Note that if you are headed into San Francisco, the massive APEC international conference running through Nov. 19 is going to pose traffic issues. More about that is here along with a map detailing the more heavily affected areas.

And, as always, be sure to double check event and venue websites for any last-minute changes in health guidelines. Meanwhile, if you’d like to have this Weekender lineup delivered to your inbox every Thursday morning for free, just sign up at www.mercurynews.com/newsletters or www.eastbaytimes.com/newsletters.

1 SEE, HEAR & LAUGH: Here comes Tiffany

Tiffany Haddish, one of the funniest humans on the planet (and there are a lot of funny humans on the planet) is headed to Oakland’s Paramount Theatre on Saturday. Here’s what she has to say about her comedy tour.

2 DINE: Mexican-Japanese deliciousness

Good Luck Gato, a new joint in Oakland, applies the fun izakaya formula to a Mexican-Japanese menu. Intriguing, huh? We checked the place out recently and here are our thoughts.

3 WATCH: Godzilla’s best performance since …

Yes, the giant lizard and underrated actor is back in the terrific new series titled “Monarch: Legacy of Monsters.” It tops our list of new shows and movies you should totally watch this weekend.

4 COOK: Get a head start on Thanksgiving

No, we aren’t expecting you to start cooking your bird this weekend, but here’s how you can get a jump on the holiday. And if you’re thinking of grilling your turkey this year, here’s a sure-fire recipe for that.

5 BREW & QUAFF: Coffee cocktails, anyone?

Jordan Michelman and Zachary Carlsen identify themselves as coffee journalists, so you know they must be brilliant. And their latest book explores how to employ coffee in some mighty tasty cocktails.

6 SEE & HEAR: Great shows are all over

Smuin Ballet is back with the company’s beloved holiday show (feather boa and all). And that’s just one of the great shows going on this weekend.

7 PLAY: Surprising new ‘Mario Bros’ game

We recently checked out the new “Super Mario Bros. Wonder” game. One of its charms is the way it keeps defying expectations.

Pronounced like “people,” Pippal opens Nov. 18 on the second floor of the Bay Street Emeryville shopping mall. The husband-wife duo behind it, Anu and Vikram Bhambri, intend to serve dishes from across the 1.3 million square miles of India, which promises a significant amount of variety and flavor profiles. Think whole Dungeness-crab masala with lemongrass and coconut from Kerala, a chicken dum biryani with curried peppers from Hyderabad and sweet Malai Kulfi from Delhi. Oh, and there’s a menu of craft cocktails inspired by India’s architectural wonders like the Red Fort and Taj Mahal. (Cocktail foam-heads take note: That last one comes with a topping of mascarpone foam.)

Need more details on the menu? The restaurant shared this deep dive in an email: “Guests will delight in Goan Chorizo Pulao served with fried onion, crispy bacon and garlic raita; experience staple southern Indian street food with Mini Idli Pepper Fries seasoned with gunpowder podi and served with a curry leaf coconut chutney; savor the bold flavors of Chicken Tikka Tiranga and Anjeer and Green Banana Seekh Kebabs; dive into main dishes like Kerala Dungeness Crab Masala, a tasty delicacy of Kerala, India, and served with lemongrass and coconut; Chicken Dak Bungalow that comes surrounded by Pippal’s take on traditional masala — the onion poppy masala; and much more.”

Pippal’s sister restaurant in San Francisco, ROOH, is listed in the Michelin guide, which praises its “innovative menu that fuses the subcontinent’s myriad flavors with modern restaurant staples (oysters, pork belly, burrata).”

Pippal is the second Michelin-connected restaurant to arrive this year at Bay Street Emeryville, which is shaping up to be an actual food destination. Right next door is Flores, a Mexican restaurant that opened earlier this month whose San Francisco location received a Michelin Bib Gourmand award.

Details: Open 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m. daily beginning Nov. 18 at 5614 Bay Street, Suite 235, Emeryville; eatatpippal.com

Sure, you can’t stuff the turkey ahead. The potatoes taste best when cooked and mashed the same day they’re served. And the gravy, made from turkey drippings, is still a last-minute chore.

