Chef Manuel Bonilla is set to open Bar Chisme in Oakland, designed as a late-night eatery for restaurant workers. Focused on casual dining that infuses his Salvadoran and Filipino heritage, Bonilla aims to serve high-quality meals after 11 p.m., filling a gap in the local late-night food scene. Bar Chisme, which originated as a popular pop-up, finds its permanent home in a former bar space, creating a welcoming atmosphere for industry peers who often work late hours and deserve a satisfying meal post-shift.
I want to be there for my peers. I'm looking forward to staying late and having other restaurant crews come through after 11 o'clock and being able to serve them a tasty meal, which they deserve because they've all been working hard.
Since I was the opening chef [at Kon Tiki] and I've worked at Palmetto, he's basically family... It just felt natural to come back and not necessarily pick up the pieces, but make a new thing that we thought could work here.
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