A few of the Bay Area’s favorite things are about to land in Oakland. That’d be Hella Juneteenth from the Last Supper Society team, the barbecue and party that, this year, spans a few days. On Wednesday, June 18, the Futureproof dinner starts the festivities, a multi-course tasting menu from multiple chefs, including Mariya Moore-Russell, the first Black woman chef to run a Michelin-starred kitchen, and Nelson German of AlaMar Dominican Kitchen. On Thursday, June 19, it’s time for the Cookout, a more casual outdoor affair with food from Fernay McPherson of Minnie Bell’s Soul Movement and Michele McQueen of Town Fare.
Ryan Royster and chef Byron Hughes are orchestrating the two-day extravaganza. The two have brought heat to Northern California’s dining scene since before 2018, but that’s when they launched the hugely popular Last Supper Society. The two gained traction through lots of pop-ups exploring Black foodways, even launching their own club in 2022. Tickets are on sale for both the seated dinner and cookout now.
The United States’s second-largest alcohol distributor Republic National Distributing Co. will no longer work in California after September 2, 2025. The San Francisco Chronicle reports this departure brutalizes an already limping regional wine industry. CEO Bob Hendrickson cited “rising operational costs, industry head winds, and supplier changes,” and a recent state-wide policy change making it “easier for beer wholesalers to sell liquor.”…