But you can make the cranberry sauce, salad dressing, braised red cabbage and dessert in advance and tuck them in the refrigerator or pantry, depending on the dish.

That’s your insurance policy for sanity on the big day.

Pumpkin Cake with Buttermilk Icing

The flavors in this delicious pumpkin Bundt cake continue to develop when made a couple of days in advance. I like to serve it with ice cream; when I can find it, my ice cream choice is pumpkin or rum raisin.

To make ahead: Cake can be made 3 days ahead and kept in an airtight container at room temperature.

Yield: 12 servings

INGREDIENTS

One 10-inch nonstick Bundt pan (3 quart)

1½ sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened, plus additional for greasing Bundt pan

2¼ cups all-purpose flour plus additional for dusting pan

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon ground allspice

1/2 teaspoon salt

1¼ cups canned solid-pack pumpkin (from a 15-ounce can; not pie filling)

3/4 cup (well-shaken) buttermilk

1 teaspoon vanilla

1¼ cups granulated sugar

3 large eggs

Icing:

2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons (well-shaken) buttermilk

1½ cups powdered sugar

DIRECTIONS

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 10-inch nonstick Bundt pan generously, then dust with flour, knocking out excess.

Whisk together 2¼ cups flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice and salt in a bowl. Whisk together pumpkin, 3/4 cup buttermilk and vanilla in another bowl.

Beat 1½ sticks butter and granulated sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes, then add eggs and beat 1 minute. Reduce speed to low and add flour and pumpkin mixtures alternately in batches, beginning and ending with flour mixture and mixing until batter is just smooth.

Spoon batter into pan, smoothing top, then bake until a wooden pick or skewer inserted in center of cake comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes. Cool cake in pan on a rack 15 minutes, then invert rack over cake and reinvert cake onto rack. Cool 10 minutes more.

While cake is cooling, whisk together buttermilk and powdered sugar until smooth. Drizzle icing over warm cake, then cool cake completely. Icing will harden slightly.

— Gourmet magazine

Spiced Sherry-Laced Cranberry Sauce

Sam Dixon, the author of the new “A Very Vegan Christmas,” writes that adding a “tipple” to the cranberry sauce is a suitably festive idea. He includes a sherry reduction in his cranberry concoction, but explains that you can add a splash of water instead.

To make ahead: Can be prepared five days in advance. Cool completely; remove the orange rind, cloves and cinnamon stick. Pour cooled mixture into a clean glass jar or other nonreactive container and seal with lid. Refrigerate.

Yield: 4 to 6 servings

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup sherry

1 pound fresh or frozen cranberries

1/3 cup plus 1½ tablespoons granulated sugar, or more to taste

3 whole cloves

Rind of one orange, cut into wide strips with a swivel-bladed vegetable peeler

1/2 cinnamon stick

1/2 cup water

DIRECTIONS

Place sherry in a saucepan and boil on medium-high heat until reduced by half in volume. Add remaining ingredients and cook over low heat for 10 minutes or until the cranberries are broken down a little and become slightly jammy.

Remove from the heat and when ready to serve, remove orange rind and cinnamon stick. Serve warm unless making in advance.

— Sam Dixon, “A Very Vegan Christmas” (Hamlyn, $20) 

Red Cabbage with Cranberries

There are many variations on the braised cabbage theme. This version has a lot of pizzazz because it includes dried cranberries as well as fresh or frozen cranberries. The tart edge creates a nice balance with the sweetness of brown sugar and balsamic. It reheats well and is, in fact, better the second day.

To make ahead: Cool and refrigerate airtight in nonreactive container. Reheat on medium heat, adding a tablespoon or two of water if it is dry.

