Eat Real Fest 2018, Oakland
One Friday, my Intro to Cultural and Natural Resource Management lecture, my professor started class by listing some extra credit opportunities. When I saw the Eat Real Festival, I knew I had to go! It was included as an option because all of the vendors use sustainable and local ingredients–a recurring theme in the course. In addition, it supports local artisans and street food vendors. I love supporting small businesses and engaging in conversations with business owners. I enjoy learning where my food comes from! My friend and I planned to go that same night! Navigating public transportation wasn't too bad–we took the BART and then a bus to Jack London Square. I don't know what I'd do without Google Maps. We arrived at sunset and it was absolutely gorgeous. The waterfront provides a nice backdrop for the sunset, and the square is surrounded by many eateries. For the festival there were over 50 vendors!
Chico Chai
Chico Chai is a local artisan tea. The chai tea brew is made from scratch in small batches with no artificial flavors, preservatives or extracts–everything is organic. They grind fresh, organic spices into fair-trade tea. They even compost their waste and ship products using reused boxes. The tea contains less sugar than normal chai teas and has a good balance of spice to sweet. The attention to detail and quality is what separates local artisan craft from mainstream, big-box producers.
I sampled their chai almond milk! It was so flavorful, compared to my usual unsweetened, vanilla almond milk. I use unsweetened because I want to avoid added sugars. With Chico Chai you don't have to sacrifice flavor to achieve the sweet taste from the spices.
GT's Kombucha
The first place I saw GT's Kombucha was in the drink case at my first job–team member at a poke bar. My co-worker would always buy one and told me it had all these health benefits. I was hesitant to try it because I knew it was fermented and bubbly–and I am not a huge fan of carbonated drinks. I know, I'm weird. I've tried some other brands of Kombucha, but they taste harsh and reminiscent of beer. When I sampled GT's, I could hardly tell it was fermented. It was lighter on my tastebuds and had a nice fruitiness.
GT's Kombucha has been using their recipe for 20 years, and was actually the first to sell kombucha in the United States! The kombucha is raw, organic, and made in small batches. Back at it again with the quality!
La Guerrera's Kitchen
La Guerrera's Kithcen is a family run business serving up tamales and ceviche around the Bay Area. Their logo is inspired by the Mexican art, papel picado, and the hummingbird. The hummingbird represents multiple food patterns and "the strength in Mexican food."
My friends and I shared the pork and chicken tamales. They were so delicious, although the green sauce was too spicy for me.
Gerard's Paella
Gerard's Paella was probably the best savory dish I had at the Eat Real Festival! There is much more to paella than chicken, shrimp and rice. The saffron and spices bring so much flavor to the dish. This is a truly, hearty dish! They were also serving up lemongrass chicken with kimchi–that was just as flavorful too!
Gerard was introduced to and influenced by paella when he took a trip to Spain. After mastering the dish, he has shared it with others by serving it up at many festivals and catering events. Get this, he even beat Bobby Flay on Throwdown with Bobby Flay!
Good to Eat Dumplings
Good to Eat Dumplings are fresh and hand-wrapped! Their values include using local and organic ingredients, and having a diverse team. In addition, Good To Eat Dumplings is owned by women and immigrants! In Taiwanese culture, dumplings bring people together–food really has the power of connecting us all!
Just by the looks and length, these are not your normal dumplings. They are much longer than the Japanese potsticker, but that's what makes them unique. I had the hardest time choosing between the kimchi pork, chicken, and vegan dumplings. I like trying things that I can't find anywhere else, so I chose the vegan ones. They're filled with shiitake mushrooms, orange cauliflower, tofu, ginger, and olive oil. The outside had a crisp crunch that went well with the soft skin of the dumpling. It was nice and hot, and the flavors went well together–I couldn't even tell it was vegan!
Rocko's Ice Cream Tacos
Rocko's Ice Cream Tacos is free of artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives. They produce sustainable products–so you can feel good while indulging in this delectable treat! After eating this ice cream taco, you'll never think about buying a highly-processed, packaged treat from the ice cream truck again!
I've seen some places that serve ice cream rolls in tacos, but that can get messy because it will melt in your hands. After the ice cream-filled waffle taco takes a bath in a vat chocolate, it is dipped in liquid nitrogen to bind and secure everything together. How's that for ingenuity?! I only tried one bite of the ice cream taco, but that crack of the chocolate shell, paired with the creaminess of the ice cream, was amazing!
Frozen Kuhsterd
Last but not least, my favorite vendor at the Eat Real Fest, and the last vendor I visited: Frozen Kuhsterd! Frozen custard was, previously, just an east coast thing, while frozen yogurt was more a trend of the west coast. I first had frozen custard at Shake Shack in New York and wanted something similar back home, but I could never find anything like it. Well fast forward to now–I am living at UC Berkeley in the Bay Area where all the food trends start!
Taking the dessert scene in the Bay Area by storm, founder Jason Angeles created the West Coast Style frozen custard. His food truck was the first dedicated to frozen custard.
I ordered the ube custard bar dipped in ube chocolate, topped with ube cake crumbs. Pure ube madness! Can't get enough ube! Every bite was amazing, and it didn't give me that weird taste after you eat something sugary. That's how I knew it was made with the highest quality ingredients! I couldn't finish the entire thing because it melted, and the chocolate shell got a little too sweet by the end–thankfully they served it to me with a plate. But it was sooo delish!
Check out their brick and mortar location here:
1123 Folsom St. @ 7th
San Franciso, CA 94103
(inside Trademark)
ProTip: Attend the festival with friends so you can try multiple foods. Share more, spend less!
