Oakland’s Magic Kitchen
A series of culinary experiences that sparks children’s eagerness to help in the kitchen, hosted by Fairyland’s new puppet mascot, Quercus, and local Guest Chefs!
Children’s Fairyland partners with Visit Oakland to invite the culinary curious for a very new event series, Oakland’s Magic Kitchen! Hosted by Quercus (kwur-kuhs), Fairyland’s brand-new puppet mascot, and a Guest Chef from Oakland’s culinary world, each event engages the audience in playful kitchen antics and demystifies the basics of cooking.
The final cooking show of the year is approaching soon and you are cordially invited to meet, greet, and eat. Saturday, November 11 will be a day filled with food, community, and wellness—it's a 3 for 1!
11:30 a.m.: Join us in Aesop’s Playhouse for Oakland’s Magic Kitchen. Teaming up for one day only, Chef Mica Talmor, the owner and creative force behind Pomella, and Quercus, Fairyland’s furry mascot, spark children’s eagerness to help out in the kitchen while sharing food facts and culinary basics. Together, we’ll watch in awe as Mica whips up a unique recipe for an apple and veggie salad plus fresh pita bread–the same pita bread served at Pomella! Onstage alongside Chef Mica, Quercus will ask questions to unveil the magic behind creating the delicious, nutritious treat.
After the show, all guests will have the chance to taste and take home the recipe!
But that's not all—explore the park and check out some incredible community partners joining us for this fun, food-filled day:
1-3 p.m.: Community Kitchens is bringing their Mobile Oasis to the park. It’s a new food-justice tool getting food and water to those in our community who need it. Inspired by ice cream trucks, the painted school bus plays music by local musicians to let folks know when Community Kitchens’ high-quality meals are available for anyone who needs them! They’re designing a new snack pack for kids and your kids will get to taste the options and vote for their favorites!
1-3 p.m.: Stop by Roots Community Health Center for an enriching activity and to learn more about their various programs, including the Roots Community Market that provides a variety of free nutritious foods and hygiene products to community members.
It’s a Saturday service! The lineup of Oakland's Magic Kitchen chefs:
September 16: Chef/Owner, Tamearra Dyson, Souley Vegan (*Oakland Vegan Trail Restaurant!)
October 7: Chef/Owner, Imani Greer, Roasted and Raw (*Oakland Vegan Trail Restaurant!)
November 11: Chef/Owner, Mica Talmor, Pomella
*What’s the Oakland Vegan Trail?
Visit Oakland launches the Oakland Vegan Trail, an online gastronomic guide that boasts 20+ plant-based restaurants found in The Town. With culinary hot spots serving up delicious globally inspired vegan cuisine from American to Chinese to Ethiopian, Filipino, Mexican, Thai and so much more, visitors can taste their way around the world – all while staying in Oakland. There’s even vegan coffee, donuts, and ice cream!
Often referred to as the “Brooklyn by the Bay,” Oakland has an abundance to offer visitors, particularly when it comes to food – specifically, plant-based food. Visit Oakland has carved out a culinary experience that caters to vegans. The trail showcases the city’s lively vegan food scene while highlighting local vegan gems ranging from family-owned eateries, to popups, to startups, to those recognized by the highly regarded Michelin Guide.
The Oakland Vegan Trail includes an overview of each restaurant, with menu highlights, location, and contact information. A detailed map directs visitors to the array of vegan restaurants scattered throughout Oakland’s vibrant neighborhoods. The online guide also includes a hearty sidebar that lists Oakland’s Vegetarian restaurants.
Chef Tamearra Dyson of Souley Vegan and Chef Imani Greer of Roasted + Raw are featured on the Oakland Vegan Trail. Check out the more than 20 vegan restaurants on the map: visitoakland.com/restaurants/oakland-vegan-trail/
Chef/Owner, Tamearra Dyson
Chef Tamearra Dyson was a single mother with zero capital when she opened her first restaurant in 2009 with about $20 something dollars in the cash register and built it from there. This 2,700 ft location now serves as the flag ship location. Since Covid 2020, Chef Dyson has opened three Souley Vegan ghost kitchens in Las Vegas, San Francisco and Los Angeles. In addition, Tamearra has recently opened a sister location that sits right behind the original Souley Vegan location in Oakland. The new restaurant is called “The Back Porch, which a Cajun bar with upscale bites and serves as a “little sister” to Souley Vegan.
Recently beating Bobby Flay on the January 20, 2022 episode A Deal to Beat Bobby was the culmination of her years of hard work and her passion and creativity of vegan cooking. Having been on The Food Network a few times before, but appearing on Beat Bobby Flay was something that chef Dyson is terribly excited about. Chef Dyson holds so much respect for Chef Flay, not only for what he’s accomplished but how far he has come with his work and dedication.