Yield: 8 servings

INGREDIENTS

2 tablespoons butter

1 medium red onion, halved top to bottom, thinly sliced

1 medium red cabbage

1 tart apple, such as Granny Smith, peeled, cored, coarsely chopped

3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, or to taste

2 tablespoons brown sugar, or to taste

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

3 tablespoons dried cranberries

2/3 cup fresh or frozen cranberries

Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

DIRECTIONS

Melt the butter in a Dutch oven or pot on medium-high heat. Add onion and cook until onion softens but does not brown, stirring occasionally, 4 to 6 minutes.

Quarter the cabbage, remove the central hard core and discard, then cut the rest crosswise into thin slices. Add to pot with the onions and all remaining ingredients, seasoning well.

Stir and cover and cook over low heat for 1½ to 2 hours, stirring occasionally. The cabbage should be completely soft. Taste to check seasoning; you may want to add more vinegar or sugar, as well as salt and pepper and then cook for another 5 minutes to let seasoning be absorbed. Serve at once if desired, but the mix will taste even better the next day.

— Diana Henry, “Roast Figs, Sugar Snow: Food to Warm the Soul” (Mitchell Beazley, 2009)

Green Salad with Ina Garten’s Creamy Vinaigrette

I always serve a green salad on Thanksgiving. Mixed green lettuce concoctions have always been a part of our family meals — and it’s an easy last-minute toss. I have the salad bowl and tongs set out and the dressing and ready-to-use lettuce are in the fridge. I ask a guest to toss it while I’m preparing the gravy.

To make dressing ahead: Place dressing it in an airtight nonreactive container, such as a glass jar, and refrigerate it up to 2 days. Shake well before using.

Yield: 4 to 5 servings

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup good olive oil

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1/4 tablespoon honey

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon minced shallot

5 cup mesclun mix or salad of your choice

DIRECTIONS

In a small bowl, whisk together the oil, vinegar, mustard, honey, salt, pepper and shallots until the vinaigrette is emulsified.

Toss the greens with enough dressing to moisten and serve immediately.

— Ina Garten, foodnetwork.com

Sweet Potato Crunch

This classic casserole is dandy for holiday meals because much of the work can be done the day before. Sweet potatoes are mashed with butter, sugar, Grand Marnier and orange zest, then topped with a spicy, buttery streusel for a final bake.

To make ahead: Transfer the mashed mix to an 8-inch square baking dish and let cool. Then cover with foil and refrigerate for up to 24 hours. About an hour before serving, bake the refrigerated spuds for 15 minutes, before continuing with the recipe.

Yield: 8 servings

INGREDIENTS

4 pounds sweet potatoes, unpeeled; see cook’s notes

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

2 tablespoons Grand Marnier (or orange juice)

1 tablespoon packed light brown sugar

1¼ teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon grated orange zest

Topping:

2/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/3 cup packed light brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon table salt

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

DIRECTIONS

Peel the potatoes. Transfer potato flesh to large bowl and mash until smooth. Stir in melted butter, Grand Marnier, sugar, salt and orange zest. Transfer potato mixture to an 8-inch square baking dish and spread into an even layer with rubber spatula. (Casserole can be refrigerated, covered, up to 24 hours at this point. Reheat, covered, for 15 minutes before proceeding with recipe.)

For topping: Whisk flour, brown sugar, salt and cayenne together in bowl until fully combined. Stir in melted butter until mixture forms clumps. Break into pea-size pieces and distribute evenly over sweet potato mixture.

Bake, uncovered, until topping is fragrant and darkened slightly in color and potatoes are hot, about 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool for 25 minutes before serving.

— America’s Test Kitchen

Award-winning food writer Cathy Thomas has written three cookbooks, including “50 Best Plants on the Planet.”

These were all once nicknames for Petaluma, a charming little city in the agricultural bosom of Sonoma County. By the early 1900s, a booming poultry industry, driven by a locally designed egg incubator, saw the area producing 120 million eggs a year. There were Egg Day parades led by Egg Queens, the world’s only poultry pharmacy and more money on deposit in the banks, per capita, than any other place on earth.

But how chickeny is Petaluma… now?

