This has been a stellar year for new bakery openings in the East Bay. To paraphrase Zuzu Bailey’s high-pitched exclamation at the end of It’s A Wonderful Life, “Every time a bell rings a bakery opens.” The list of newcomers includes Tarts de Feybesse, which got its brick-and-mortar up and running in Oakland, and Brian Wood’s second location of Starter Bakery on Solano Avenue. And after two years of cooking cakes and cookies out of her home kitchen for Bench, Sanaz Shariatzadeh has expanded her business into a second and much larger space. Mey recently opened in the former location of Crixa Cakes on Adeline. Shariatzadeh is slowly but surely filling up the shelves with her takes on quiches, cream puffs, cookies and cakes. An architect turned full-time baker, Shariatzadeh fulfilled her long-term dream of opening a cafe with Bench. But balancing her home life with daily bakes in a residential kitchen was a challenge. “I was baking until I passed out at night,” she said. “I couldn’t stop working because it’s my passion.” The upside of working from home was it gave her the flexibility to spend time with her kids. But she needed more room. “I wanted commercial ovens. My freezers, everything was small,” Shariatzadeh said. It was also difficult to separate the job from her personal life. “I enjoyed the past two years [at Bench] but at some point I was like, I want to move forward.” Bench, which actually has a bench that her husband Ali made and installed, embodies Shariatzadeh’s philosophical approach to hospitality. It’s a shared communal space where people can take the time to chill out with a cookie and a cup of tea. Mey, which means “wine” in Farsi, also has more permeable meanings when it’s used in more poetic contexts. Shariatzadeh has given the new cafe an evocative tagline: Stories, Sips, and Sweets. After we spoke on the phone, she emailed to further clarify the concept of mey. “Rooted in the spirit of Shirazi hospitality, mey reminds us to linger, to savor, and to share-to taste not only what’s on the table, but the beauty of connection itself.” Retaining some ceremonial aspects of traditional tea and coffee service has been an integral part of the experience at Bench. Shariatzadeh told me in 2023 that she wanted to introduce Persian tea culture to customers in addition to fulfilling everyone’s need for espresso, coffee and lattes. Mey will continue to serve both beverages. “We’re using Highwire Coffee and making cardamom and date lattes, two of the most popular drinks at Bench,” she said. My eyes got big as saucers when I stopped by Mey last week. Shariatzadeh’s quiche was the first thing I noticed. The bottom half of my slice was packed with butternut squash. It was similar to Fournée’s quiche, which also has a buttery, flaky crust and a nice filling that rises high. For dessert, I spied a cream puff and swallowed it whole. It was filled with a delightful amount of whipped cream. I hope Mey will add éclairs to the menu, or some version of a cream puff that’s dipped in dark chocolate, because her choux pastry is elegant and tender. Over the past couple of years, Shariatzadeh has continued to experiment with new recipes. “Now that I have a fridge, I can make cakes and other pastries that I wanted to make at Bench but couldn’t,” she said. Persian roulades were on display as well as spinach and feta hand pies, and pistachio cookies. “I started making cardamom syrups for lattes and in an apple cake,” she said. “But I’m trying to weigh what people like [at Mey]. It’s different here so I’m trying every day to have something new.” As she settles into Mey, Shariatzadeh will be adding items to the lunch menu. “I’m very into savory stuff,” she said. “At Bench, I started making different frittatas we call kuku in Farsi. We had a cauliflower kuku sabzi, which means herb frittata.” Shariatzadeh closed her note to me with her defining message of hospitality. “Every pastry and pour carries the warmth of welcome-a celebration of place, of presence, and of the simple joy of being together.”.
https://eastbayexpress.com/stories-sips-and-sweets-await-at-mey/
Tag: philosophical
45yo woman marries a 300yo ghost, calls it an intimate relationship. 10 months later, she had to get an exorcism
In 2018, 45-year-old Amanda Teague from Northern Ireland made headlines worldwide when she married the ghost of an 18th-century pirate during a ceremony at sea. Amanda called the specter her soulmate but later accused him of trying to “kill” her.
Amanda spent years as a Jack Sparrow impersonator at festivals, but her fascination with pirates soon evolved into something more mysterious. She claimed to have married the ghost of a 300-year-old Haitian pirate named Jack in a private ceremony held in international waters in February 2018.
### How Did Amanda Teague and Jack’s Relationship Begin?
Amanda’s connection with Jack began long before the boat ceremony. After losing her son in 2010, she turned to spirituality in search of answers and discovered what she described as a “link to the other side.” Five years later, she said Jack “presented himself” to her.
“At first, it was several months before I actually believed he was who he said he was,” Amanda explained. “Because it’s very hard to verify if a spirit is telling you the truth when their directory is three hundred years.”
Months passed, and Amanda eventually accepted Jack’s identity. The two began communicating frequently. She told interviewers that she and Jack married through a medium who relayed his consent, as a ghost obviously cannot sign legal paperwork. Amanda stressed that the physical body “isn’t really important” to her, describing their connection as “more about the energy” and “intimate rather than physical.”
### Why Did Amanda End the Marriage with Jack?
However, within months, Amanda noticed troubling changes. “The first time I noticed anything wrong was a couple of months after we got married. My house just kept getting worse and worse to the point that I ended up with sepsis and almost died,” she revealed.
According to Amanda, Jack was using her as a source of energy. She claimed he refused to “accept his own death” and wanted to continue living through her. After her sepsis operation, Amanda realized that Jack intended to harm her.
To rid herself of the ghost, she underwent an exorcism in December 2018. “It took me a while to figure out that it was definitely him who was doing it, and that he intended to harm me. So, when I realized that he did, I ended up having an exorcism,” she said.
By the end of 2018, Amanda publicly declared that the marriage was over. While admitting, “In a way, yes, I do regret it,” she remained philosophical about her unusual experience. She said it gave her many lessons and noted, “everything happens for a reason.”
### Fact-Checking the Story
Fact-checkers confirmed that the wedding ceremony did take place as Amanda described but emphasized there was no legal recognition of the marriage in Ireland or anywhere else because marrying a ghost is not a legalized form of marriage.
Amanda Teague’s story has since become a blend of modern ghost tale and viral folklore, captivating audiences fascinated by the paranormal and the extraordinary boundaries of love and belief.
https://wegotthiscovered.com/featured/45yo-woman-marries-a-300yo-ghost-calls-it-an-intimate-relationship-10-months-later-she-had-to-get-an-exorcism/