December 8, 2025
San Francisco Business Times — Berkeley institution Chez Panisse is finally opening its much-anticipated next-door bar.
Bar Panisse will open at 1515 Shattuck Ave. on Dec. 11, according to an Instagram post. A representative for Chez Panisse did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Chef Amelia Telc, whose experience ranges from Tartine in San Francisco to Mission Chinese Food in New York City, will lead the Bar Panisse kitchen, according to a press release. Most recently, she ran a popular popup called Half Hitch in Bodega Bay. Dylan O’Brien, from Emeryville’s Prizefighter Bar, will consult on the drinks program.
The 50-seat, no-reservations bar will serve cocktails ($15 to $18), small plates ($5 to $35) and entrees ($38 and up) Thursday through Monday. Food may include snacks such as housemade potato chips, fritto misto made with local vegetables and a duck liver mousse crostini, according to a draft menu submitted to the City of Berkeley as part of the permitting process, or steak frites, according to the press release.
The bar’s arrival has been both anticipated and controversial. Founder Alice Waters, who opened Chez Panisse in 1971, has not expanded locally since opening the casual Café Fanny in Berkeley four decades ago; it closed in 2012. In 2021 she debuted Lulu at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles.
But her plans to expand next-door meant that tapas bar César, which had subleased the space from Chez Panisse for more than two decades, had to close, sparking protests from diners of both restaurants. Despite the public outcry, César closed in 2022, making way for Bar Panisse.
Elena Kadvany, Food Reporter