To find out, my partner and I drive into the countryside under a misty sun that looks like a big egg yolk. We carry the determination of Cool Hand Luke to eat 50 eggs or explode trying. Entering Petaluma, evidence of its feathered past peeks out from every corner. Chickens are painted on fading shop walls, metal roosters stand outside a restaurant, and the fairground harbors a huge sculpture of a white hen. That last one requires occasional repairs, because the local children like to ride it like a horsey.

For breakfast, we stop at Stellina Pronto, an Italian bakery downtown that makes a stellar egg frittata. The owners used to run Osteria Stellina in Point Reyes; when that closed during the pandemic, they opened this casual place which serves pastries, sandwiches and third-wave coffee accompanied by Straus dairy. The counter is piled so high with fresh-baked treats, we have a brain fizzle – do we want a breakfast puff with Point Reyes Toma cheese … or tomato focaccia … or a hazelnut brutti ma buoni (a Piedmontese meringue whose name means “ugly but good”)?

Eggs. Eggs. Eggs. Get here before 11 a.m., if you want the best chance of snagging Stellina’s fluffy frittatas, which come with local Caggiano Italian sausage and Hobbs ham or fresh veggies with herbs and cheese. They’re slow-cooked in a cast-iron skillet with organic eggs from Coastal Hill Farm, a co-op west of town that gets Instagram raves like: “Your eggs r the best we have ever had in our lifetime! The color looks like yellow velvet and the taste is insane!”

Our thirst for albumen now lit, we head out in search of the real, raw deal. The countryside around Petaluma is peppered with farm stands that sell fresh eggs by the dozen. They’re usually more expensive than at grocery stores, but you’ll taste the difference in quality when whipping up something delicious at home.

We pull up at Hicks Mountain Hens, an unmanned stand that sells fresh eggs ($10 per dozen) and raw honey and that has a coin-operated machine for chicken feed. When we approach the machine, what previously was an empty nearby field becomes a sea of chickens – thousands of beaks and beady eyes and flapping wings pressing against the wire fence. A tourist family delights in the frenzy, with the little girl tossing feed into the hive-mass of poultry.

Up the road is Tenfold Farmstand, tucked in a historic two-room schoolhouse that dates back to 1895. Barn shelves are stocked with chard and eggplants and mini Juliet tomatoes, as well as organic vegetable starts for your garden. Inside are intricate floral arrangements, baskets of the season’s last strawberries – dark-red and deeply fragrant – and the treasure we seek: fresh eggs from Tara Firma Farms, with yolks like liquid gold ($15 a dozen).

Tenfold is something of a community hub. On Friday mornings, it has live farm music and Blooms End, a traveling bakery pop-up with a cult following. And the events lineup includes vintage-clothing sales, holiday fairs, kids’ book swaps and classes on making kokedama – Japanese-style balls of moss for growing ornamental plants.

While we now have eggs – which will later be transformed into sponge cake and fresh pasta – what we don’t have are answers. How did Petaluma get to be such a poultry town? We head to the free Petaluma Historical Library and Museum located downtown in a gorgeous Andrew Carnegie library, which has a permanent exhibit about the local chicken industry on its upper mezzanine.

There’s a 1950s egg-cleaning machine with long screws like some backwoods torture device, poultry lung and kidney removers and photos of one of the city’s many Egg Queens who marched in egg parades. This Queen’s wearing a feathered dress and posing on a chicken sculpture among her adoring retinue – a barnyard Venus de Milo.

It was around the 1870s, when a local dentist named Isaac Dias patented an artificial egg incubator, that the industry started taking off. The incubator sped up the process of hatching, allowing hens to skip nesting duty and lay more eggs. By 1925, Petaluma was the largest poultry center in the world with 2 million hens, and by the time World War II rolled around, it had hit peak production of 612 million eggs a year.

Dias was later joined in marketing his incubator by a fellow named Lyman Byce. When Dias died in a suspicious duck-hunting accident, Byce endeavored to take the credit for the invention and erase Dias’ name from history. At the museum, a portrait of Dias has his face blank because no photos of him exist anymore. Downtown there’s a mural of Byce by “his” incubator; hunched over and sporting a shady mustachio, he literally looks like he’s stealing eggs.

