Dominica Rice, founder and chef of Cosecha, is petite with
long glossy hair pulled back into a thick braid that makes her warm eyes stand
out--they sparkle with humor and what I like to call “mad food love.” When
asked about the roots of her passion for cooking, she explains that it started
with her grandmother. “I was born
in Chinatown (in Los Angeles) like my mother. She still lives there, and that
is where my grandparents have lived since the 50’s,” she shared before taking a
sip from her glass. “We were there every weekend with my grandmother--she was
this little old lady from Chihuahua, Mexico, and it was really nice hanging out
with her. She cooked all of the time, but after church she would take us out to
eat. Sometimes we would go to
Olvera Street for Mexican food, or Chinatown for a Chinese Won Ton soup brunch,
and she always wanted to try different places--it was a blast.”
SOCIAL FEAST
Monday, March 12, 2012
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Love is in the Air - An Oaktown Spice Recipe Challenge
Hello
Valentine’s Day, we all know you are right around the corner!
What
better way to take the pressure off and recognize a month devoted to the celebration of love, than
with a recipe challenge using a four-spice blend inspired by the
language of love?
The Love is in the Air Recipe Challenge
Following is the challenge, it’s pretty simple:
(1) Run straight to the Oaktown Spice Shop and pick up some Quatre Epices.
(2) Use this amazing spice blend to create a recipe.
(3) Email your recipe to Social Feast (feastingsocial@gmail.com) by the February 29 deadline.
(1) Run straight to the Oaktown Spice Shop and pick up some Quatre Epices.
(2) Use this amazing spice blend to create a recipe.
(3) Email your recipe to Social Feast (feastingsocial@gmail.com) by the February 29 deadline.
Friday, February 3, 2012
Doughnut Dolly: Remembrance of a Naughty Doughnut
“If I were to sell a really beautiful homemade,
yeast-raised, cream-filled doughnut off a truck, would you buy one?” It
was 2010, and Hannah Hoffman was conducting some non-scientific demographic
research while peering out from the window of the popular fivetenburger truck
parked in Emeryville near Pixar. The guy being questioned hemmed and
hawed “Well, I’m not really a doughnut guy...’cause most doughnuts suck....” “Would
you just try one?,” she asked, “If you don’t like it, just spit it out.” So
he bit into the doughnut and, “Oh my God, these are just like the doughnuts l
used to have as a kid on the Jersey Shore! There was an Italian bakery
and they used to make these, like, Bombolino....” She shot back, “Would you pay
three dollars for this doughnut?” Unequivocally, he responded, “Yes.”
Monday, January 30, 2012
Everything Nice at Oaktown Spice
”Turmeric is pretty hot right now, so I’ve been playing around
with this....” and with that, John from the Oaktown Spice Shop opens a large
mason jar of whole turmeric rhizomes and passes it under my nose. The scent is
aromatic and similar to galangal, but not as strong, and is topped by a
slightly floral note. He pulls out a wizened yellow chunk, “Take a look at
this,” he says while heading across the shop to where a red antique spice mill
sits in the front window. He tips a bowl with the milled contents to show an
intense course-ground mixture of savory green and yellow herbs, and explains
how he was test grinding sage with the antique mill when he came up with an idea
to create a base for a new poultry rub.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
A Little Somethin' Somethin' About Cosecha
The chef,
Dominica Rice, is committed to a farm to table ethos; and while the daily
offerings at Cosecha are deceptively simple in description, the delicious devil
can be found in loving attention to every detail.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Super-Soft Social Feast Launch
Welcome to the super-soft launch of Social Feast!
I decided to launch this bare bones site to coincide with the first evite that is headed out across the ethers of the interweb today. I am seriously tickled wondering who will RSVP for the first feast at Cosecha in Oakland.
There are a variety of interviews in the works, and I plan to post the first interview this coming weekend. Some of these initial interviews will serve to tease the upcoming dinner at Cosecha and other interviews will simply focus on providing a shout-out for some cool artisan food businesses in the Bay Area.
First things first - I must focus on sending out the invite and rescheduling some more interviews. I promise I will post tomorrow with some deets about Cosecha and the neighborhood in downtown Oakland.
Miss Amelia Rousseau
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