheese and bottles of Albariño for Spaniards with morriña, top quality fish for prepare in sushi or cans of the sophisticated Parisian tea Mariage Freres.
Chris Hay of Say Hay Farms at his Grand Lake Farmers Market booth
- There is no lack of nutritional proposals with a lot of tradition.
It is obligatory to queue at Fentons to try their ice cream. This diner has been in operation since 1894, which by Californian standards is little short of an eternity, In addition to being the place where the protagonists of Up for an ice cream at the end of the movie.
The best ice cream on the West Coast?
- But there is no shortage of culinary proposals with less than a century of history.
Equally obligatory are the queues at Homeroom , a restaurant for hipsters from the Temescal neighborhood where basically it is served mac and cheese . It is a pasta not necessarily al dente and literally bathed in cheese sauce on which Americans are raised during their childhood years. And there are few things that are more suitable for the hipster than home cooking and with a nostalgic point available in a restaurant. Also in Temescal, nothing like some fish tacos and a serving of fried plantains at Cholita Linda.
The mac and cheese restaurant
Downtown Oakland It is the ideal place for a truffle cheeseburger at Umami Burger or some Spanish tapas passed through the Californian filter at Duende. At A 16 in Rockridge they serve the best Neapolitan pizzas in the East Bay. And practically in any corner you can find a Japanese with good and cheap sushi, although we stick with Shimizu. Only they could think of call Shrek a maki based on prawn tempura, crab and avocado perfectly ripe and green.
Go, try and you can say... "I survived the Umami Burger"
- It is a paradise for fans of vintage fashion and decoration.
If you are simply a voyeur, it will be enough for you to stroll through avenues like Telegraph, Broadway or the 40 to delight you with the ultra high waists of the skinny pants of its walkers, the pleated skirts up to the ankles, the coats with shoulder pads that are too big or the _ Gordon Clark of Halt and Catch Fire _ and all sorts of other clothes that could only have come from the closet of some eighties grandmother. If you are also into action, in Minds Eye Vintage They have a great selection of used jeans and rock t-shirts, plus they're located on one of Oakland's most charming pedestrian alleys.
Shoulder pads, flannel and #nofilter
In **Elder and Pine** they are specialized in vintage for men and there is no lack of plaid flannel shirts and other essential accessories for bearded lumberjacks. For typewriters from the sixties, cocktail kits from the Mad Men and household items in general Lost & Found. If you're a pro and willing to roll up your sleeves nothing like the outdoor market which is celebrated on the first Sunday of each month in ** Alameda **, endless stops where you can rummage, haggle and find all kinds of old things.
No lost items
- The foreigners still haven't figured out where Oakland is..
Here you won't even find the lines to get on the Powell Street Trolley, nor the crowds in the souvenir shops of Chinatown , nor the photographers who seem to multiply to try to take away a memory of the Painted Ladies . In fact, in Oakland there is an atmosphere of a progressive city, incredibly diverse and very authentic. And in general its pedestrians are residents of the city or the bay area. Join the locals by going for a run around Lake Merritt ; dare to go from gallery to gallery and catch a concert of free music in the street during the party that Downtown becomes the first Friday of every Friday; or buy a t-shirt at Oaklandish the designs are unique, zero kilometer manufacturing and part of the store profits go to fund city charities.
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The dream of lovers of second-hand objects
Welcome to Oakland!