Petaluma eventually fell from poultry prominence due to a variety of reasons, including industry automation and lack of government subsidies. We study a USDA poster about egg quality – an AA egg means the “white is thick, stands high” – then head out for more eggs, this time in liquid form. Barber Lee Spirits is a craft distillery whose barrel-tasting room sports a mural of a fierce rooster. You can get flights of double gold-winning spirits such as single-malt rye, heirloom-corn bourbon, absinthe and moonshine, or cocktails as expertly made as anywhere in San Francisco.

At this point, we’ve become well-enough acquainted with eggs that we want to meet their grown-up relative, the chicken. Across the way is Easy Rider, a restaurant that opened last year whose chef, Jared Rogers, specializes in Low-Country cuisine from Appalachia and the Carolinas.

We grab a seat at the bar, where our server presents us with a glassy vitrine covering a smoky plate of steak tartare with muffuletta olives, house steak sauce and… a country egg ($18). Can’t avoid them! Then comes a platter-for-two of fried chicken marinated in Frank’s RedHot and served with collard greens, bacon-topped mac ‘n’ cheese and a silver tureen of herby-white bacon gravy ($35.50).

The meat is supremely juicy under its crackling, salty, paper-thin crust. The gravy seems like a hat on a hat, but that’s Southern cooking – we dip everything into it, with no regrets.

“What came first, the chicken or the egg?” Who knows: We’re just happy to enjoy it all here in the still-kicking poultry heartland of Petaluma.

If You Go

Stellina Pronto: Open 6:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Wednesday-Monday at 23 Kentucky St., Petaluma; stellinapronto.com.

Petaluma Historical Library & Museum: Open 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Thursday-Sunday at 20 Fourth St., Petaluma; petalumamuseum.com.

Tenfold Farmstand: Open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday-Sunday at 5300 Red Hill Road, Petaluma; tenfoldfarmstand.com.

Hicks Mountain Hens: 7590 Point Reyes-Petaluma Road, Novato; instagram.com/hicksmountainhens

Barber Lee Spirits: Open from 3 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday at 120 Washington St., Petaluma; barberleespirits.com.

Easy Rider: Open daily from 4:30 p.m. at 190 Kentucky St., Petaluma; easyriderpetaluma.com.

Winter squash are natural, vibrant vessels ideal for stuffing with wholesome grains, dried fruit and nuts. There are many squash varieties that love to be stuffed, including butternut, acorn and kabocha. If the squash are small, you can serve them individually with their tops as a lid, or if they are large, you can halve or quarter them and spoon the filling over the centers, relying on the serving platter to catch the overflow.

Acorn squash are tidy vessels for this recipe. When cooked until very tender, their shell is edible. They can easily serve one as a main course or be split to share. Shiitake mushrooms add a satisfying meat-like texture to the veggie filling and provide savory, umami depth of flavor. Choose your favorite grain, such as quinoa, rice, farro or bulgur. The squash can be roasted and stuffed in advance of serving for easy entertaining.

Lynda Balslev is a Marin cookbook author, food and travel writer and recipe developer.

Recipe

Stuffed Acorn Squash With Quinoa, Shiitakes and Cranberries

Serves 4 as a main course or 8 as a side dish

Ingredients

2 acorn squash, halved horizontally

Olive oil

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Maple syrup, for brushing

6 ounces shiitake mushrooms, stemmed, halved if large, then thinly sliced

1 medium shallot, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon dried thyme

2 tablespoons fresh orange juice

2 cups precooked grain, such as quinoa or brown rice

1/3 cup dried cranberries

1/4 cup coarsely chopped pecans

2 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley leaves, plus more for garnish

1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest

Directions

Heat the oven to 400 degrees.

While the squash halves are roasting, heat 1 tablespoon oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the mushrooms and saute until they release their juices and begin to brown, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer to a plate.

