Oakland, CA – A new restaurant, Bocanova, with its unique “Pan-American kitchen” created by Rick Hackett, executive chef at San Francisco’s popular MarketBar, and his wife and front-of-the-house partner, Meredith Melville, opened September 1st. Bringing new life to a 1926-vintage ice warehouse, Bocanova will feature dishes inspired by the cuisines of South, Central, and North America showcasing their Mediterranean roots and featuring great Northern California raw ingredients, many of them sources from small sustainable farms. Specialties might include fried Petrale Sole tacos, Yucatan seafood stew, slow-roasted heirloom beans with chorizo, Sea of Cortez scallops with Brazilian curry sauce, organic rotisserie chicken with guajillo chile & banana salsa, and Argentinean-style steaks from the grill. Ceviches and crudos will come from the extensive raw bar and a one-of-a-kind selection of unusual but menu-appropriate wines from the Americas and beyond will be featured.
“Having lived all over the Bay Area, Meredith and I bought a house in Oakland five years ago,” said Hackett, “Oakland is to San Francisco what Brooklyn was to Manhattan – we’re proud to be a part of this exciting and diverse city.”
Noted Bay Area architect Michael Guthrie (Bix, Myth, Zinnia) has employed recycled and sustainably harvested materials including wood, stone, glass, tile and textiles to bring warmth and verve to the stunning Bocanova space with its soaring ceilings, magnificent concrete columns, and floor-to-ceiling south- and west-facing windows providing unparalleled views.
Some other participants in what will soon become Jack London Square’s flourishing culinary scene include: Daniel Patterson (Coi) and Lauren Kiino (Delfina), whose Bracina will highlight “rustic-refined California cuisine”; Richard Corbo, formerly of Ducca in San Francisco, will start his own pizzeria project called Pizzeria Zanna Bianca and it will follow in the footsteps of the Bay Area’s ubiquitous rustic Italian pizzerias/eateries; Meg Ray of the acclaimed Miette Patisserie plans to open a retail shop and baking school.