Spotlight: This is Oakland
There’s a lot more to Oakland than meets the eye. And, longtime resident Melissa Davis is proving it with her new book This is Oakland: A Guide to the City’s Most Interesting Places ($34.99). “I have lived in Oakland for over 11 years and love this city,” says Davis, who penned the 200-page tome with museum-quality snapshots by photographer Kristen Loken. “I hate the bad rap that it gets, and I hate that people across the country, and even in the Bay Area, don’t ‘get it.’ I don’t need to go into San Francisco to shop at great boutiques or eat at top-notch restaurants. They’re all here and they’re amazing.”
For the book, Davis, a former editor at publications including 7×7 and Lucky, and founder of Oakland–based public relations firm, Ruby Press, and Loken, a photographer for clients such as Sunset and The Wall Street Journal, set out on foot to capture the city’s most beloved and undiscovered gems from ice cream parlors to cafés. “I have wanted to do something to help spread the word about all of the cool places in this city for a long time,” adds Davis. “It was when I moved my agency’s office from Berkeley to downtown Oakland that it hit me, ‘this is the time. This is Oakland’s moment.’ And, I wanted to capitalize on it by sharing what’s happening here, and doing it now.”
By Jennie Nunn
Pictured: The bartender at Heinold’s First and Lance Chance saloon in Oakland.
Photo by Kristen Loken