Culinary adventures in Oakland's Chinatown

At 10 o’clock on a Monday morning, there are few people out and about on Franklin Street in Oakland’s Chinatown. “I start early to avoid the crowds. Believe me, this area will be busy later,” Naomi Friedman tells our small group.

We’ve gathered to join East Bay foodie on a culinary-cum-cultural tour of the neighborhood.

Our small group all know Chinatown pretty well in that we’ve whizzed through by car many times, or dashed through on foot, or parked and zoned in on one of the many restaurants for a meal. But none of us have previously stopped to smell the spices, wonder at the vast array of exotic and familiar fruits and veggies — so reasonably priced — or to contemplate the array of mysterious dried ingredients waiting to be discovered.

Friedman’s tours take in such diverse neighborhoods as Berkeley’s Monterey Market district and gourmet ghetto (if you’re not familiar with the gourmet ghetto, let me know and I’ll make sure to post on that in a hurry), Oakland’s Fruitvale district, and San Francisco’s North Beach and Clement Street. They came into being when people attending her cooking classes asked where to buy specific ingredients. “I thought we’d better go shopping,” she laughs.

A Sensual Experience

Tours like Friedman’s are becoming increasingly popular. To explore a neighborhood through its markets, eateries and food outlets is a sensual experience, a lot of fun and a great way to learn about a new culture in a sense from the inside out — through its cuisine. And on a tour like Friedman’s, you’re learning how to shop. Unlike when you go with a list to buy familiar things, “here you browse and compare produce and prices and it’s a real experience,” she says.

Friedman, a long-time Slow Food advocate, starts her tours by handing out a postcard-sized guide with store names and addresses, a sheet with a couple of recipes for those who want to try out cooking a dish at home, and a pen for note-taking. “One of the delights of Oakland’s Chinatown is that, unlike San Francisco’s, it’s not filled with crappy tourist T-shirts and cheap toys,” she says.

“Real people live here, shop here and eat here.”

She shares some of her favorites — places like Yuen Hop Noodle (824 Webster St.), “for any kind of noodle you can imagine”; Sun Sing Pastry (382 Eighth St.), where I buy a sublime cream horn; Delicious Food Co. (734 Webster St.), where we snack on pineapple and lotus blossom moon cakes; Sam Yick Market (362 Eighth St.), “for everything,” says Friedman as we browse their mammoth tea selection, shelved near the kitchenware.

Culinary Adventure

Her tours all end with lunch and we have ours at Shanghai Restaurant (930 Webster St.), which she alternates with Shan Dong (328 10th St.)

Soon as we’re sated, Friedman sends us on our way to join the crowds thronging the busy sidewalks. We’ve had our close encounter with Oakland’s Chinatown. And how easy it was. In half a day we’ve had a culinary adventure. We’ve learned about the sites, the tastes and the smells of a culture less familiar than our own — all in our own backyard.

Copyright: W. Hennig — 2009

Photos: Wanda Hennig