In the same skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil. Add the shallots and saute until soft, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the garlic and thyme and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds, then add the orange juice to deglaze the pan. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the cooked grains, cranberries, pecans, parsley, orange zest, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper. Taste for seasoning and add more salt if desired.

Fill the squash halves with the grain mixture. (The squash may be prepared in advance to this point. Cover and refrigerate for up to 4 hours. Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes before baking.)

Arrange the squash on a baking tray. Transfer to the oven and cook for 10 to 15 minutes to heat through. Serve warm garnished with parsley.

Their Mountain View location — the original in this chain that serves big breakfasts with their famous blueberry coffeecake — will shut down just after Thanksgiving, at the end of business Sunday, Nov. 26.

“My husband and I have witnessed the ebbs and flows of Silicon Valley. The pandemic was like a sneaker wave that no one saw coming, and we are still emerging from it,” she said in the announcement. “Hobee’s Mountain View, for all its cozy charm, is outdated and in need of costly repairs.

“While we’re excited about our new concept in downtown San Jose, we are going to have a very tough time saying farewell to Hobee’s Mountain View and all of its dedicated regulars.”

Founder Paul Taber and family opened in Mountain View in 1974, and readers of The Mountain View Voice have chosen Hobee’s as the city’s Best Breakfast more than 40 times, Chijate said.

Mountain View fans won’t have far to go for their Hobee’s fix, however. The Palo Alto location is two miles away, and the Sunnyvale one about five miles away. Up the Peninsula is the Redwood Shores location.

The Mountain View employees will be offered jobs at one of those locations, Chijate said.

And a new restaurant is coming. In June, the Chijates announced that they will open an eatery and beer garden in downtown San Jose’s Germania Hall, a North Second Street landmark since the late 1800s. Working has been proceeding on that location since summer, with an opening date expected soon.

Details: Until closing day, the Mountain View Hobee’s will serve from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 2312 Central Expressway; www.hobee’s.com

Unionized Starbucks baristas plan to hold their biggest strike yet this week, accusing the coffee giant of refusing to fairly negotiate at cafes that voted to organize.

Thousands of employees at hundreds of sites will mount one-day work stoppages on Thursday, according to the union Starbucks Workers United.

Also see: Here’s what this year’s Starbucks holiday cups look like

The strike is pegged to the company’s Red Cup Day, a popular promotional event when Starbucks gives out holiday-themed reusable cups. The union says Starbucks has illegally refused to negotiate in good faith over issues including staffing and scheduling that are particularly onerous during such promotions.

“Starbucks has made it clear that they won’t listen to workers, so we’re advocating for ourselves by going on strike,” Oklahoma City employee Neha Cremin said in an emailed statement.

In an email, Starbucks said it’s the union that’s refusing to fairly negotiate. The two sides have disagreed in many store locations about ground rules for the meetings, including whether workers should be allowed to participate via videoconference.

On Monday, the coffee chain alleged that it’s been months since the union agreed to meet for contract talks, while the union claimed Starbucks has refused to meet unless workers agreed to illegal infringements on their rights.

“We are aware that Workers United has publicized a day of action at a small subset of our U.S. stores this week,” Starbucks said. The company, which denies wrongdoing, said it hopes that the union’s “priorities will shift to include the shared success of our partners and working to negotiate union contracts for those they represent.”

Workers United has prevailed in elections at more than 350 of Starbucks’ roughly 9,000 corporate-run US stores, starting with a landmark win nearly two years ago in Buffalo, New York. California has at least 28 unionized stores, with 12 in Southern California and 14 in the Bay Area (see list below).

Regional directors of the US National Labor Relations Board have issued more than 100 complaints against the company, alleging illegal anti-union tactics including closing stores, firing activists, and refusing to fairly negotiate at unionized cafes. At the first two stores to unionize, the agency alleged the company “bargained with no intention of reaching agreement.”

Investigations and appeals in such cases can drag on for years, and the agency lacks authority to issue punitive damages or hold executives personally liable for wrongdoing. So the union has sought to deploy other forms of pressure, including outreach to politicians, customers, and students at universities where Starbucks has contracts. On Nov. 16, striking workers plan to visit non-union cafes to talk to fellow baristas about joining their efforts.

