Shnetz & Sovitsky turned this into a beautiful restaurant |
Often when I walk Telegraph
between, say, 46th and 51st, I think about the risks Thomas Shnetz
and Dona Sovitstky, owners of DoƱaTomas, took when they moved in to what was then a dreary, empty
block. Whenever I weave among the crowds in Uptown, I give them
another little Thank You for opening Flora (see right) when nothing else
was happening around the Fox Theater.
Driving Mandela on my frequent
West Oakland wanderings, I always give a nod to Tanya Holland and her
still lonely but always sweet Brown Sugar Kitchen, and pray for the
success of her newer, equally welcoming joint, B-Side BBQ, wedged
into a desperate stretch of San Pablo Avenue.
Same with Hopscotch, a little
down that same troubled street, owned and managed by chef Kyle Itani
and Jenny Schwarz. I'm pretty sure the building they're in used to
house a porn shop.
Still, even as Oakland's leaders
tout the city's ever expanding culinary splendor as a sign of hope
for greater peace and a new city reputation, shootings this summer in
Uptown and Jack London Square (again) and Downtown (again) make it
harder for me to tell visitors not to worry. How can I say it's safe
to head to those neighborhoods, to all those Oakland restaurants -- Boca Nova, Chop Bar, Duende, Flora, Ozumo, etc. -- with their gorgeous interiors and lively
atmospheres?
Do restaurants make a city
better? And if so, for whom? Well, they provide jobs, and I'm told
higher levels of employment lead to decreased crime. They introduce
neighborhoods to a broader community. I always thought crowds of
happy eaters were by and large peaceful crowds.
They make a neighborhood about
something besides its day-to-day struggle to survive. They enrich
identity, bring life to the lifeless. Or at least they try to bring
life. Not every build-it-and-they-will-come restaurant survives, no
matter how good its concept and execution. And certainly the veteran
businesspeople who've opened places in Oakland knew that.
I marvel at the faith, courage
and devotion of every Oakland restaurateur who, over the past 10
years, has moved into some moribund block, built a beautiful space,
and then trusted in his or her own talent, ideas and the taste of
Oaklanders, to succeed. I don't know if these owners and chefs saw
their ventures in part as civic crusades. I doubt they see themselves
as saviors. But despite our ongoing troubles, there are days here in
Oakland, sometimes in our quieter stretches, even sometimes after a
night of new bloodshed, when I do stop and think about what these
places mean.
B-Side BBQ on San Pablo Ave. (Pic from their site) |
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