Which restaurants are at these East Bay ghost kitchens?
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Oakland s The Bussdown Brings Creative Pan African Soul Food Mainstream
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Staffers Ashley (left) and Ella at the new Cupcakin’ Bake Shop location in the former Virginia Bakery space in North Berkeley show off the wares. Photo: Joanna Della Penna
When Nosh posted its list of February openings and closings this time last year, there was very little hint as to the looming pandemic lockdown and ongoing months of crisis soon to come. Looking back now, it is remarkable to note that despite the year’s unparalleled challenges, only three of the 18 East Bay food and drink businesses that opened last February have since closed.
Hard-won resilience stories from that February 2020 list include the resurrected Persian restaurant Alborz in downtown Berkeley; U :Dessert Story, still treating folks on Shattuck Avenue; Oakland’s Shawarmaji, that has since morphed from a pop-up to a popular brick-and-mortar; Nibs, a former El Cerrito favorite now slinging pancakes and burgers in West Oakland; and Arizmendi Emeryville, that overcame more than a year of repairs after
2353 E. 12th St. (at Miller Avenue), Oakland
For their new Oakland pan-African soul food restaurant The Bussdown, chef-owners Solomon Johnson and Mike Woods shop local markets for the freshest ingredients, make every sauce from scratch and break down whole chickens using every single part of the bird from the rendered-down fat to the bones to make chicken stock.
The level of detail that Johnson and Woods devote to the food they craft isn’t surprising given their culinary pedigree they met while working at high-end catering company Paula Le Duc and rubbed elbows in the kitchen at Tribune Tavern, where Woods was chef du cuisine just before the pandemic hit. They also have past experience at Copper Spoon, The Wolf, Gather, alaMar, Sobre Mesa among other East Bay dining destinations, and for the past few years, Johnson ran his own catering company called Omni World Kitchen prepping meals for tech workers, professional athletes and rappers.