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.
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.
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%.
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.
Beer Revolution is located at 464 3rd Street, Oakland, CA 94607, USA.
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. Once seated, we were pleased to have a good view of the bustling 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.
First out was the scaccia of ricotta with porcini conserva.
As we enjoyed the first dish, out came the 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.
We enjoyed the malloreddus with ragu of pork, peppers and honey too.
The conversation and wine flowed, as often is the case with good friends.
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. We clearly liked it a lot since we ate the entire pie.
Dopo is located at 4293 Piedmont Avenue, Oakland, CA 94611, USA.
Final Thoughts on Our Oakland Evening
Good beer, good food and good friends. Our last evening in California was a success.
Hungry for More in the Bay Area?
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About the Authors
Daryl & Mindi Hirsch
Saveur Magazine’s BEST TRAVEL BLOG award winners Daryl and Mindi Hirsch share their culinary travel experiences and recipes on the 2foodtrippers website and YouTube. The married Food and Travel content creators live in Lisbon, Portugal.
