Linda

Josephine is great for the monetary part. Having a place in Oakland and San Francisco is expensive!

“I own a vegetarian/vegan restaurant in Oakland called En Cuentro on the corner of 2nd and Clay. We’ve been open about 6 years. I’m not a vegan so sometimes I like to cook meat so Josephine works perfectly for that. I like to cook slightly elevated comfort food with a little twist. The last meal I did was a Mississippi Roast. It’s a slow cooked chuck roast that has interesting ingredients. I did that with some cheesy grits and cole slaw that has as zip to it from the horseradish I use. I also made sandwiches from the meat with a really nice aioli with really nice rolls from Arizmendi. For the sandwiches I didn’t want to do the cole slaw so I quick pickled carrots, cauliflower, grapes, and onions. And for desert I made a pineapple upside down cake.”

“Today I’m gonna make chicken and dumplings with a green salad. I’m also making a double chocolate banana loaf. It’s banana bread gone crazy. It’s chocolate, and hit has chocolate chips in it, and the bananas. It’s just really scrumptious. Nothing crazy.”

“I was born in San Francisco, I grew up in Oakland. I went to Piedmont high school. I’ve lived my whole life in the bay. I’m very lucky with an embarrassment of riches. I like part of the week in Oakland and part in San Francisco. My husband and our cat live in San Francisco. He moved here from New York 30 years ago. He works at Rainbow grocery in the supplement department for 25 years.”

“I love Rainbow! Going there on a Saturday is better than going to a club. There’s all sorts of interesting, healthy, vibrant people.”

“Haha, yeah!”

“How’d you find out about Josephine?”

“I read about it. I read all the food blogs. It’s great for the monetary part. Having a place in Oakland and San Francisco is expensive.”

“I used to do installation art but it was nothing anyone could buy so after awhile I stopped making art and started focusing on employment. About 10 years ago I started making art seriously again. Mostly drawing and smaller things that were more tangible. I also play in a band. We do a lot covers. A lot of Tom Waits.”

“What do you play?”

“I play the ukulele. I sing…and I play some rhythm instruments. We’re called Skimpy Portions.”

“What inspired you to play music?”

“I saw a band play the whole album Purple Rain all the way through on ukulele. My mind was blown so I started my own band.”

Find out what your neighbors are cooking at https://josephine.com/

Originally published at www.soulsofsociety.com on July 20, 2016.