The Enoteca Molinari restaurant in Oakland’s Rockridge district kicked off the holidays early this year with a Lambrusco tasting event just before Thanksgiving.
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The popular Italian eatery at 5474 College Ave. carries some of the world’s best Lambrusco wines from Northern Italy’s Emilia Romagna region. The light, fizzy and flavorful red sparklers are made by nine wine producers that joined forces in the 1950s to launch the Cantina Cooperative Riunite.
Two cousins helped put on the eatery’s tasting event: Enoteca Molinari owner Joe Madison and Emilia Aiello, who owns the online wine club Cittavino (cittavino.com).
Farmers market: You may have noticed some fresh faces at the Montclair Farmers Market. Bianca Pardini with the Urban Village Farmers Market Association says Ruuska Pickles is one of the new vendors, with small-batch pickles made by Alameda’s Brian Ruuska.
“We love how fresh and crisp these pickles are and we’re thrilled to have his products at our market,” says Pardini.
Another new vendor is LeafyVeda, a microgreen grower run by Vraj and Nirali Patel in a controlled, pesticide-free environment and harvested at their peak.
An award-winning bakery has also joined the Montclair Farmers Market. As Kneaded Bakery was founded by Bay Area native Iliana Berkowitz in 2016 and was named one of Sunset magazine’s 23 best bakeries in the West. It was also named one of Food & Wine magazine’s top 100 bakeries in America.
“As Kneaded Bakery uses high-quality ingredients like organic flour to create unique, delicious baked goods,” says Pardini.
The folks at Urban Village Farmers Market get a number of applications each year from farmers, food vendors and artisans. Pardini says their main requirement is that the vendors must be direct producers of their quality products.
“Our team samples products, reviews ingredients (for food vendors), and researches the farm or food business’s practices,” she says. “If they pass the jury process and are approved, vendors commit to attending the market every Sunday, year-round, rain or shine (though some farms are seasonal, depending on their crops).”
Around town: Some mind-boggling numbers are projected for holiday shopping this season. The National Retail Federation expects us to spend more than $1 trillion on gadgets and other gifts — a 3.7% increase from last season.
In the Oakland hills, the Montclair Village Association has hired extra security to patrol the shopping district during the holiday season from Tuesdays through Saturdays. Merchants are also gearing up for next week’s 22nd annual Montclair Village Holiday Stroll from 4 to 8 p.m. Dec. 12. There’ll be a fun zone for kids, a vendor lane for artisan gift shopping and live entertainment, including the Merry Minstrels and Tap Dancing Christmas Trees.
Sock skating: There are plenty of ice-skating rinks for the holidays, but Chabot Space & Science Center in Oakland’s hills has found a way around the big chill.
Visitors can don their softest socks and glide across a planet-themed ice-less rink every Friday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sock skating is included with regular admission. Chabot also has snow-making activities and timed snowfall events.
Comfort zone: Oakland is one of the most pleasant places in the country to host an outdoor event, according to a new study by an outdoor furniture company. In spite of our 24 inches of annual rain, Oakland came in second on the comfort index, taking into consideration things like weather, barbecue costs, yard size and more.
Ginny Prior can be reached at ginnyprior@hotmail.com and followed on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, Facebook and at ginnyprior.com.