Another delayed opening about which there has been many months worth of e-ink spilled is making its debut next week in Oakland, and that’s Duende from former Oliveto executive chef Paul Canales. As Canales tells Grub Street today, it’s kind of all East Bay MUD’s fault — the water utility showed up just today for their mid-October appointment, and Canales jokes, “We told them their lunch was cold.” The Spanish restaurant/music venue/gallery space will, if all goes well, make it open by Saturday, January 11, however there are still some contingencies with city sign-offs before that’s a guarantee. In the meantime, please check out our slideshow of the new space at 19th and Telegraph.
As we learned earlier, Canales chose the name Duende because it’s a Spanish word that both means “goblin” and represents a spirit of creativity, soulfulness, and “a dash of the diabolical.” And the enormous, 4,000 square foot space will play host to music events as well, and there’s a “bodega” area which houses a small art gallery and wine-and-charcuterie shop.
As for soft-opening events, Canales says he’s done with those, and told all his staff just to take the week off and get ready to open.
Canales says that he should have a more solid opening menu for us by week’s end, after he sees what’s going on at the farmer’s market. For now we’ll tell you you can expect a menu of about a dozen tapas-sized dishes, like an escabeche of fish; a dish of pork tongues and ears with salsa diablo; shrimp with persimmon and Meyer lemon; and baby squid served with frisée and a slow-cooked egg. Larger plates will include an ever-changing paella in two- and four-person sizes; a poached chicken dish with olives and balsamic; and pork albondigas (meatballs) with leeks, artichoke, and lemon.
Check out our photos of the space, and stay tuned for some more exact timing later in the week.
Update: The opening is scheduled for Wednesday, January 16 at 5:30 p.m.
Update 2: Here’s the full opening menu.
Duende - 468 19th Street at Telegraph, Oakland - Opening hours TBA
Earlier: Duende Hosting a Pre-Opening Event Tonight in Oakland
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