For 14 years, and three different locations, Babette has obliged Berkeley diners with its creative-yet-comforting farm-to-table cuisine.
But that’s coming to an end on Oct. 31, when the restaurant intends to shut down for good. “Like so many of our friends and fellow small-business owners, we just could not make the numbers work,” Babette’s staff write on their website.
The restaurant’s final location on San Pablo Avenue — which followed its older stead at the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive — is a delight. Its sunny, gardened patio with a full-grown redwood tree stood out from the neighborhood’s rougher bits and attracted a hearty brunch crowd. In 2023, The Mercury News named it one of the Bay’s best alfresco restaurants, saying that husband-and-wife showrunners Joan Ellis and Patrick Hooker have a “knack for transforming the day’s market offerings into tasty, plant-forward dishes.”
But now lunch service has been cancelled, with the closure looming ahead.
“It has been a great honor to serve you all, meet your children and grandparents, be a part of your most important celebrations,” writes Babette’s staff.
“We will miss cooking for you all and more than anything, we will miss the beautiful community that has gathered around the Redwood Tree, supported the incredible musicians who we have had the great pleasure to spotlight and our regulars who came for the food, the love and a little bit of grace in these tumultuous times.”
Opening and maintaining a restaurant is always a dicey proposition. But in the East Bay, it seems like a rash of closures have arrived with the season. Edith’s Pie, a cult-favorite popup that expanded to an Oakland brick and mortar, recently announced it will close this year. The owners blamed “chaotic and impulsive changes that impact each and every one of us,” writing: “We’re slinging pie while Rome burns.”
Add to the closed or soon-to-close list 21st Amendment Brewery in San Leandro; Seawolf Public House in Oakland; BH Wood-Fired Grill in Walnut Creek; Rick & Ann’s in Berkeley; the hip wine/event space Riggers Loft in Richmond; and many others.