Each week, we share some favorite recent bites, the dishes and snacks and baked goods that didn’t find their way into a full review. Want the list a few days earlier? Sign up for our free newsletter, Bite Curious.
Just after a visit to Café Bolita in Berkeley to document owner Emmanuel Galvan’s nixtamalization process for the Chronicle’s Instagram, I zipped across the East Bay to meet restaurant critic Cesar Hernandez for a slice of pizza at Arizmendi Bakery. (I would’ve eaten at Bolita, but it happened to be closed on the day I went!) The first location of the Bay Area bakery cooperative, Arizmendi Oakland was recently shouted out by Oakland native Zendaya as her favorite place to eat in her native city. I ordered the pizza of the day — a roasted potato- and red onion-covered slice with gorgonzola and garlic oil. Since I was in a rush to make my train, Cesar and I sauced up our slices on the trunk of his car. The shop’s herby salsa verde, a version of the famous Cheese Board green sauce, has a hefty kick thanks to plenty of garlic and serrano chiles. It was just what was needed to brighten up the creaminess of the pizza. I also grabbed some cookie brittle, which, appropriately dry and just short of the crispness of biscotti, was delightful when dipped in milk later that night.
I finally checked out Joodooboo in Oakland (No. 14 on our Top 100 list this year), and its house-made Korean tofu did not disappoint. I ordered the fried dooboo set, which satisfied with its hyper-seasonal variety of plates and wobbly dooboo. Still, I found myself coveting my companion’s order of acorn noodles. A few bites of the mushroom-filled, nori-flecked dish yielded big flavor and the noodles a pleasing chew. But I did well to order the guava spritz!