Cafe Noir is turning up the heat at Prescott Market in West Oakland, rolling out a Black‑owned stall that leans hard into African diaspora flavors for brunch and dinner. The stall plates up a mashup of Nigerian, Panamanian and Caribbean dishes, with owners Marisa Gittens‑Mihedji and chef Steven Mihedji pulling from family recipes and layering on contemporary techniques for what they describe as comfort food with a gourmet edge. Customers can order at the counter or skip the line with online pickup.
As reported by KTVU, Cafe Noir is bringing tastes of the African Diaspora to West Oakland and has already drawn interest during its soft‑open stretch. The station’s feature lingers on the plated mains and the couple working the line, emphasizing the stall’s double duty as both neighborhood hangout and cultural showcase.
Owners And Mission
According to Cafe Noir, Gittens‑Mihedji runs the operation while Mihedji leads the kitchen, and the business is explicitly framed as a celebration of Black foodways. The About page states, "We craft Black food from across the globe," tying the menu directly to Mihedji’s Nigerian roots and Gittens‑Mihedji’s Panamanian heritage. The site also lays out the Prescott Market address along with hours for the West Oakland stall.
What They’re Cooking
Per the online ordering menu on Toast, Cafe Noir is not shy about flavor. Diners will find a Jerk Salmon plate with coconut rice and fried plantains, a Noir Jollof with grilled chicken and shrimp, and braised oxtail specials rolling out on weekends. The ordering page shows brunch dishes, sandwiches and rotating weekend features tuned to the market‑hall setup. Entrées listed there generally land in the mid‑$20s, reflecting made‑to‑order plates served straight from the stall’s compact kitchen.
Why Prescott Market
The Prescott Market food hall, a roughly 12,000‑square‑foot project anchored by Almanac Beer Co., helped carve out room for smaller operations like Cafe Noir, as reported by the San Francisco Chronicle. The official Prescott Market site lists Cafe Noir among its rotating vendors and links the hall’s calendar to the West Oakland Farmers Market. That pairing of neighborhood foot traffic with programmed events gives vendors a shot at both regulars and event‑day crowds.
Neighborhood Response And Next Steps
Longtime fans who remember Cafe Noir’s earlier Dimond district outpost are spotting familiar dishes at the new stall, a move that builds on the cafe’s existing following, according to Berkeleyside. The owners have previously pointed to catering and special programming as key pieces of their strategy, experience that appears to shape how they operate inside Prescott Market. For now, the stall simply adds another Black‑owned, chef‑driven option to West Oakland’s expanding food scene.
Hours, ordering links and additional details are available on Cafe Noir and in the Prescott Market directory, where the calendar also notes upcoming night markets and neighborhood events that are expected to feature the stall. We’ll be keeping an eye out for menu rotations and any fresh announcements from the owners as the kitchen settles into full service.
