In the age of the coronavirus, there’s an unexpected love story unfolding between non-black Bay Area diners and black-owned food businesses.

I caught glimpses of the budding romance last month when, after the Bay Area shelter-in-place order, white people were emailing me for local soul food recommendations. I didn’t think much of the requests until a few weeks later, when San Francisco’s only Nigerian restaurant, Eko Kitchen, began posting on its Instagram account photo after photo of its mounting delivery orders.

Around the same time, alaMar in Oakland was quietly becoming a hot spot for Caribbean cocktails on delivery apps, and Anthony’s Cookies, located in both San Francisco and Berkeley, was somehow growing its wholesale business. The bakery’s owner, Anthony Lucas, said that despite the industry’s current crisis, he continues to be courted by potential new investors on WeFunder, an equity crowdfunding platform.

It seems the shelter-in-place order has leveled the playing field for black-owned mom-and-pop shops. Customers are now experiencing restaurants through takeout and delivery apps. Black-owned businesses like Rob Ben’s in Emeryville — which might have scared away white customers with its raucous ambiance, with rappers and neighborhood folks hanging around outside smoking and playing loud music — are now benefiting from a faceless, colorless business experience.

It’s soul food without the soul food vibe, black baked goods without seeing black faces. All that matters is flavor and accessibility.

When Rob Ben’s first opened, people often complained about the service being slow. That made sense, as the business, owned by NFL star Marshawn Lynch, was always busy in its early days. The little shop on San Pablo Avenue was a neighborhood hangout for black and brown East Bay folks. But it turns out the hectic, laissez-faire atmosphere that appealed to locals might have driven away outsiders.

Diners don’t have to worry about any of this now. Rob Ben’s, along with thousands of other Bay Area restaurants, had to pivot to carryout and delivery service, no dine-in experience offered. Now people can order from their couch and enjoy the food.

The only Bay Area restaurant that matched Rob Ben’s hyper-black vibe before the pandemic was Vegan Mob in Oakland, a beloved hangout within the regional hip-hop community. When it first opened, thousands of black and brown diners came out to the Lake Merritt neighborhood to eat, and they also played music, danced and partied well into the night. I was there that night, and I don’t recall seeing many white people in the crowd. Nor did I see many on following visits.

But many emailed me, identified themselves as white, and asked for information about the menu and prices. Over the past few weeks, owner Toriano Gordon has expanded his delivery territory to as far as San Jose and Daly City. He’s rushing to keep up with demand.

“People just want good food, and the delivery part is treating us well,” Gordon said. “In the end, it’s just the small businesses that matter out here.”

Black-owned bakeries are also ramping up in the new delivery market. The East Bay’s Cupcakin’ Bake Shop mini-chain is such a draw these days that owner Lila Owens says she is now asking her Instagram followers where she should deliver her cupcakes the next day. Customers rush to comment on her posts to throw their city’s hat in the ring.

Maybe this developing relationship between black-owned food businesses and non-black diners is less a love story and more a blind date — and it seems to be going well. Stripped of aesthetics — African artwork, hip-hop music and the like — white diners are experiencing these places with blind spots, but perhaps in a way that indeed helps these businesses out.

Still, as is the case with love, the future is hard to predict. Black business owners are cautiously confident.

“Success right now is all about availability and consistency,” said Lucas, who before the pandemic was looking to make Anthony’s Cookies a national company. “All I know is that this pandemic is in no way going to hinder our expansion.”

Justin Phillips is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jphillips@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @JustMrPhillips