Temescal, the bucolic neighborhood in north Oakland, still holds some surprises. On March 23, I was headed to Doughnut Dolly, the popular piped-to-order donut shop in Temescal Alley – one-time stable houses that now hold barbers and boutiques – when I saw a sign for a Sausage Meat-Up. Better yet, the monthly pop-up was just getting started, and the people behind it work at Pizzaiolo, Charlie Hallowell’s contemporary Italian restaurant.
In fact, the Meat-Up was on Pizzaiolo’s back patio, which features a garden with red brick beds, tables with colorful tablecloths, and during my visit, a charcoal grill and keg of Trumer Pils. Clearly, a stop was necessary. Gregg Cashmark and a woman named Nicole were the two Pizzaiolo chefs behind this endeavor, and they represented the restaurant well. Each plump, coarsely ground pork sausage cost $8 and included coriander, caraway, and garlic. Each link came on a dreamy Acme torpedo roll with mustard, and if you liked, caramelized onions. Punchy vinegar-soaked Calabrian chilies for an extra buck? Why not? They even poured cups of Trumer Pils, sourced from Berkeley’s favorite one-beer brewery, for $4.
In Temescal, life is normally relaxed. Now, once a month, matters get extra meaty.
Dose of Vitamin P spotlights my favorite pork dish from the previous week.
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