Another day, and another promising restaurant opens up in one of the East Bay’s new culinary hotspots: Alameda. The latest contender? An unassuming spot called Café Q (2302 Encinal Ave.), which recently landed an Oakland chef with real culinary street cred: Jesse Branstetter, who, among other ventures, was a founding partner at Chop Bar.
When we last heard from Branstetter, the chef was toiling away at Vitus, the recently-shuttered (and now nomadic) Jack London Square club. Express critic Jesse Hirsch had filed a glowing review of Branstetter’s food, but was less impressed with the service and atmosphere at a venue that never felt like it was intended to be a dining establishment.
The disconnect caused Hirsch to speculate (presciently, it turned out) that Branstetter’s tenure at Vitus might not be long for this world — that Branstetter was too serious a chef “to cook in a place where food plays third- or fourth-string.”
In March of this year, that prophecy came true: With little fanfare, Branstetter left Vitus and dropped off the map for a while. Only recently did I find out what he’s been up to: a consulting gig at Café Q that eventually turned into a partnership.
