Like a favorite son come home, Charlie Parker — the opening chef at Plum — has returned to Oakland.
Daniel Patterson’s restaurant group announced via a press release sent out early this morning that Parker, who presided over the Patterson-owned Uptown Oakland restaurant’s early heady days in 2011, will start today, May 5, as the new executive chef at Haven (44 Webster St.), Patterson’s Jack London Square restaurant.
Parker’s most recent gig was at Freddy Smalls Bar and Kitchen, in Los Angeles.
[jump]
I’m told that Parker will eventually revamp Haven’s menu, but that he’ll take it slow as he adjusts to a new kitchen and a new team. Parker’s short-lived brunch menu at Plum was, in my estimation, one of the very best in the Bay Area, so that will be something to look for, as Haven recently expanded brunch service to include Saturdays as well as Sundays.
Chris Johnson, the previous chef at Haven, has moved back to Patterson’s flagship, Coi, where he’d cooked for two years before his recent stint in Oakland.
