Chris Kronner, the chef behind the marvelously successful popup KronnerBurger at Bruno’s, told Eater that he’s moving into a brick-and-mortar locale in … Oakland.
Though we’re not ready to give up the Mission for dead, his description of why he no longer wants to be in the hood felt sadly on-point.
“I lived two blocks from where Bruno’s is for seven years, and before that lived for two years on 18th Street. And then I was away for two-ish years, and it was just not the place that I left, which at this point was three years ago. I don’t know, it’s just not the same. It’s super congested, the people, it’s a completely different scene. My peer group that used to live in the neighborhood for the most part are gone. It just didn’t feel like something that I wanted to participate in any longer. And it’s super difficult to get a liquor license, the rents became insane … It’s just not the same.
I live in Oakland now and I feel like the community that supports the businesses there is totally different. It reminds me of the San Francisco that I moved to in 2001. I feel like there, we interact with peers as opposed to people I have absolutely nothing in common with aside from maybe my age.”