He became connected to the 8th Street Collective, a loose organization of Oakland residents, most of whom lost their jobs in the food industry and became active in local food distribution and mutual aid. This summer, the collective had an opportunity to fill an empty commercial space in Old Oakland where a restaurant wasn’t able to complete construction as planned. “We were talking about a potentially shared kitchen space, where folks could do pop ups and we could figure out what a new model could be,” Pareja says.
That vision has since resulted in Understory, a new restaurant, bar and shared kitchen that is working to become cooperatively owned. It will also serve as home base for the nonprofit Oakland Bloom, which runs a variety of programs to support immigrant and refugee chefs. The 8th Street Collective envisions that the operation of the restaurant and the nonprofit’s programming will complement one another and result in a nontraditional restaurant and community hub.