Oakland Evening with Great Food and Beer

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The skies cleared as we left San Francisco. The rainy part of our trip was behind us, just in time for us to enjoy a fun Oakland evening with friends.

Oakland Evening – Drinks at Beer Revolution

We started the evening with drinks at Beer Revolution, a cool bar with an excellent craft beer selection, both in bottles and on 48 taps. The divey yet hipster atmosphere reminded us of Philadelphia bars, so we felt at home despite the selection of mostly west coast beers.

Beer Revolution

Mindi had a glass of The Bruery’s seasonal Trade Winds, a Belgian-style golden ale with a hint of Thai basil and an ABV of 8.1%. Daryl had a pint of 101 North Brewing Company’s Golden Naked Ale, a drinkable beer with an ABV of 5.3%.

Beer

After the beers, we walked around Jack London Square. In addition to enjoying the view, we were struck by how the area has changed in the three years since our last visit. Oakland is definitely an up and coming city.

Oakland Evening – Dinner at Dopo

After a too-short walk, we headed to Jon Smulewitz’s Dopo on Piedmont Avenue for dinner. It’s a good thing that we had made reservations in advance, as the restaurant was hopping on a Monday night. Always a good sign for a restaurant. We were seated right away and were immediately struck by the laid back neighborhood vibe of the restaurant and the high ceilings.

Al & Marilia at Dopo

We were pleased to have a good view of the bustling open kitchen.

Dopo’s Open Kitchen

Since we were with good friends, we ordered several dishes to share from the day’s menu. We also ordered a reasonable bottle of Rosso Bello, a pleasant blend of Montepulciano, Sangiovese and Cabernet Sauvignon.

Bottle of Wine and View of the Room

First out was the scaccia of ricotta with porcini conserva.

Scaccia of Ricotta with Porcini Conserva

As we enjoyed the first dish, out came the fritto of squash blossoms.

Fritto of Squash Blossoms

The antipasti were winners and reminded us food we had eaten in Rome a few years ago. Our taste memories were heightened by the arrival of the two house made pastas, especially the tonnarelli cacia e pepe which reminded us of the pasta that we ate in Rome’s Jewish ghetto neighborhood.

Tonnarelli Cacio e Pepe

We enjoyed the malloreddus with ragu of pork, peppers and honey too.

Malloreddus with Ragu of Pork, Peppers and Honey

The conversation and wine flowed, as often is the case with good friends.

Feasting with Friends at Dopo

Of course, we had to try the house specialty, the Dopo pizza with diced anchovies, chile flakes, mozzarella, tomato sauce, oregano and pecorino romano cheese. The pizza was prepared Neapolitan style with thin crust, and we must have liked it a lot since we ate the entire pie.