Berkeley International Food Festival June 29, 2008

SAVOR THE WORLD WITHOUT LEAVING THE BAY AREA
In its third year, the Berkeley International Food Festival invites you to savor the myriad of ethnic cuisines that West Berkeley's International Marketplace has to offer. The festival's title sponsor is Bayer HealthCare, based in West Berkeley with research, manufacturing, and sales offices throughout the world.

Take a culinary trip to experience the aromas and tastes of worldwide cuisine - foods of India, Spain, Pakistan, Thailand, Jamaica, Hawaii, Mexico and Central America. The third annual Berkeley International Food Festival, which takes place from noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday, June 29, showcases West Berkeley's International Marketplace restaurants, specialty food markets and unique import shops, and will feature cultural activities. The International Marketplace has ethnic cuisines, ingredients to prepare dishes from around the world, gifts and specialty items you won't find anywhere else in Berkeley. In fact, you'll be pressed to find this wide of a variety of cooking ingredients within walking distance in any Bay Area city.

The Festival is a brightly defined promenade, fanning out from the intersection of San Pablo and University Avenues. Festivalgoers can visit eateries and food markets along the promenade for restaurant specials, chef cooking demonstrations, exotic food products and the utensils needed to prepare them, and the sampling of dozens of international dishes. Live entertainment, specialty food booths, community tables and amusements are featured.

This Festival features several entertainment spots throughout the International Marketplace District. (map)

The main attraction is the Kitchen on Fire cooking stage, hosted by celebrity Chef MikeC. from the acclaimed, hands-on north Berkeley Kitchen on Fire cooking school. Take a seat and watch guest chefs prepare dishes from around the world utilizing ingredients from the International Marketplace specialty food stores, and then sample them. Treat yourself to demonstrations, including the 5,000 year-old art of tortilla making by Picante Cocina Mexicana.

Don't miss the Berkeley International Folk Festival (link) at Freight & Salvage Coffee House from noon - 5:00 p.m. with no admission charge. Freight & Salvage is on Addison Street east of San Pablo Avenue. Go to http://www.thefreight.org for more details.

Visit the west side of San Pablo and Addison. Mi Tierra Foods' Kiosko, will be decorated with colorful papel picado (paper cut outs strung in the air) and features Latin American and Mexican food, Aztec dancers and live cumbia and Mariachi music.

Paint the town on public art canvases and watch artists from Fourth Street Studio construct the Blick Community Mural on the outdoor wall of the West Berkeley YMCA on Tenth Street near University Avenue. Enjoy food, crafts, and local jazz. Tantalize your senses at a Sari Fashion Show, with South Asian DJs, belly dancing, and henna painting. In addition, enjoy samples of Indian food and cardamom ice cream -- all at Karma Corner (at University and Tenth Street).

Hula down to the Temple Bar Tiki Bar & Grill and listen to the Royal Hawaiian Ukulele Band and watch Pacific Island dancers. Sample the luau combination plates with Hawaii's favorite foods. Kona Longboard beers will be served. Come back after 5pm to our official after-festival PARTAY!

Sample paella at the Spanish Table (San Pablo Ave., between Hearst and Delaware), then take a walk down the street a bit to Indus Village for classical Pakistani music. Stroll a bit further and catch capoeira, and samba lessons/demonstrations as well as sample Brazilian food at Casa De Cultura, formerly known as Capoeira Arts Café and World Dance Center, in their new West Berkeley location at San Pablo Avenue and Hearst Street.

Visit Lanesplitter's Patio Garden for a pizza slice and a beer. Then keep walking down San Pablo Avenue until you reach Jamaican Soul Restaurant where you can sample jerk chicken, curry goat and vegetarian dishes and listen to DJs spin hot Reggae all day. Your next stop is to sample cheeses from around the world at Country Cheese, and watch cheese-making demonstrations. Cross the street and stop in at the newly opened Chaat & Curries for their special -- muglai paratha, a pocket bread filled with meat and veggies.

This is just a sampling of what will greet you at the Third Annual Berkeley International Food Festival. Everyone in the District is waiting for a chance to tantalize your tastebuds and show you a good time from noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday, June 29. Please join us.

Bayer HealthCare, the Berkeley International Food Festival's title sponsor, has provided valuable and on-going support to the Berkeley community. Bayer is the Bay Area's second-largest biotech employer, and in Berkeley manufactures Kogenate, a treatment for hemophilia.

Wells Fargo Bank, the City of Berkeley and the West Berkeley Neighborhood Development Corporation are major sponsors of the festival.

For more information about the festival, call 510-845-4106.

Official Website: http://www.berkeleyinternationalfoodfestival.com/