An Oakland eatery that specializes in fresh-made tofu has landed in the national spotlight.

On Sept. 9, Food & Wine announced its 2025 winners for Best New Chefs in the United States. On it is Steve Joo, the chef at Joodooboo in Oakland’s Longfellow neighborhood. It’s a small, almost deli-like restaurant, with Korean-style small plates and seating on the sidewalk amid planters of vegetables and herbs.

Joo makes tofu using a careful process that involves domestic, organic soybeans and a traditional method of coagulation with reconstituted seawater. The result is blocks of jiggling, pearl-white protein that customers quickly snatch up. Also on Joodooboo’s menu, which leans vegetarian, are small-batch banchan made with hyperlocal ingredients, and mains like chilled acorn noodles with nori v

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