Oakland’s Town Fare reopens with new menu and celebrated, local Black chef

A new chef with deep roots in California-inspired Southern cooking has been tapped to run Town Fare, the cafe at the Oakland Museum of California.

Beginning today, Michele McQueen, best known as the chef-founder of Gussie’s Chicken and Waffles in San Francisco, is helming the cafe spearheaded by celebrity chef Tonya Holland. Holland departed OMCA in January to focus on other projects, including her cookbook, “California Soul,” due out in October. Soon after, Hawaiian-Tongan chef Puakalanai Barquis, who was part of Holland’s team at Town Fare, served as interim chef until the search for a permanent replacement was complete, says Lori Fogarty, OMCA Executive Director. Town Fare closed temporarily from the end of May to July 12.

McQueen bring 28 years of restaurant experience to the role — and a new food and beverage menu. Town Fare is open from 11 a.m to 5 p.m., Wednesday to Sunday, at 100 Oak St., Oakland. A new sun deck, which debuts tomorrow, will offer service from 5 to 9 p.m. Thursday-Saturdays.

According to a press release, the new Town Fare menu pays homage to McQueen’s family roots and Oakland upbringing. Look for shared plates, salads, and entrées, including Curry Collard, Cabbage and Yam Spring Rolls with Caribbean spice and curry lime aioli, and Low-Country Shrimp and Grits with chicken andouille sausage, confit tomatoes and cheddar grits.

Yes, there is fried chicken and a fried chicken sandwich.

The beverage program — also curated by McQueen — features many Black-owned businesses, including Alameda-based Wachira Wines and Oakland’s Hella Coastal Brewery. The 45-seat sun deck features patio couches and an outdoor bar and is surrounded by OMCA’s terrace gardens. It should make for great craft cocktail-sipping.

After closing Gussie’s Chicken and Waffles in 2014, McQueen went on to become a corporate chef at Apple, Inc., developing and managing the grab-and-go program for over 25 locations. McQueen first made her name in the restaurant world when she helped bring the Los Angeles soul food chain Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles to Northern California. She co-ran Roscoe’s for nearly a  decade before opening Gussie’s in 2009.