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Cafe Ohlone, also called ‘oṭṭoy, is a restaurant in Berkeley, California at the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology. It was founded by Ohlone chefs Louis Trevino and Vincent Medina as a pop-up in 2018, and as a semi-permanent café in 2022. It features a seasonal menu of California Indian cuisine and is the world's only Ohlone restaurant.[1]

History

Louis Trevino and Vincent Medina, who are partners, first met at an Indigenous language conference in 2014.[2] The two began working together and founded mak-'amham — an Ohlone cultural organization — in September 2017. The following year, the two opened the first Indigenous restaurant in the state of California as a pop-up in the courtyard of the University Press Bookstore in Berkeley.[3] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the bookstore closed down in 2020, and Cafe Ohlone transitioned to a monthly meal kit program.[4]

Cafe Ohlone's move to the UC Berkeley campus began in January 2021, when Berkeley anthropology professor Kent Lightfoot wrote an article in the Daily Cal suggesting that the university — which was then renaming a building named after anti-Indigenous anthropologist Alfred Kroeber — should instead take concrete steps to support Ohlone people. Lightfoot suggested the university find a home on campus for Cafe Ohlone.[3]

UC Berkeley Chancellor Carol Christ and Lauren Kroiz, the Hearst Museum director, helped push the Cafe through the approval process, and the Berkeley location opened at the Hearst Museum in 2022.[5]

Architecture and design

The Hearst Museum cafe was designed by Terremoto and is meant to resemble an Ohlone village, with paths surrounded by native plants and flowers.[3] The tables and seats are made with reclaimed California redwood, with a long redwood table surrounded by mamakwa, wild ginger, and ‘enesmin reserved for Ohlone elders.[6] Native artist Jean LaMarr contributed a building-sized mural which depicts Ohlone ancestors looking down, with chipped glass to resemble stars in the night sky.[7]

Menu

Cafe Ohlone features a seasonal menu based on historic and recreated Ohlone recipes.[8] The first iteration of the cafe served rose hip tea, which was used by Ohlone historically to soothe the respiratory system during fire season.[9] The menu sought to stick to pre-colonial Ohlone cuisine, avoiding gluten, refined sugars, dairy, soy, pork, corn and legumes, and used salt from the shallow marshlands of San Lorenzo Creek.[10]

At the Hearst Museum location, Cafe Ohlone serves four types of meals: tea hour, weekend brunch, weekly lunch, and dinner.[11] Foods served are usually grown and collected locally, from the tidal marshes and hills in the East Bay, such as native rainbow trout and quail, rose hips, potato, and hazelnuts.[12][13] Dishes have included venison chile Colorado and walnut oil cake with candy cap mushrooms.[14]

Honors

In 2023, Medina and Trevino were semifinalists in the James Beard Foundation Award’s Emerging Chef category.[15] The same year, Condé Nast Traveler listed Cafe Ohlone as one of the forty best new restaurants in the world.[16]

References

  1. ^ Dianne, de Guzman. "How The New Cafe Ohlone Honors Indigenous Food and Family on a Grand Stage". Eater. Archived from the original on 19 July 2023. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
  2. ^ Brown, Patrick Leigh. "Indigenous Founders of a Museum Cafe Put Repatriation on the Menu". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 18 July 2023. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
  3. ^ a b c Mindess, Anna. "Reservations are now open at one of Berkeley's most anticipated restaurants". Berkeleyside. Archived from the original on 30 May 2023. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
  4. ^ Tsai, Luke. "Embracing a Painful History, the World's Only Ohlone Restaurant Finds Unlikely New Home". KQED. Archived from the original on 19 July 2023. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
  5. ^ Kadvany, Elena. "The world's first Ohlone restaurant is opening soon at UC Berkeley. Can it overcome the location's painful history?". San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on 9 February 2023. Retrieved 18 July 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  6. ^ Schuler, Timothy A. "Terremoto designed Cafe Ohlone to be an Indigenous refuge in a colonial world". Landscape Architecture Magazine. Archived from the original on 19 July 2023. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
  7. ^ Tsai, Luke. "At the World's Only Ohlone Restaurant, Even the Trees Will Sing in Chochenyo". KQED. Archived from the original on 19 July 2023. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
  8. ^ Simmons, Krista. "Meet the Founders of This Groundbreaking Indigenous Restaurant at UC Berkeley". Sunset Magazine. Archived from the original on 19 July 2023. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
  9. ^ Burton, Nylah. "This Indigenous Community Was Deemed 'Extinct.' Its Food Culture Destroys That Myth". Huffington Post. Archived from the original on 18 July 2023. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
  10. ^ Rao, Tejal. "California Cuisine, Long Before Chez Panisse". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 18 July 2023. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
  11. ^ Kadvany, Elena. "The world's first Ohlone restaurant opens this week in Berkeley". San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on 29 March 2023. Retrieved 18 July 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  12. ^ Birdsall, John. "In Berkeley, Cafe Ohlone brings back the Bay Area's first foods". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 15 August 2022. Retrieved 18 July 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  13. ^ Campbell, Eileen. "Cafe Ohlone opens in Pacifica for one delicious day". Pacifica Tribune. Archived from the original on 19 July 2023. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
  14. ^ Rao, Tejal. "Five Bay Area Restaurants Where Sustainability Shapes the Menu". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 19 July 2023. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
  15. ^ Zavoral, Linda. "James Beard 2023 semifinalists: Berkeley's Cafe Ohlone, SF's House of Prime Rib among nominees". Mercury News. Archived from the original on 9 February 2023. Retrieved 18 July 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  16. ^ "The Best New Restaurants in the World: 2023 Hot List". Condé Nast Traveler. Archived from the original on 28 June 2023. Retrieved 18 July 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)

External links

source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cafe_Ohlone