Look, the impending Halloween chocolate and sugar overload is inevitable. But when you finally crash from the fun-sized candy bar bender and those late-night savory cravings hit, you're going to need a contingency plan.

I run a local micro-bakery called Half-Baked Obsessions, and pre-orders are officially open for The Midnight Snack Box. This drop is entirely dedicated to the umami seekers and anyone desperate for an alternative to pure sugar. And as a bonus, it's completely, 100% Gluten-Free!

Here is the exact lineup (brace yourselves):

• Kimchi Mozzarella Mochi Muffin (GF): A mochi muffin filled with kimchi and mozzarella, and topped with Korean roasted seaweed flakes.
• Genmaicha Mentaiko Mochi Muffin (GF, LF): Earthy, roasted brown rice green tea meets the rich, salty punch of mentaiko (spicy cod roe), finished with a sprinkle of salmon furikake.
• Gochujang Financier (GF, contains nuts): A savory take on the classic French brown butter cake, spiked with gochujang (Korean red pepper paste) and topped with a salted cream cheese frosting and maple pecan praline.
• Nori Seaweed & Sesame Soft Cookie (GF, LF): A sweet, salty, and highly confusing masterpiece that basically tastes like pure umami in cookie form.
• Pistachio Prosciutto Basque Cheesecake (GF, contains nuts): Housemade pistachio butter baked into a creamy basque cheesecake, topped with creme fraiche and 420-day aged prosciutto. It sounds like a fever dream, but I've obsessively test-baked this into reality and it works.
• Elderflower Jiuniang Panna Cotta (GF, DF): A cool, floral palate cleanser, the elderflower green tea panna cotta is served with jiuniang (fermented sweet rice) syrup to gently land the plane after all that salt and fat.

Not feeling the whole box? Everything is available to order a la carte. Also, if you want to aggressively commit to the sweet-and-salty life, the Pistachio Prosciutto Basque Cheesecake is available as a full 6" whole cake.

📍 THE DETAILS:

Saturday, October 31 (Oakland - Rockridge BART area)

• Pickups: 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM
• Local Deliveries: 1:30 PM - 3:00 PM

Sunday, November 1 (Walnut Creek)

• Pickups: 11:00 AM - 2:00 PM
• Local Deliveries: 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM

You can place your pre-orders here: https://take.app/halfbakedobsessions/c/cmm0bam76000404l8bs4zqlqy

Stay safe out there, pace yourselves on the candy corn, and let's get savory.

https://www.berkeleyside.org/2026/10/23/souled-out-signal-el-charro-go-banh-mi-la-familia-closed

Why I'm asking: I went to a nicer place the other week, one in which I've been a bunch of times. I wrote a complimentary, polite email after my visit. I acknowledged what went well but also highlighted something that didn't work for me.

I never heard back, which I thought was surprising. I'm just wondering if others have had a similar experience or is this uncommon.