This guest post was written by Karen Hester, an events producer who lives in Temescal Creek Cohousing and often cooks dinner for her community of 25 folks. You can subscribe to her event listings by signing up on her website. She is a board member of Destiny Arts Center, a bike enthusiast and loves to eat almost any street food, including fried crickets in Cambodia.
Bites on Broadway is my latest attempt to actually do something about the blight I experience everyday along Broadway, especially between 49th and up to College Avenue. I am an events organizer so it seems natural that the idea of a local homegrown mobile food meetup combined with urban games would excite my interest.
I teamed up with Guerrilla Grub co-owner Elizabeth August whose healthy California comfort food I relish. We come out of the same mold as community organizers. First, identify the issue: lack of healthy affordable food, especially around 45th and Broadway, where fast food is king. Broadway, a main thoroughfare in Oakland that has become the ugly step child of Telegraph, College and Piedmont Avenues, a boulevard no one in the City seems to even remotely pay attention to, except for the few tried and true businesses like Art Tile and Bay Appliances and newbies like Oakland Karate and New Style Motherlode, opening a much needed dance studio once all the City permits are navigated.
Bites on Broadway is the kind of food event I want to attend, 5-6 food carts with a diversity of offerings that make for a nice sampling with the newest and freshest food carts, Oakland Grown. A family of 3 can eat for less than $20 and at the same time meet and greet their neighbors, and play some urban games organized by Oaklandish on the 2nd Friday of the month. In short, we are throwing an urban block party but only the food vendors have to do he cooking and cleaning.
Street food, the staple of my travels in Latin America, is making a strong showing in the foodie Bay Area. Witness the success of the Eat Real Festival or Off the Grid who recently kicked off a food pod in Berkeley’s gourmet ghetto on Wednesday nights. At Bites on Broadway, our discriminating taste buds will be delighted with El Tacobike, Guerrila Grub, 51st State, Sue’s Sassy Pies, GoStreeteary and Fists of Flour kicking it off on June 10th.
The range of food will be family fare using the freshest ingredients including pulled pork sandwiches, wood-fired pizza, tacos, tortas, tamales, savory pies, mac and cheese plus fresh juices such as agua frescas and lemonades. Rotating food carts for the first month include those of Vesta Flatbreads, Tina’s Tamales, Boffo and The GrilledCheeze Guy.
Wow, I’m getting hungry just writing about it.
Here are the details on this weekly event:
Tags: Bites on Broadway, Karen Hester
wow, Karen, remember me from Mama Bears? My wish come true–for weeks I’ve been pining for food trucks around here–I live around the corner on Terrace Street. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
yes Alice I so remember you! look forward to seeing you there and do sign up my event list at http://www.hesternet.net