East Bay Cooks

“Finally, a book that spotlights the bootstrap, high-flying, gung-ho spirit that’s shaped the culinary creativity of the long-overlooked East Bay. Veteran food writer Carolyn Jung beautifully captures the stories of the people and savors that have made the region an exciting multicultural force in the food world.” —Andrea Nguyen, James Beard Award-winning author  “The East Bay is a place where cooks weave food traditions like strands in a nest, a mingling of dishes by new and long-settled immigrants, descendants of the Great Migration and of Berkeley’s culinary revolution, and chefs who cook to bolster community. Only Carolyn Jung, who combines the skills of a cook and a journalist, could tease it all apart so deftly and so deliciously.” —John Birdsall, James Beard Award-winning writer “East Bay Cooks shows how Oakland and its environs have grown to embrace myriad nationalities and cuisines to make it one of the most exciting destinations for good eating in the country, if not the world. —Rick Rodgers, culinary teacher and award-winning cookbook author  "With vivid photography by Eva Kolenko, Jung darts through more than 80 recipes from chefs in Oakland and Berkeley along with smaller cities like Livermore, Pleasanton and Walnut Creek. For Jung, who lives in the South Bay, research meant first-time visits to towns like Danville and restaurants like East End in Alameda, a hip spot focused on wood-fired pizza. 'It personally opened my own eyes to some really wonderful places I didn’t know about before,' she said." —San Francisco Chronicle