Pioneering soul food chef Tanya Holland, known for her fried chicken and waffles at several restaurants in the Bay Area of Brown Sugar Kitchen, is opening a new soul food cafe at the Oakland Museum of California (1000 Oak St.) called Town Fare.
The name is a reference to Oakland’s nickname as “the city,” a nickname mentioned everywhere from mainstream music to previous Golden State Warriors products. The project is part of a partnership between Holland and the Oakland Museum of California.
Holland Cafe will replace the museum’s Blue Oak Cafe, which will close to accommodate construction work in the first week of March. The space will reopen as the Town Fare Café in August.
The cafe is the first new Dutch business in the East Bay since Brown Sugar Kitchen opened in Uptown Oakland in early 2019. Around the same time, Holland closed Brown Sugar Kitchen in West Oakland, which has moved on. over a decade as a nationally recognized soul food destination. . Holland closed Brown Sugar Kitchen at the Ferry Building in San Francisco, its only such location in the city, in January. She said at the time that she was “working on exciting new opportunities,” and Town Fare was one such venture, with Brown Sugar Kitchen slated to open later this year at Oakland International Airport. .
Located on the second floor of the museum campus, Town Fare will serve breakfast, lunch and dinner in a quick and relaxed setting. Outdoor seating will be available on the three adjacent patios of the museum. The restaurant will be accessed via an ADA-accessible ramp under construction along 10th Street, and diners will also be able to access the cafe through the parking lot connected to the museum. Holland also plans to use the space for pop-ups and gastronomic events featuring other Bay Area chefs.
Update: This article has been updated to include the upcoming closure of the Blue Oak Cafe at the Oakland Museum of California, which Town Fare will replace in August.
City rate. Opening summer 2020. 1000 Oak St., at the Oakland Museum of California, Oakland.
Justin Phillips is a writer for the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @JustMrPhillips
Comments are closed.