In its 10 years serving lauded gumbo, salted cod and skillet-fried chicken, Miss Ollie’s has been a gathering place for just about everything its Old Oakland community needed.
Birthday celebrations. Funeral receptions. And, following the murder of George Floyd, meetings between Mayor Gavin Newsom and local Black leaders on policing and criminal justice reform.
Now, the beloved Afro-Caribbean restaurant at 901 Washington St. is closing its doors at the end of the month. Chef-owner Sarah Kirnon told KQED that the economics of trying to keep a restaurant alive during the pandemic took too much of a toll.
But it was challenging even before the pandemic, with Oakland’s real estate frenzy making casualties of beloved and affordable restaurants across the city for the past five years.
James Syhabout’s Hawker Fare closed in 2017, and Preeti Mistry’s Juhu Beach Club shuttered the following year. This January, Tanya Holland’s iconic Brown Sugar Kitchen officially closed after 15 years, first in West Oakland and later on Broadway. That same month, Luka’s Taproom & Lounge, often credited with revitalizing the Uptown business scene, ended its 17-year run on the block after the landlord doubled the rent.
An email sent to Kirnon was not immediately returned, but the chef-owner told KQED that Miss Ollie’s will live on in some form, likely as a small takeout window and catering operation based out of a new Oakland location. She is also at work on a nonprofit project that will host outdoor art and food events focused on Oakland’s Black and Brown communities.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Source: www.mercurynews.com