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$ 2 micro Brew beers tonight at Kitchener in Oakland for A Taste of Oakland.

Earlier tonight mrsth and I enjoyed a night out on the town in Oakland at A Taste of Oakland’s Uptown Block Party. The food/cocktail event included 24 participating Uptown Oakland restaurants and bars.

A Taste of Oakland was founded by two Oakland natives, Helen Wyman (of Oakland Events) and Lamont Dawson. Their mission is to promote local businesses, highlight Oakland’s assets, change perceptions of Oakland, build a sense of community between the residents and the business community and showcase the culinary revolution that has become prominent in the food industry, establishing Oakland as a culinary destination.

I’d say based on tonight’s successful event, they did just that.

Participating restaurants/bars included: Kitchener, Sweet Bar Bakery, Hawker Fare, Pican, Ozumo, Luka’s Taproom & Lounge, Plum Bar, Donut Savant, Era Art Bar & Lounge, Torpedo Sushi, Farley’s East, Anfilo Coffee, Vo’s Restaurant, Telegraph, The Legionnaire Saloon, Kingston 11 Cuisine (although they weren’t open yet), Hutch Bar & Kitchen, Rudy’s Can’t Fail Cafe, Make Westing, Somar Bar, Camber, Bench & Bar, Dogwood and Mockingbird.

The evening gave Oakland food and restaurant aficionados a great opportunity to sample a ton of different restaurants and bars over the course of the three hour event in stylish Uptown. It was a great opportunity to check out new places and plan for further dinners and reservations down the road.

My favorite restaurant of the event was the newcomer Mockingbird. They served a duck pate that was delicious! I’ve been wanting to try Mockingbird and that will probably be the next dinner I have out.

I also really enjoyed the North Carolina pull pork that Rudy’s Can’t Fail Cafe served, the pull pork sandwich served by Telegraph, the Thai food at Camber and the Four Roses Bourbon cocktail served by Hutch. The pork meatball at Ozumo was pretty tasty too. The restaurants were all within walking distance and it was priced at a very affordable $ 20 per ticket.

With 24 venues, the event had a lot of local community support, it felt like most of the restaurants in Uptown participated — although the woman at Catered to You was outside offering samples of her decadent buffalo french fries complaining that this was the second time she’d asked to be included and wasn’t. Hopefully she gets in on the next one.

Thanks for a great night out A Taste of Oakland. Looking forward to more of your great events in the future! #taseteuptown #tasteofoakland

To see more photos from tonight’s event, check out this set on Flickr here.

maitre d’ at Pican.

Serving at the Pop Up Outside Hawker Fare.

$ 5 specialty cocktails at a Taste of Oakland restaurants and bars. This one at Pican.

Hutch served an excellent Four Roses Bourbon cocktail along with popcorn popped in bacon fat.

A little Oakland street art between restaurants — a Homer Simpson / Stormtrooper mashup outside Hawker Fare.

Serving Thai food at Camber.

Torpedo Sushi was serving up their California roll on a potato chip.

The dreamland of neon cupcakes at Sweet Bar Bakery who were serving a taste of chocolate or ginger cookies.

Newcomer Mockingbird, my favorite restaurant of the evening.

Enjoying a cocktail at the bar at Ozumo.

Making Jameson and tea cocktails at Plum Bar.

That pork meatball at Ozumo was pretty damn good.

Serving pull pork sandwiches at Telegraph.

Thomas Hawk Digital Connection