FuseBOX is not a place you bump into by accident. As you round the corner of West Grand and Magnolia, the view is a bit wild West: rough corrugated roofs, graffiti-enhanced fences, barbed wire coils and then, oddly, a life-sized carved wooden hippo.
Oakland has always had a few good barbecue joints. With the city’s strong African-American community, barbecue restaurants date back at least as far as the Second Great Migration (1940–1970), when 5 million or more black people moved from the southeastern United States to points north and west, including California.
It’s a special type of personality that becomes a chef, but it’s arguable that an even more special type becomes a chef of a breakfast and brunch place.
We were just starting to feel a little behind the times in the Island City, while other cities around us flaunted their gourmet food trucks and hipster appeal.