Diverse restaurants run by women earn Oakland recognition from prominent food magazine

Nyum Bai Cuisine: Cambodian Find them: 3340 E 12th St., Ste 11, Oakland Contact: (510) 500-3338, (510) 500-3338, nyumbai.com

Chef/owner Nite Yun opened her first restaurant in 2017 after a five-year stint as a pop-up in Oakland. Nyum Bai, a Cambodian expression that means "lets eat," serves traditional Cambodian fare in Oakland’s Fruitvale Village. Pictured is the Bok La Hung salad, with green papaya and cold noodles. less Nyum Bai Cuisine: Cambodian Find them: 3340 E 12th St., Ste 11, Oakland Contact: (510) 500-3338, (510) 500-3338, nyumbai.com

Chef/owner Nite Yun opened her first restaurant in 2017 after a five-year stint as a ... more Photo: Paul Chinn / The Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Paul Chinn / The Chronicle Image 1 of / 37 Caption Close Diverse restaurants run by women earn Oakland recognition from prominent food magazine 1 / 37 Back to Gallery

Bay Area locals already know Oakland has some of the tastiest food stops around, and now one prominent food magazine is recognizing the city — not only for its culinary talents, but also for the female restaurateurs who run the show.

In a list of 32 places to go (and eat) in 2019, Food & Wine magazine listed Oakland as a city you must check out, noting that a wave of entrepreneurial women have made Oakland’s food scene that much more interesting in recent years.

They gave special shoutouts to Tanya Holland (Brown Sugar Kitchen), Nite Yun (Nyum Bai), Janice and Brandi Dulce (FOB Kitchen), and Reem Assil (Dyafa and Reem’s), all of whom run recognizable businesses in the area.

Something worth noting about this list of female chefs is that they all come from diverse backgrounds and bring rich culinary flavors to the table. These gastronomies includes Cambodian, Filipino and Middle Eastern fares.

Holland’s Brown Sugar Kitchen was mentioned on the list, but the popular soul food restaurant closed its original location in November after a 10-year stint in West Oakland. They've since opened two new locations, one in Uptown Oakland and another in San Francisco's Ferry Building. Plans to open a Brown Sugar Kitchen outpost in the Warriors’ Chase Center Arena in Mission Bay are also in the works.

Holland hopes to focus her efforts on mentoring chefs of color in Oakland as she looks for new talent to sell the space of her former restaurant to.

“I’m working with them now as a mentor. I know this area, the good and the bad. I know the concepts that can work here and what might not work,” Holland told the Chronicle’s Justin Phillips.

Male restaurateurs were also mentioned in the list, including James Woodard of Smokin’ Woods BBQ; Keba Konte, founder of Red Bay Coffee; and James Syhabout, owner of Commis, Hawking Bird and CDP.

The food magazine's list of 32 places worth checking out in 2019 was comprised of a mix of cities they loved and what they are look forward to in the upcoming year. Read their full story here.

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Follow Susana Guerrero on Twitter and email her at sguerrero@sfchronicle.com

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