There’s a reason you can’t Shazam any of the infectious Cambodian folk music that steals your attention when you walk into Nyum Bai in Oakland, California. For the perfect soundtrack for their lunch-and-dinner spot, owner Nite Yun and her boyfriend went down to the Cambodian Music Archive in Long Beach to get digital copies of 45-rpm records smuggled out of Khmer Rouge Cambodia. “The music was so crucial for us to find,” Yun says. “It’s such a special trip.” The 50s and 60s rock-and-roll celebrates the good times of Cambodia’s golden age, just like the pastel-accented restaurant. And it makes the food even more enjoyable, like the prahok ktiss dip, a medley of crunchy seasonal vegetables circling a bowl of stir-fried minced pork that was slowly simmered in coconut milk, sugar, spices, and prahok fish paste. You will want to keep scooping up the radiant red dip with your purple cabbage “spoon” for eternity. On your way out, you’ll feel full and happy, a feeling you'll soon realize is common when visiting Oakland.

Oakland is one of America’s most exciting food cities. While the last five years have seen a particularly strong spike in notable restaurant and bar openings, the thriving food scene isn’t a new chapter in the city’s history. “We’ve always had great food,” says ten-year Oakland resident and James Beard Award-winning chef Daniel Patterson. What sets Oakland food apart from cities like San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New York is that it’s grown for itself, not outsiders. "Oakland businesses have never relied on tourists, in part because there are almost no hotels in Oakland. What that means is that chefs cook for the people who live here. The restaurants stay really in tune with their communities,” says Patterson. “I think there’s something about a restaurant culture that evolves out of the spotlight that allows it to be more grounded in its community.”

“Are you going to SF?” many an Uber driver will ask you around the East Bay, where you’re separated from the big city by a wall of fog. No, you’re not. There’s way too much going on in Oakland to waste time exploring anywhere else. Plus there’s sun here.

Where to stay

Like Patterson said, there are not a ton of hotel options in the East Bay. But don’t worry—right on the border of Oakland and Berkeley you’ll find The Claremont Club & Spa, A Fairmont Hotel, which has been a part of the neighborhood since the early 1900s. Like Oakland, the hotel is undergoing momentous changes. It’s recently been updated with tennis courts, a sprawling spa, pools (where you just might see Warriors coach Steve Kerr getting in a swim), and an up-to-date fitness center, which means your home base can easily counteract all the meals you’ll be eating.

Where to spend your day

In Oakland, you’ll find a near-daunting number of restaurants vying to serve you your next meal. You can’t go wrong starting the day at the family-owned Grand Lake Kitchen, where you can brunch on the sidewalk and watch the Lake Merritt foot traffic jog, pedal, and power walk briskly by. After you take down the egg-topped, porcini batter-dipped savory French toast, you can join said pedestrians and walk around the lake to the nearby Oakland Museum of California.

Your biggest lunch-related problem will be choosing where to eat. There’s the fried chicken sandwich staple, Bakesale Betty; the food coma-inducing barbecue plates at Smokin’ Woods BBQ; the handmade dumplings of Shandong; the Middle Eastern magic of Dyafa where you must absolutely order the Steph Curry flatbread wrap, which will not make you a superathlete but it will make you feel good about eating tasty healthy things wrapped up in carbs.

If there is even a shred of room left in your stomach, it’s best to fill it with a few local Okaland beers. Jump into a beer crawl at Roses’ Taproom, an urban brewery adorned with dangling plants in terra-cotta pots and fresh bouquets of flowers—you know, just like your standard brewery. A sampler flight of three brews—like the Horchata y Churros bourbon-barrel aged rice porter—will only set you back $9. Hang a left down Telegraph Avenue, walking past the Korean shopping center, a guy wearing a “fuck you Trump, you suck” shirt, and a Church’s Chicken and you’ll find your second stop, Temescal Brewing. Here you’ll want to take your tasting flight, can, or pint of Breezy Days fluffy citrus blonde ale to the patio (you’re soaking up that Oakland sunshine, remember?) to linger a while.

Where to spend your night

When night falls, you can hit an Oakland A’s game, or a show at the Fox Theater, or a screening of something nostalgic like Animal House at Paramount Theater for their “Summer Throwback Thursday" series. The question is less what to do and more where to start. Mull over your evening plans at Ordinaire, a natural wine bar in the Grand Lake neighborhood. Take your funky glass or bottle out to the sidewalk so you don’t miss people watching opportunities like spotting a woman ride by on a Vespa wearing a helmet fashioned after a disco ball.

Your next moves may include trying E-40’s tequila at Lake Chalet, or dancing away your gluttony at one of the clubs on Telegraph. Some say the world’s best greyhound is ripe for the picking at Cafe Van Kleef. Then there’s Commis, a stone cold stunner that will make you fall back in love with fine dining. Maybe it’s the duck fat-washed armagnac cocktail talking, but the food’s so beautiful, creative, and delicious that you consider getting chef and owner James Syhabout’s name tattooed on your person. (Maybe don’t do this). It’s not just the glorious food or the chic, minimalist atmosphere of the place that steals your heart. It’s the completely unpretentious staff—perfectly suited up and professional, but down to sling jokes. Round out your meal at Syhabout’s CDP bar in the adjacent room, where you can frantically book your return trip.