List of unionized Starbucks in California, according to unionelections.org.

Bay Area locations:

Berkeley: 2224 Shattuck Ave.

Capitola: 1955 41st Avenue

Fairfield: 1450 Travis Boulevard

Oakland: 1211 Embarcadero

Pleasanton: 511 Main Street

San Francisco (2): 4094 18th Street, 744 Irving Street

San Pablo: 14330 San Pablo Ave A

Santa Cruz (2): 745 Ocean Street, 1909 Mission Street

San Jose (2): 1338 The Alameda, 1430 Monterey Hwy

Santa Clara: 71 Washington

Sunnyvale: 1291 S. Mary Ave

Other California locations:

Anaheim: 1570 South Disneyland Drive, Suite 105

Anaheim: 131 East Katella Avenue, Unit 10

Barstow 2489 Lenwood Road

Encinitas: 905 Orpheus Ave.

Huntington Beach: 6502 Bolsa Ave.

Lakewood: 4833 Candlewood St.

Long Beach: 3390 East 7th St.

Los Angeles: 138 South Central Ave.

Los Angeles: 3241 Figueroa St.

Los Angeles: 6066 W. Olympic Blvd.

La Quinta: 79845 Highway 111, Suite 104

Sacramento

San Diego: 1240 University

Santa Maria

Persimmon, pomegranate and rosemary celebrate the season and impart festive flavor and color to an oozing, molten wheel of Camembert cheese baked with pecans and honey. Slather it onto toasted crostini or crackers for an easy, fuss-free party snack.

Camembert is Brie’s bolder, earthier sibling and pairs beautifully with the fruity flavor of pomegranate and persimmon, although Brie certainly can be substituted. Used up all your pecans in your pies? No problem, just substitute walnuts or almonds instead.

You’ll see two varieties of persimmons in local markets. The flatter, tomato-shaped Fuyu persimmon is the one to use for this recipe. It’s less astringent than its bulbous cousin, the Hachiya, and can be sliced and enjoyed raw or briefly baked, as it is here. (Save the Hachiya for steamed puddings and other sweet baked goods.)

Baked Camembert with Persimmon and Rosemary

Serves 8

INGREDIENTS

8-ounce round Camembert cheese, such as Le Chatelain

3 Fuyu persimmons, sliced into 1/8-inch thick slices

¼ cup chopped pecans

2 tablespoons honey

2 tablespoons fresh rosemary leaves

Sea salt

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Place the Camembert in the center of a cast iron skillet and score the rind in a cross-hatch pattern. Fan out the persimmon across the base of the skillet surrounding the Camembert. Top the Camembert with the pecans.  Drizzle the honey over the Camembert and persimmons and sprinkle with the rosemary and some sea salt.

Bake in the oven for 20 minutes or until the persimmon is softened, and the Camembert is molten inside. Serve with toasted crostini or crackers.

Registered dietitian and food writer Laura McLively is the author of “The Berkeley Bowl Cookbook.” Follow her at @myberkeleybowl and www.lauramclively.com.

Portland, Oregon-based coffee journalists Jordan Michelman and Zachary Carlsen recently released their second book, “But First, Coffee: A Guide to Brewing from the Kitchen to the Bar” (Union Square & Co., $20) that highlights the best ways to use a bag of coffee beans — including some Bay Area-inspired cocktails. We spoke with Michelman to learn more.

Q: How did this cookbook come about?

A: My co-author Zachary and I publish a daily coffee news and culture website about everything from cool coffee shops in the Czech Republic to new coffee brewing gear and equipment. In 2018, we did our first book, “Rules of Coffee” with Ten Speed Press, about the history of coffee. At some point, it dawned on us that we may have written the first coffee book ever that never actually told you how to make a cup of coffee.

For this book, we wanted to pull together everything we’ve learned about how to appreciate coffee as a delicacy in your own home, starting out with a cool bag of coffee and asking: What are all the things you can do? It turns out, there’s quite a lot.

