Joelle Tan

August 6, 2017

The kite festival: Taking it all in from a seat at the park

BERKELEY, Calif. — The 31st annual Berkeley Kite Festival was in full swing by mid-afternoon Sunday. People were flying kites, selling popcorn or ice cream or jewelry, or watching their kids ride ponies.

Michael Goran watches both professionals and amateur fly kites at the Berkeley Marina. Photo by Joelle Tan

“Outstanding. We really like the variety of kites,” Michael Goran said. He was relaxing on a grassy hill with his family while admiring the colorful kites in flight, more than 75 by 3 p.m.. It was his family’s first time there, but he said they would come again next year: “We’ve already marked it in our calendars.”

“I like it!” Victoria Varrientos, Goran’s 6-year-old granddaughter, piped up. “I like the little balls on the water. And the pirate ship,” she added. (The bouncing castle, Goran explained.)

Among the many canopied-tents there was Fookie, a business dedicated to fudge cookies. Owner Gregory Dobson said 2017 was his first year at the festival, but his third year running the business. “We just came from the Orange Country Fair,” he said.

Fookie originated in Lincoln, to the northeast of Sacramento, with an aim to become “the next Famous Amous Cookies.”

“It’s exciting here. I haven’t seen the giant kites before,” Dobson said. “It’s very family-friendly.”

The stall opened at 10:15 in the morning, and was expected to run until the festival ended at 6 p.m.

“The schedule consists of us working together and setting up together, to be as efficient as we can. We’ll definitely be coming back in future years.”

Alongside the food stalls were those selling souvenirs, and, more memorably, bubble shooters. Jackie Medina had been running the same stall for three years and is participating in her third kite festival at Cesar Chavez Park near the Berkeley Marina.

Her bubble shooters are highly popular, and she attributes her success to the nature of the Kite Festival. “I love it. It’s very busy and family-oriented, and keeps business going,” she said.

August 6, 2017

Lots of food choices, even when school’s out

BERKELEY, Calif. — From spicy ethnic fare to sweets, this university town boasts an eclectic mix of restaurants.

“Lots of students come here; it’s very diverse, for sure,” Valencia Towner, a worker at The Melt, said. The Melt is a 5-year-old restaurant specializing in grilled-cheese options, a popular stop for students at the University of California.

Taco’s Sinaloa is a 2-year-old Mexican restaurant. Formerly operating out of a truck, they recently found their first brick-and-mortar location and started “growing to a real restaurant,” employee Vanesa Durant said.

Durant said that their clientele found “the authentic Mexican food comforting,” and that Berkeley’s diverse community allowed the restaurant to do well, adding that they hope to expand.

Koja’s Kitchen, a restaurant that specializes in Korean and Japanese food, found their success in a large Asian population. “Many students do support the business, and take advantage of the discounts here,” employee Steven Rodriguez said as he pointed behind at the advertisements.

Their location on Telegraph Avenue helped bring in business. and the lack of other similar restaurants helped contribute to its success. “The restaurant’s really unique, so there’s no competitiveness [in the community],” Rodriguez said.

But at Yogurtland, which has been in Berkeley for six years, the competition is stiff.

“The restaurant business is one of the hardest to open, run and maintain over a long period of time. Consumer trends always change,” Ted Johnson, the manager, said. And lately, with everyone trying to reduce their sugar intake, there has been a drop in business. Berkeley now has three yogurt stores but used to have six.

Despite the decline, Yogurtland has managed to stay afloat due to the large student population and the “stellar primary location,” where families and groups of friends are constantly walking by. “Events at Telegraph and at the campus also helps to bring business in,” Johnson said.

But he added, “Whenever school is out of season, we have to shorten our hours.”

Cupcakin’ Bake Shop, started in 2009 but which moved to its current location only obtained three years ago, is also a student-fueled business. “We have a very diverse clientele,” Bri’aun Randolph said.

When asked about whether the shop was experiencing the same decline due to the avoidance of sugar, she shook her head. “Sugar attitude doesn’t necessarily affect business. Everybody comes. Everybody loves cupcakes and their designs,” she said.

Randolph noted that the smaller student population during the summer does affect business, but that they “still have a good clientele base,” encouraging them to maintain the quality of cupcakes. “It’s real fun and real chill,” she added, listing, “with clothes, henna, food, real fun. Groups of friends going to restaurants or shopping for clothes.”

August 1, 2017

Family takes its fruit from the field to Berkeley

BERKELEY, Calif. — “No spray, no pesticides, no chemicals,” Lisa Kashiwase proudly proclaims. Wearing a sun hat with a low brim, she deftly cuts peaches for samples — 13 varieties. Their peach farm, in Merced County, has been a family business for three generations.

As she talked to us, her niece and son greeted the oncoming customers, some of whom had come to taste the samples.

Her husband, Steven Kashiwase, was back home managing the farm. Lisa waved her free hand around the stall when talking about their business.

“[We are] everywhere…Santa Cruz, San Mateo…”

She said the farm had a canning business back in the 1980s, but shakes her head when asked about selling through commercial supermarkets. “No, never a supermarket.”

Along with Kashiwase Farms, Woodleaf Farm, which has been at the Farmers’ Market for 15 years — also sells a large variety of organic peaches. Andrew Seidman and Danny Lazzarini often alternated between taking care of the stall and working back at the farm in Oroville, about an hour north of Sacramento.

Seidman said it was hard work in order to transport the equipment and peaches from the farm, nearly two and a half hours away.

Woodleaf Farms chose the Berkeley markets back when “it was becoming a popular and a new way to have direct sales. It was better than selling wholesale retail price.” Seidman said he liked the market because it allowed farmers to directly connect with buyers. He noted that he had a good community with the buyers and with the other vendors. “I know almost everybody here,” he said.

In addition to the peaches making up the majority of the stall, Woodleaf Farms also had cucumbers sitting in the front. Seidman said, “It’s nice to have vegetables in addition to food. And I just really like cucumbers and I grow a lot of them. But I have too many so I bring it to the customers.”

His good connection with his customers is seen when a customer walked up and started a conversation about a wildfire several weeks back that destroyed most of Seidman’s home, equipment and about 10 percent of their trees. Seidman reassured her: “We are doing everything we can.”

Golden Rule Organics has been at the Berkeley market for three years. The 8-year-old farm is a family business in Hollister, in San Benito County. It started out small, but gradually grew to become a 17-acre farm.

Eddie Diaz, one of its owners, noted how difficult it was to get a stall.

“It’s a bit hard to try to get in here, because they give first priority to the older farmers. So it’s tougher for a new farmer to get into the farmers’ market,” he said. While Diaz was content now, he said that they may expand if the opportunity arises.

Golden Rule Organics boasts a wide variety of organic fruits and vegetables.

“We have a lot…we have two types of kale…chard, collard greens, five different types of squash, like eight different types of tomatoes. We try to keep a variety in order to keep customers happy,” he said.