Check out this new article from GOOD’s Lifestyle on a new type of restaurant in Oakland that is creating opportunities for up-and-coming chefs…
Guest Chef is the brainchild of Bay Area real estate developer Scott Cameron. Simply put, it is a permanent space without permanent cooks…So the 20-seat restaurant changes hands every two weeks as a new emerging or established chef takes over with access to a fully stocked kitchen, wine reserve, and three-person base staff of dishwasher Manuel and servers Kristen and Shannon. The two-week window ostensibly gives the chefs a chance to find out if they are confident and skilled enough to impress area crowds with their adventurous long-term ideas.
So far, it’s working. Local firefighters drew a crowd in early November when they prepared a benefit dinner for the venture’s inaugural event. Since then, cooks have ranged from Eva Santillanes, a grandmother from Zacatecas, Mexico with no industrial kitchen experience, to Michelin-Star-winning Joseph Humphrey.
The effort began with an empty kitchen. Last year, chef Mark Valentine—a friend of Cameron’s—suggested that they find a creative use for an unused space along a gentrifying Oakland neighborhood’s main drag.
“I’m like an artist in a gallery,” he says. “An artist doesn’t wait for a buyer to arrive in order to start painting. I’m here to cook my food and work on my craft. If people come in, I will be happy to share my passion and cook for them.”
