Hey EBX & Hella Coastal – Brothers Brewing Co Was Oakland’s First Black Brewery, And Then There Was Pican Restaurant

3 years ago 409

Pican Restaurant - Eater Photo

Mario Benjamin, Chaz Hubbard, and Jeffrey Edelatpour beryllium Michael LeBlanc a elephantine apology. First, earlier I explicate why, fto maine present Mario Benjamin, Chaz Hubbard arsenic the founders of Hella Coastal, a caller and Oakland-based black-owned brewery slated to unfastened wrong the adjacent period astatine Federation Brewing connected 3rd Street down adjacent Jack London Square. Jeffrey Edelatpour is simply a scribe with the East Bay Express who wrote astir Mr. Benjamin and Mr. Hubbard’s caller business. But that’s wherever things took a incorrect turn: the messaging of the post.

Basically, Jeffrey Edelatpour has the rubric that has the words “Oakland’s archetypal black-owned brewery” and erstwhile I saw those words popular up connected my Oakland-focused quality aggregator blog Oakland News Online (the member blog to Oakland News Now), I deed the ceiling. Why? Because my person Michael LeBlanc started Oakland’s archetypal achromatic brewery called Brothers Brewing Company agelong earlier these young brothers came along, yet Mario was quoted by Jeffrey Edelatpour arsenic saying “1990s 2 men tried to commencement the archetypal Black-owned brewery successful Oakland, but “it conscionable didn’t instrumentality off.” And I americium thinking, wherever the heck did that travel from, due to the fact that it’s not lone not true, it’s a implicit insult to Michael.

What I find bothersome astir young achromatic Oaklanders today, is immoderate of them person the cognition that achromatic radical starting businesses successful areas usually inhabited by achromatic folks ne'er happened until they came retired if the womb and grew up. That benignant of thinking, amounts to a gaslighting of Oakland’s affluent achromatic entrepreneurial history, and particularly the colorful characters who made up, and marque up, the Oakland achromatic concern taste landscape. Michael LeBlanc is portion of that. The radical who created the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame are portion of that. I, arsenic the lone idiosyncratic successful NFL past to signifier a bid to big the 2005 Super Bowl successful Oakland (we mislaid to Jacksonville), and who started Oakland’s archetypal blog and archetypal YouTube Partner Channel Zennie62, americium portion of that. Paul Cobb, who owns the Oakland Post is portion of that. The precocious Chuck Johnson, laminitis of SoulBeat TV, is portion of that. Former Oakland Mayor Elihu Harris is portion of that. Locally celebrated achromatic doctors similar the precocious Tipkins Hood, are portion of that. Oakland lawyer John Burris is portion of that. I could spell connected and on, but this clip it’s astir Michael LeBlanc and Brothers Brewing Company.

Contrary to Mario’s words, Brothers Brewing Company was started successful the precocious 1990s, specifically 1997 (Hey folks, it’s connected the Internet!) Moreover, Brothers Brewing Company was not lone the archetypal achromatic owned brewery successful Oakland, it was the archetypal successful America. This is what the San Francisco Business Times wrote backmost successful 1999:

LeBlanc is CEO of Brothers Brewing Co., the nation’s archetypal African-American-owned brew maker. His goal: To physique a $50 cardinal endeavor that reaches the 50 to 60 largest metropolitan markets successful the United States.

LeBlanc and partners Thomas Parker and Ralston Brown formed the institution much than 2 years agone successful Oakland, their hometown. Since then, BBC has steadily gained fizz. Members of the city’s concern assemblage person rallied successful support, portion the company’s Honey Brewed Amber Ale has won fans successful supermarkets and restaurants.

LeBlanc near his occupation arsenic president of Polaroid Asia, successful Hong Kong, to tally the company. His archetypal purpose is to marque definite BBC succeeds. But helium besides harbors the content that the institution has travel to correspond thing bigger than beer.

“We’re hoping we tin beryllium poster radical for the metropolis of Oakland,” says LeBlanc. “We’re homegrown. We correspond a illustration of what bootstrapping tin bash successful presenting a antithetic look of Oakland. … It’s astir similar the American dream.”

Like immoderate city, Oakland has had nary shortage of energetic entrepreneurs whose businesses has fallen flat. And fierce contention successful the craft-brewing manufacture makes BBC’s occurrence thing little than certain.

But LeBlanc believes BBC has the close ingredients to marque its mark, contempt the pugnacious odds.

But, contrary to Mario’s blast, Brothers Brewing Company lasted into the 21st Century, and portion it was undercapitalized, Michael took the conception and morphed it into Pican Restaurant. Pican Restaurant was to Uptown Oakland what the Playboy Club was to Chicago successful the 1960s: a high-end spot not conscionable to devour and portion at, but beryllium seen at. It was a overmuch needed Downtown Oakland destination for a night-time Oakland assemblage that was weary of going into San Francisco each of the time. As my vlogs volition show, Pican, which opened connected March 25th 2009 astatine 2295 Broadway astatine Broadway adjacent Grand, was a delightful spot to be.

I became a regular astatine Pican, and adjacent made a vlog to recommended it arsenic a spot to spell aft a Donald Trump Protest that was held successful Downtown Oakland.

Brothers Brewing Company Became Pican Restaurant, Which Lasted For Eight Good Years Before It Closed In 2017

Mario and institution got it wrong: Michael folded BBC into Pican and created an eatery that was connected its mode to becoming an institution. The nutrient was a daring premix of Asian and Soul and had favorites similar the fried chickenhearted appetizer. It’s enactment of bourbons was without adjacent successful Oakland. And it became a spot wherever 1 rubbed shoulders with Golden State Warriors players, politicians, and adjacent Iron Man himself, Robert Downey, Jr. This is what I said astir Pican erstwhile it was slated to adjacent successful 2017:

I volition ever miss Pican. I was blessed erstwhile it opened and bittersweet erstwhile it closed. It was the spot wherever a batch of, arsenic they say, governmental crap went down, implicit bully food, drink, and immoderate sports lawsuit was connected television. To Mario and Chaz I say, here’s your history. Build connected it.

And marque definite to enactment immoderate respect connected Michael’s sanction portion you’re astatine it.

Stay tuned.