Oakland’s Stylish Gold Palm Mixes Pakistani Party Food With a ‘Secret’ Bar (2024)

Oakland’s stunning Floral Depot building is back in action with the debut of restaurant and bar Gold Palm the week of October 6. Shirin Raza and Daniel Gahr of Bar Shiru are the latest stewards of 1900 Telegraph Avenue, and they’re breathing new life into the Art Deco building that’s been empty since the closures of Palmetto in 2023 and Duende in 2024. Situated at a prominent corner of Telegraph Avenue and 19th Street, Raza and Gahr were offered the space and they felt it was the right moment to realize their dream of a second bar project.

“So many of us in this neighborhood have been working really hard together with the city of Oakland to revitalize, rebuild, refresh the neighborhood,” Raza says, “and it’s nice to be another added part of that through this space. I’m really excited to reactivate this legacy corner of Oakland, and it’s quite surreal to be the ones doing it.”

Gahr and Raza hunted for a space to house their Bar Shiru follow-up but hadn’t found anything that worked for what they had in mind. When an industry friend suggested they take another look at the former Palmetto space, it ultimately checked one of the boxes that Gahr and Raza wanted for their new project: the potential for a “secret bar” akin to the now-closed Holy Mountain, which resided above the restaurant Hawker Fare in San Francisco. The adjoining bar space that housed the Kon-Tiki Room will be converted into that secret bar (to be opened in the coming weeks) with a door that leads from the restaurant area to the smaller cocktail space.

For Gold Palm’s opening, however, food and drinks will be concentrated in the corner restaurant space. Raza and Gahr’s hi-fi listening bar is known for its beats and drinks, but Gold Palm adds in a food element to the couple’s next project. The menu features bites that are takes on what the couple calls Pakistani party food. Thinking of the food that Raza’s mother would make and stock their freezer with, they wanted bites that are “tasty, accessible, and fun,” Gahr says. “We started thinking about food and what that would look like,” he says, “and what would serve the neighborhood, and what meets the moment and delivers what people need in this strange post-pandemic state that we’re in.”

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The couple hired chef Selasie Dotse as a consultant for the menu to develop bites with that in mind, and to get the kitchen running. Expect twists like vegetable or chicken samosas folded into crisp egg roll wrappers and served with two kinds of chutney; chili cheese toast evolves into a grilled cheese sandwich item that mixes cheddar and Gruyère with green onions and jalapeño on Firebrand bread; and a chicken patty that is similar to Jamaican patties (but with different flavors, Raza says) and served with garlic and ginger bechamel sauce. Dotse added two salads for a hit of freshness: the market salad with Champagne vinaigrette and a cucumber option featuring cubed cucumbers, tomatoes, red onions, and cilantro tossed in a roasted lemon vinaigrette. Doughnut holes tossed in cardamom sugar and a seasonal fruit cobbler round out the sweet options. Pair the food menu with a kitchen that closes at 11 p.m., and the couple hopes to be a post-concert or post-work stop for the area.

Raza and Gahr tapped Sammy Demecillo to develop cocktails, after working with him to open Bar Shiru. Demecillo focused on spritzes and aperitivi for “light, effervescent drinks,” Gahr says. The addition of an attached kitchen to the bar opens the drinks up to a wider array of ingredients, Raza adds, such as bell pepper or cantaloupe. Italo Disco is a sort of amaro spritz, pairing St. George spiced pear liqueur with two different amari that tastes like an adult cola, Gahr says, for a spritz that reads as slightly bitter and slightly sweet, with some effervescence. The Ultraviolet is a spritz riff on the aviation cocktail, pairing gin with clarified orange juice, creme de violette, sparkling wine, and a red wine float that gives the cocktail an ombre effect. The Carter III cocktail, meanwhile, is a tribute to the history of the Gold Palm space. Former restaurant Flora poured a cocktail called Carter Beats the Devil; as an homage to Flora, the next incoming restaurant Palmetto kept it on the menu. In keeping with the tradition, Demecillo developed a new drink that riffs on the cocktails, pairing tequila and mezcal with lime, orange pepper agave syrup, and green chile bitters.

For wine and beer, the Gold Palm team focused the menu on regional producers, with an eye toward sustainability and showcasing producers in the Bay’s backyard, without the need to ship things across the world. For spirits, in keeping with that same ethos, the team focused on alcohol produced along the West Coast, from Oaxaca to Seattle, including mezcals and Oaxacan rums. “I think it’s a cool opportunity for people to get to know some of these spirits,” Gahr says. There are also four carefully considered non-alcoholic drinks on the menu that Gahr is proud of, meant to rival the cocktail options, such as the Strangelove, folding Wilderton Bittersweet Aperitivo, lemon, cucumber, and ginger together for a drink that tastes like a nonalcoholic Pimms cup.

In taking over a restaurant and bar space inside the Floral Depot, Gahr and Raza say it feels like a keystone to the neighborhood, and they’re ready to be part of the cadence of new openings. Referencing recent restaurant closures downtown, Gahr says news like that hits the community hard, and they’re looking to change the narrative on Oakland. “There’s so much going on and there’s so much to fret about,” he says. “It’s nice to be able to do something that can provide some joy.”

Gold Palm (1900 Telegraph Avenue, Oakland) debuts the week of October 6, and will be open from 4 p.m. to midnight, Tuesday through Saturday.

Patricia Chang