Bay Meadows

Bay Meadows resident (and prodigious blogger) Anna Rider will tell you she loves Bay Meadows for its walkability, access to public transportation and nearby restaurants and conveniences. But scratch beneath the surface, and you’ll discover that Anna is really all about community.

Whether she’s volunteering for the neighborhood Social Committee, digging in the garden at Persimmon Park, chilling with the ducks in Bay Meadows park or engaging her readers on the blog Garlic Delight, Anna attracts friends and followers in both her online community and in “real-life.”

“I like the values that Bay Meadows espouses, focused on bringing community together … so neighbors can meet each other and bridge the communication gaps that people who live in the suburbs can sometimes feel.”

Self-described “food nerds,” Anna and her physicist husband Alex host numerous dinner parties at their Bay Meadows home. While Anna is on a mission to demystify food and help her followers pick up skills along the way, she stresses that she aims to make healthful cooking and eating approachable and even fun.

And the whimsical drawings peppered throughout Garlic Delight? You guessed it – from the pen of Anna herself. It’s one way she creates a playful, welcoming space to learn about nutrition and gain cooking skills.

Humor is also a key ingredient in the blog. Anna and Alex’s videos take the viewer on an entertaining ride through a recipe – cooked while the clock is ticking. (for a nail-biter, view “How to Stir Fry Tofu, Cabbage, and Mushrooms in 15 minutes or less.” You’ll root for Alex to beat the clock!)

Farmers Market
As home-cooks dedicated to a healthier diet, Anna and Alex are evangelizers for farmers markets. “Not only do they mean access to healthy food, farmers markets bring that connection with the people who grow our food and that’s part of the draw for me,” Anna said. “Having a farmers market at Bay Meadows is setting up my environment for success.”

On Anna’s radar in the immediate future? Perhaps doing a pop-up at the farmers market. She’s also determined to bring award-winning cookbook author Kenji Lopez Alt to Bay Meadows for a grilling demonstration. All this is in addition to her full-time position in at a software company that helps Fortune 1000 companies organize their data.

For a taste of her boundless energy and passion, follow Anna on Garlic Delight and we’re sure you’ll become a longtime member of her growing community!

An ideally located community, Bay Meadows is only 10 minutes from Palo Alto, 20 minutes from San Francisco, and has 3 airports (SFO, OAK, SJC) within 30 miles. Bay Meadows is also located on Caltrain, which makes travel and commutes that much easier. Talk about convenient! Bay Meadows is the centralized place to reduce commutes, meet friends and play.  Looking for ideas of where to ride? Check out our bike map here.