Vintage Forever

To donut or not to donut? That is, unbelievably, the question. We're in post-Lynchian times, and these days it feels like truth is stranger and scarier than fiction. Last week we published a review of George’s Donuts & Merriments. Per usual, we also posted the story to our social-media feeds, where folks expressed their displeasure over very recent reports of the San Francisco cafe’s ties to Trump.

Longtime dining writer Jeffrey Edalatpour weighs in on the matter:

When Homer Simpson thinks about donuts, his imagination lights up. His Pavlovian response is instantaneous. I’m the same way when it comes to donuts. I took Nathaniel, my partner of 15 years, to George’s during their opening week to celebrate his birthday but everyone in the dining room was excited to be there. The donuts didn’t disappoint. The staff was universally cheerful. The decor was thoughtful, tasteful, luxe.

I write about food because it excites me. When a new restaurant or bakery opens, I want to know about the chef, the recipes and the inspiration behind it. I wrote to George’s shortly after Nathaniel’s birthday and their publicist arranged an interview for me with co-owners Janina O’Leary and Lea Dudum on Jan. 16.

Dudum expressed her genuine desire to create a neighborhood cafe and a space for the community to gather. O’Leary, a longtime baking veteran, told me she spent 16 years perfecting her donut recipe. A lot of dedication and love goes into 16 years of adjusting a recipe.

On Jan. 22, the SF Chronicle broke the news that Dudum’s husband’s company Hims & Hers donated $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund. George’s publicist wrote me a note this week to say:

• George’s Donuts & Merriment is not directly associated with any public company.
• It is important to be clear that the donation came from the company Hims & Hers, not from Andrew.

But that clarification doesn’t change the fact that Andrew is the founder and CEO of Hims. With last week’s flurry of insidious executive orders and despotic cabinet appointments, I won’t be going back to George’s despite the good intentions of both of the co-founders. There are plenty of other places in the Bay Area that serve donuts with absolutely no connection, however tangential, to supporting the new presidential administration.

Should artisans be held responsible for the political affiliations of their financial backers? Let me know your thoughts at editor@eastbayexpress.com.

Other tales to tell in this week’s issue:

COVER STORY: Vintage shops thrive in Oakland with secondhand demand, while shopkeepers stay true to sustainability through trends and changing times. Read story
What 2025 means for East Bay real estate: More homes for sale, moderate price bump predicted in this “year of recovery.” Read story
David Lynch Forever: Honoring a legendary American filmmaker who changed movies and inspired artists worldwide. Read story
Social Eyes for the week of Jan. 30-Feb. 5 features Lyla June, “The Thing About Jellyfish,” Melissa Cruz and Kalifeña, MC Lars, John Santos Sextet & Friends, Saka, Jill Sobule, Cheryl Wheeler, L’Impératrice, and Samara Joy. Read story
Free Will Astrology for the week of Jan. 29 features astrologer Rob Brezsny’s inspiring stories, arboreal phenomenon and Polynesian prayers. Read story

—Samantha Campos, Editor

Vintage shops thrive in Oakland with secondhand demand

Oakland’s vintage shops may be one of a kind, yet many have similar beginnings. Karen Fort, owner of Mercy Vintage in Rockridge, attests: “There’s a lot of origin stories that start like mine.” Her mom was an antiquer, she says, and Fort began “treasure hunting” seriously after volunteering at a thrift shop during high school. […]

What 2025 means for East Bay real estate

Samantha Andres and Brandon Smith looked for their dream house in the East Bay with a two-car garage, three bedrooms and a man cave for almost five months in 2024, to no avail. Experts say they could have a better chance to find it this year without having to pay too much more. Alameda County […]

David Lynch Forever

We lost artist David Lynch on Jan. 15, just five days before his 79th birthday. As a writer, director, painter and designer, he spent his entire career finding ways to map the human subconscious, making movies that feel like glimpses of half-remembered dreams, scripts that turn dream logic into tactile reality and paintings that found […]

Social Eyes: Week of Jan. 30-Feb. 5

THURSDAY FOLK LYLA JUNE The Thursday After Hours at OMCA event will pair its current special exhibition, “Born of the Bear Dance: Dugan Aguilar’s Photographs of Native California,” with the multi-genre sound of Lyla June, a poet, musician, author and activist of Diné (Navajo) and Tsétsêhéstâhese (Cheyenne) lineages. Lyla June’s poetry and songwriting are unflinchingly […]

Free Will Astrology: Week of Jan. 29

ARIES (March 21-April 19): In medieval Europe, beekeepers made formal reports to their hives of significant events in the human world, like births, deaths, marriages and departures. They believed the bees needed to be continually informed so as to ensure robust honey production. The practice was called “telling the bees.” Let’s make this an inspiring […]