potrero view

January 2012

Radio Africa & Kitchen Puts Down Roots in Bayview

Jeanne Storck

Since 2004, San Francisco foodies have flocked to Radio Africa & Kitchen, a pop-up eatery staged by chef Eskender Aseged one or two nights a week in cafes around town. Diners are attracted by the fresh, organic fare, but they also come for the festive, impromptu atmosphere.  Fans no longer have to worry about the when and the where of the restaurant; the beloved pop-up has relinquished its makeshift quarters and settled in a permanent location at the corner of Third and Oakdale streets.

Radio Africa & Kitchen has evolved over a period of years.  Ethiopian-born Aseged arrived in San Francisco in the late-1980s, and started out waiting tables at culinary hot spots like Square One, Boulevard, Hawthorne Lane, and Campton Place, spending his off hours at home recreating the inventive dishes he saw at work. Without money to open his own restaurant, he turned his kitchen into an improvisational café, where friends gathered for meals featuring fresh ingredients, many of which were grown in Aseged’s garden.   In 2004, he began accepting invitations to cook one or two nights a week at local dining spots:  Radio Africa & Kitchen was born.

In 2009, San Francisco Housing Development Corporation (SFHDC) project manager Andrea Baker approached Aseged about opening a restaurant in the ground-floor retail space of one of SFHDC’s affordable housing developments. Aseged siezed the opportunity.  SFHDC, a nonprofit that fosters home ownership in Bayview, had originally slated a Starbucks for the 4800 Third Street location, but when that didn’t work out, Baker searched for an African-American chef.  Aseged was an obvious choice.  With the savings that come from SFHDC’s lower rent, Aseged hopes he can shave 25 percent off the price of an average entrée, and make high-quality organic cuisine accessible to the neighborhood.  He doesn’t expect all of his customers to be local, and realizes he’ll need to draw a mix of diners from Bayview, Dogpatch, Mission, Mission Bay, and beyond.

Guests at the 69-seat space will find a lunch and dinner menu consisting of hearty California cuisine inflected with the berbere spice and hearty wot stews of Aseged’s native Ethiopia. Aseged also added soul food dishes to his previous fare, like oxtail stew, black-eyed peas, and greens.

Aseged insisted that a community garden be included in the project, convincing SFHDC to let him convert an empty lot directly across the street. Where trash, old mattresses and cars once littered the asphalt, now a dozen raised beds sprout with winter veggies. “We’ve got enough room between planters that we could even a host a farmer’s market in here,” Aseged said. He ticked off a list of ideas he envisioned for the plot:  gardening and nutrition lessons, musical events, and outdoor movie nights.  “I don’t want this to be trendy,” Aseged explained. “I’m not just opening a restaurant. I want this project to have a real social and community element.”

Aseged continues to offer his professional catering services, and may teach cooking classes.  And for diners who miss the pop-up’s spontaneity, Aseged won’t completely give up his nomadic ways; he plans on doing occasional one-night-only dinners at other venues.

More information: www.radioafricakitchen.com

 

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