Q: Can you tell us about the Bay Area-related recipes for Irish Coffee and Chartreuse Cappuccino?

A: We were in San Francisco, when we finalized the agreement for the book, and we agreed that any sensible coffee lover with good news like this should go and celebrate at the Buena Vista Cafe with Irish Coffee. And we did, and they were wonderful and perfect.

(But) we ordered a zero proof Irish Coffee along with the classic and had a funny experience: They made us a beautiful drink, but it didn’t have anything different, they just omitted the whiskey. It was a challenge for us to play with that format, pay homage to this place we love, but adapt (the drink) in a way that drew on other tips and tricks to make a fun zero-proof take.

For the Chartreuse Cappuccino, I have to give all the credit to Paul Einbund at The Morris. This is his drink. He’s really one of the foremost experts on Chartreuse in the world. It’s such an interesting, brilliant drink, and his approach involves steaming the milk and the Chartreuse together along with a little bit of Indonesian dark sugar. It’s the most delicious, frothy, wonderful drink.

Q: Are there new coffee trends you’re noticing these days?

A: It used to be that there were a lot fewer roasters for a coffee shop to subscribe to. Certain roasters would limit who could be part of their wholesale program, and it felt like a record label or something — if you served that coffee menu, you were part of the cool crew. (Now,) lots more mom-and-pop places are roasting their own coffee. And it’s not just coffee shops — it’s bakeries roasting their own coffee, like at Craftsman and Wolves. They’re able to roast their own coffee in a way they say complements their pastries. And there’s been a proliferation of collaborative roasting spaces where a cafe can rent time and space and roast their own.

Find “But First, Coffee: A Guide to Brewing from the Kitchen to the Bar” online and at local independent bookstores via https://bookshop.org/.

Authors Jordan Michelman and Zachary Carlsen praise San Francisco’s iconic Buena Vista Cafe for popularizing the drink, but note they’ve got a few ideas on how to make an excellent one at home with some small changes.

“Our two big departures here are the whiskey and the sugar,” they write.

Mostly Classic Irish Coffee

Makes 1 drink

INGREDIENTS

Hot water heated to 180 degrees for preheating the glass

Splash of Demerara Simple Syrup (recipe below)

4 ounces (1/2 cup) hot filter coffee (ideally a daily drinking blend from your favorite roaster)

2 ounces (1/4 cup) Irish whiskey (Tullamore D.E.W. is traditional, but we also like Knappogue Castle, Green Spot and Writers’ Tears)

Frothed cool cream, in the style of Buena Vista Cafe (see below)

DIRECTIONS

Preheat your glass with the hot water — fill it nearly to the top and allow it to sit for at least 30 seconds to fully warm the vessel. Ideally, you’re using a traditional Irish coffee tulip, but any heatproof 6-ounce glass will do.

Discard the preheating water, then add a splash of Demerara Simple Syrup to the heated glass. Add the coffee, then pour the whiskey.

Gently, carefully, with a practiced hand, float a layer of frothed cool cream on top of the drink. Serve immediately.

Demerara Simple Syrup

Makes 12 ounces

1 cup Demerara sugar

1 cup water

Directions: Add the sugar to a small saucepan. Pour 1 cup of water over, then bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes.

Allow to cool completely, then store in a bottle or flask with a sealed lid. It will keep for 1 month in the refrigerator.

Frothed cool cream

The cream-float bit at the end is tricky, to the consternation of bartenders worldwide, but a few tips can work wonders. First, do not overwhip your cream — you don’t really want “whipped cream,” but rather a lightly frothed cream. Pour the cream over the back of a metal spoon, which will slow down the pour and create an even, unbroken layer of cream and coffee. The drink should appear “sealed,” with no frothy cream dropping down into the coffee.

— Reprinted with permission from “But First, Coffee: A Guide to Brewing from the Kitchen to the Bar” by Jordan Michelman and Zachary Carlsen (Union Square & Co., $20)