Burdell, the Fine Dining Soul Food Restaurant From Chef Geoff Davis, Is Now Open in Oakland

One of the most hotly anticipated restaurants of the year in the Bay Area swings open its doors on Saturday, September 9. Burdell, the modern soul food restaurant from well-known local chef Geoff Davis, debuts at 4640 Telegraph Avenue in Oakland’s Temescal neighborhood, the Chronicle reports. The restaurant is open for dinner from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday and reservations can be made via Resy.

Geoff Davis

Davis comes to the new restaurant with experience cooking at some of the region’s top restaurants including Michelin-starred Cyrus, now-closed Aqua, cocktail bar True Laurel, and Flour + Water Hospitality’s Penny Roma. At Burdell, however, the chef hopes to put a more personal touch on the menu. Last summer, he told Eater SF about his vision for Burdell, including how he aims to “create dishes borne out of his experiences with food, as well as the time he’s spent in Michelin-star restaurants.” Burdell takes its name from Davis’s maternal grandmother, whose mother trekked from North Carolina to New Jersey with her young infant.

The menu, per the Chronicle, includes dishes such as “North Carolina country ham and summer melon ($19), as well as crispy chicken skins and fried shallots with a cornmeal waffle diners can slide through chicken liver mousse ($17).” Customers can also order boiled peanuts made with miso from Bay Area-based Shared Cultures plus a “special house spice blend, bay leaves, salt, vinegar and a dab of homemade peanut butter.”

As he spoke about last summer, Davis plans to add a prix fixe option in the coming weeks; the family-style menu will cost $79, the Chronicle reports, with the option to add on a $55 beverage pairing. On the beverage side, David enlisted Burdell general manager Omar White to compile a 70-bottle wine list, while Jared Murray, who comes to the restaurant from True Laurel, built out a cocktail list that riffs on classics such as a Gibson martini.

Geoff Davis

Geoff Davis

Burdell (4640 Telegraph Avenue, Oakland) is now open from 5 to 9 p.m. Wednesday though Sunday.