Bay Area/ San Francisco
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Published on February 04, 2025
Warriors' Draymond Green Teams Up With Top Bay Area Chefs to Debut Fusion Restaurant Meski in San FranciscoSource: Erik Drost, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Golden State Warriors' Draymond Green is stepping off the court and into San Francisco's culinary scene with the upcoming opening of Meski, his first restaurant endeavor. Green is teaming up with notable Bay Area chefs Nelson German, a "Top Chef" contestant and owner of Oakland's Sobre Mesa and alaMar, and Guma Fassil, who heads Berkeley's long-standing Ethiopian restaurant Meski's Kitchen & Garden. According to a report by the San Francisco Chronicle, the trio aims to pay tribute to Black culture by blending the culinary traditions of their diverse backgrounds in a novel manner, particularly for the Bay Area.

Situated at 1000 Larkin St., the swanky new restaurant will feature a fusion menu that includes dishes like sancocho, a Dominican meat stew accented with Ethiopian spices, and sambusas crafted from yuca and filled with berbere-spiced beef or lentils. Green emphasized creating a space that feels welcoming and celebratory of Black culture, so Green told the San Francisco Chronicle, "It’s hard to find anything that represents Black culture in San Francisco. I want to create a staple in this city that people can go to and regardless if you are actually a part of that culture, you can feel that and feel welcome."

As per SFGATE, the distinctive flavor combinations at Meski are not simply a mix of Ethiopian and Afro-Latin cuisines but a deeper connection reflecting the African diaspora. "If you look at it really deeply, it’s not really a fusion, because it’s still part of the African diaspora, still part of the culture, still part of Black food, still part of Black history," German explained. In addition to the creative dishes, Meski will offer inventive cocktails with a spotlight on Caribbean and Ethiopian flavors, like the berbere-rimmed margarita and a twist on the espresso martini featuring Ethiopian coffee and Dominican spiced rum.

The two-story venue, once home to Members Only and Finders Keepers, will house a stylish dining room complete with a lush aesthetic provided by Kalu Gebreyohannes-Royster of Oakland's Black Girls Green House and eye-catching artwork by Oakland's Taylor Smalls. As stated in a report by the San Francisco Chronicle, the venue plans to create a "who's who" atmosphere with DJs spinning Afrobeat, amapiano, and R&B tracks, aiming to stay open until midnight during the week and until 1 a.m. on weekends.