Chef Dyson having come from an extremely underprivileged background enjoys motivational speaking, mentoring others, and of course the obvious…creating new recipes. Public speaking is her passion, and she wishes to one day have more time to dive into this area as she feels that she has a lot to share. Her wish is to inspire and motivate others,
Chef Dyson has accumulated many accolades from best vegan restaurant to best soul food restaurant to being voted one of the top 10 soul food restaurants in the country by USA Today. She was also voted entrepreneur of the week by Black Enterprise. She has served celebrities such as Stevie Wonder, Erykah Badu, and Eric Benét. Additionally, her okra gumbo was voted a Weight Watchers favorite for Oprah Winfrey‘s “2020 Vision: Your Life in Focus” tour.
Chef Dyson has been invited to speak at Tesla, several colleges, and the list goes on. Her goal is to have a future cooking show and speaking engagements, allowing her to share her story with others.
To find Tamearra on social media:
IG @SouleyVegan
Twitter TamearraDyson
Linkedin Tamearra Dyson
Website TamearraDyson.com
Website Souleyvegan.com
To book Tamearra, contact:
Jackie Lewis, Jackie Lewis Media
Email: jcjackiel@yahoo.com
Chef/Owner, Imani Greer
Restaurant: Roasted and Raw
Website: www.roastedraw.com
Imani Greer, originally from Madison, Wisconsin, has been cooking since the age of 8 yrs old. From HIgh school classes, onto to completing culinary school, Imani has been blessed and fortunate to have traveled and lived in several cities along the chef journey. From the midwest like Chicago, to the east coast in Boston/NY, and to the south with Atlanta, and even sushi in the Virgin Islands, these different cultures have now come together as a melting pot of global flavors.
After 21 yrs in other restaurants, from fine dining, to farm to table, to hotels/resorts, and private chef and catering services, Greer has now reduced it all onto a concentrated, quick service bowl shop menu. It first started as a meal prep service for a plant based gym in Oakland, CA in the prime of Covid-19 in 2020. After much success and raving reviews from clients, they suggested he turn these meals into a full restaurant, serving them “a la minute” fresh to order. The rest is history. Once his first pop up shop went better than expected in 2021, he now has purchased his first brick and mortar space in downtown Oakland. Greer truly believes a healthy bowl shop, partnered with a juice/smoothie bar in the heart of a city that is desperately searching for fresh, healthy concepts, Roasted and Raw is going to revive that need and satisfy it.
About the restaurant:
Roasted and Raw is a 100% plant based rice bowl shop. Besides bowls, the diverse menu includes such classics as black bean burgers & Mac n Chz, to Bay Area staples such as empanadas and burritos. It’s fast casual, offering sit down, take out & 3rd party deliveries.
Chef/Owner, Mica Talmor
Mica Talmor grew up in northern Israel in a family where, like many other Jewish families, feeding people was a way of showing love and affection. She attended culinary school in Israel and worked in high-end Tel Aviv restaurants before coming to San Francisco in 1998 to attend pastry school at the California Culinary Academy. After graduating, she worked as a pastry chef at Eos in San Francisco and Grasshopper in Oakland. From 2005 to 2018, Talmor and her then-husband, Robert Gott, operated Savoy Events, a high-end catering company. In 2015, they opened Ba-Bite, a successful fast casual Israeli restaurant on Piedmont Avenue in Oakland that was featured in Food & Wine, Sunset and on KQED’s “Check, Please!” before it closed in 2018 due to a rental dispute. In March 2020, with funding through a Kickstarter campaign, Talmor opened Pomella, an Israeli deli and eatery on Piedmont Avenue. Pomella's approachable menu combines impeccably sourced California produce with the traditional flavors of the Middle East, North Africa, the Mediterranean, and eastern Europe.
Our Fairyland Family is Growing! Meet Quercus – our brand new puppet mascot!
Our Fairyland Family is Growing!
Meet Quercus – our brand new puppet mascot!
Once upon an oak tree, there perched a mythical creature of the most curious kind. With its ears and tail mimicking the shape of oak leaves, it camouflages among the trees and casts a silhouette and shadow unlike any other ever seen before. Its wings are curiously sized and while they aren’t large enough for flight, they are just the right size for gliding gracefully between branches and trees.
This curious creature has a curious name: Quercus! And Quercus is curious in every way.
Quercus is observant, inquisitive, playful, and incredibly alert! Their ability to camouflage in the oak trees allows them to see, hear, and feel the world around and below them very easily. Quercus is always learning from their surroundings because they’re always listening. They know so much because they ask so much! They ask so much because they see so much! They see so much because they’re present with all of their senses! Quercus is always learning by watching, listening, feeling, smelling, touching, tasting, and being one with the world around them.
Fun Facts:
Quercus is an omnivore living in a symbiotic, harmonious relationship with the grove in which they dwell feasting on invasive plants, fungi, and insects harmful to the trees. Bark beetles and termites are their favorites!
Quercus can be quite the rodenty little rascal, never missing an opportunity to chase a squirrel–it’s great exercise! If Quercus ever catches up to a squirrel, they’ll likely ask for a hug! Quercus loves a cuddle.
There’s only one thing Quercus loves more than a cuddle, and that’s a question! Quercus loves to learn new things so they’re always asking questions and sharing what they’ve learned!
