This Legal Home Kitchen in Alameda Is Firing Up the Backyard Tri-Tip Party

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After a long and contentious battle, home cooks in Alameda County can now legally serve food from their houses, and the SF Chronicle stopped by to check one out. Lee Thomas of GrilleeQ fired up the smoker and opened up his backyard this past Saturday, September 11, and it sounds like a tri-tip and Motown party. The Chron says GrilleeQ is one of the first legalized “microenterprise home kitchens” in the Bay Area, among eight others for now, and there are 23 more currently applying for permits. [SF Chronicle]

In other news ...

• Park(ing) Day, that holiday where people take over parking spots and create parks available to the public, lands this year on Friday, September 17. It’s really a precursor to how parklets became part of the permanent landscape of San Francisco. To celebrate, Izzy’s Steakhouse is serving prime rib to their generous and comfortable parklet. And if you want to check out others, click right this way for the coolest parklets in SF.
• Mooncakes are landing in Oakland. After taking a hiatus last year, the Oakland Little Saigon Mid-Autumn Festival is back this Saturday, September 18, from noon to 5 p.m., Berkeleyside reports. Stop by Clinton Park for music, games, lanterns, mooncakes, and street food. [Berkeleyside]
• Smoky Scotch and mezcal lovers, take note, here’s something new to taste: Hangar 1 Vodka in Alameda has debuted a smoky vodka, made from fire-tainted Napa grapes, Mercury News reports. [Mercury News]
• And sadly, in terms of fall festivities, the Half Moon Bay Pumpkin Festival has been cancelled for the second year in a row due to COVID concerns, KRON4 reported first.