Prodigal Bay Area Chef Returns With Regional Vietnamese Restaurant In Oakland

Geoffrey Deetz returns with The Temple Club

Once known to Bay Area diners as the owner of Gulf Coast Oyster Bar, Spettro, and Dragonfly Tea House, chef Geoffrey Deetz is finally settled back in Oakland after 15 years in Vietnam. “I didn’t just go there for a few weeks to learn the food,” he tells Eater. Living in Ho Chi Minh City, he opened popular restaurants like Black Cat, but in Oakland he’ll share lessons learned in traditional, regional Vietnamese cooking. “The food here, even when it’s authentic, is often watered down and simplified for an American palate,” the chef says. As his restaurant The Temple Club takes shape at 2307 International Boulevard, Deetz is starting with pop-up dinners in the space focused on regional cuisine. The first will be held on September 1, with 10 courses for $45 — Tickets go on sale today and are available here.

Petit Crenn discontinues weekday lunch

Dominique Crenn’s Hayes Valley restaurant Petit Crenn is no longer serving Tuesday through Friday lunch. The move will allow staff to channel their effort into additions to nightly dinner service, like making bread and pastry in house and adding supplemental dishes to the restaurant’s 5 course tasting menu.

Fiorella

Fiorella brings out burger night

Starting next Tuesday, August 29, chef Dante Cecchini will be showing off his burger bon fides (he was previously Marlowe chef de cuisine) at the Outer Richmond pizzeria Fiorella. His version there — only available on Tuesdays — is a 6 oz patty of B&N Ranch beef topped with American cheese, sour pickle, grilled onion, and butter lettuce on a poppy seed bun for $16.

Hawker Fare Returns to Oakland (for one night only)

On Tuesday, August 29th, James Syhabout will reprise Oakland’s beloved Hawker Fare, which closed in February (its location in San Francisco remains). Shyabout will bring Hawker Fare favorites to his current Oakland restaurant and brewery Old Kan Beer & Co. from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m . “People been asking if Hawker Fare Oakland will ever come back,” says the chef — the answer, for now, is “kinda!”