When Julio Covarrubbias got his first job in the vineyards, he knew nothing about wine. “My passion for wine was born while doing seasonal work in the fields,” he says. “I was 17 when I began working for the Wente family and 38 years later, I still work for them.”

Covarrubbias is now vineyard manager for Wente Vineyards, a fourth generation family-owned winery with more than 2,000 acres of vineyards in the Livermore Valley, which is located about 20 miles East of Hayward.

There were mini cupcakes, green enchiladas, French mussels, and crescent shaped Chinese dumplings. There was Hayward-brewed beer, and wine from Oakland, Brentwood and Livermore. There were restaurants with 30-year legacies and revered BBQ recipes, and internationally trained chefs with upscale menus boasting locally sourced ingredients.

Había mini pastelitos, enchiladas verdes, mejillones franceses, y ‘dumplings’ chinos en forma de media luna. Estuvo la cervecería artesanal de Hayward, y hubo vinos de Oakland, Brentwood y Livermore. Había restaurantes con legados de hasta treinta años y recetas para BBQ de admirarse, y chefs internacionalmente entrenados con menús de alta cocina preciándose de la utilización de ingredientes locales.

Alfonso Dominguez is a busy, and innovative, man. The Oakland native is owner of Tamarindo restaurant and co-founder of popuphood, a small business incubator that was recently nominated for the Oakland Indie Awards. His latest venture is El Taco Bike.

“It was a project that I had for a long time in my head,” says Dominguez. “The taco truck concept does not exist in Mexico - there it is very common to

Alfonso Dominguez es un hombre muy ocupado e innovador. Nacido en Oakland es dueño del restaurante Tamarindo y co-fundador de ‘popuphood’, una incubadora de pequeños negocios, proyecto que recientemente fue nominado a los Oakland Indie Awards. Su más reciente proyecto es El Taco Bike.

The story of chocolate begins in Latin America, and two women in Berkeley are eager to share it. Last month, Amelia Gonzalez and Arcelia Gallardo, opened Casa De Chocolates, a chocolate and pastry store honoring the flavors, ingredients and designs native to Latin America.

Gallardo, the chocolatier, began her journey with chocolate following her first bite of See’s Candies. “Growing up in Los Angeles, See’s Candies was the ultimate chocolate,” she said. “But even so, I never liked the fillings.”