kikipeepers asked
Ghetto Gourmet isn't listed in the phone book. Nor will you find it by cruising Rockridge's restaurant row on College Avenue in Oakland. Ghetto Gourmet has no sign. It has no wine list. It doesn't even have chairs. What this unlicensed, underground restaurant does have is a pit bull named Shinobi, a cramped kitchen with appliances in various states of disrepair and a gregarious host named Jeremy Townsend who, in his untucked shirt and jeans, will dance with his guests, jam on his harmonica and invite patrons for a post-dessert nightcap at a nearby bar. Culinary speakeasies like Ghetto Gourmet are popping up in cities in the Bay Area and beyond, across the country and around the world. Part of the thrill, of course, is the hipness factor, the ego-inflating I-know-something-or-somebody-you-don't-know feeling that comes with being on a VIP list. But underground diners also can find surprisingly good food at bargain-basement prices. The health department -- and fear of salmonella -- be damned.
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