Real Food

Family Flavors

East Bay farmers’ markets get plenty of (well-deserved) glory. But for generations, a handful of family businesses have been turning out fab fare right under our locavore noses.

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Sweets Sculptor

If pastry artist Paul Masse’s apron is not decorated with abstract splatters of chocolate by the end of his typical 14-hour workday, something must be awry. Our writer rises before dawn to chronicle a fast-paced, fragrant Wednesday in the kitchen of Masse’s Pastries in Berkeley, detailing everything from blood-orange mousse cake to mango glaze.

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Beyond Bacon and Eggs

While some Americans tend to stick to cereal, pancakes and eggs for breakfast, other Americans find comfort and pleasure in breakfast dishes from China, Japan, Vietnam, Thailand, Ethiopia and India—right here in the Bay Area. Our writer wakes us up to the taste of jook, kao tom, pho and paratha.

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Faces of the East Bay

In the Philanthropic Swim

In the Philanthropic Swim

Rockridge residents John Bliss and Kim Thompson may live far removed the gritty flats of East and West Oakland. But this philanthropic couple see themselves as one with the citizens of Oakland, particularly those who are struggling financially, and they’re leading a campaign to get their “financially blessed” peers to invest in the community like they have by funding city programs to teach kids how to swim.