Warriors’ Draymond Green to open first SF restaurant

For the first time, Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green is getting into the restaurant game. The concept for Meski, an Ethiopian fusion restaurant and bar opening in San Francisco’s Lower Nob Hill, all came together on a serendipitous night out. 

Guma Fassil, owner of Berkeley’s Meski’s Kitchen & Garden, first befriended Green at nightlife events he hosted and the Warriors attended. Since taking over his family’s 33-year-old Ethiopian restaurant in 2019, Fassil had dreamed of bringing his own restaurant and nightlife concept to life and brought the idea to Green. But the pair hadn’t figured out the culinary side of the project until they wandered into Sobre Mesa, chef Nelson German’s Oakland Afro-Latin cocktail lounge, late one night after a Martin Lawrence show. 

“The kitchen was closed, but chef Nelson was nice enough to reopen it for us, and the hospitality was great, the food was great, the vibe,” Fassil told SFGATE. “And one thing led to another. We spoke a couple times after that and showed him the space and now we’re all partners.”

Meski, set to open at 1000 Larkin St. in March, will blend Ethiopian and Afro-Latin flavors in a stylish two-level space filled with plants from Oakland plant shop Black Girls Green House and colorful portraits from Oakland artist Taylor Smalls. 

The project felt “historic,” Nelson said, as nothing like this concept has ever been done before, to his knowledge. Plus, the Oakland restaurateur and “Top Chef” alum liked the idea of bringing it to San Francisco, where Black-owned businesses are rarer than in Oakland.

Blending Ethiopian and Afro-Latin cuisine felt natural to Nelson, since many Ethiopian dishes remind him of the flavors he grew up with. Beef tibs, for example, remind him of his mother’s bistec encebollado, a Dominican steak-and-onions dish. 

“If you look at it really deeply, it’s not really a fusion, because it’s still part of the African diaspora, still part of the culture, still part of Black food, still part of Black history,” German said. “We’re just digging deeper and joining forces, and showcasing how the diasporas are so familiar.” 

Dishes at Meski will include doro doro pollo, a roasted chicken dish with Ethiopian and Caribbean spices, served with yekik (Ethiopian yellow split peas) and an avocado crema. A grass-fed T-bone steak with a berbere coffee rub will be served alongside chile-glazed ripe plantains, pigeon peas and Caribbean XO sauce; an injera platter will showcase Dominican stews and legumes alongside Ethiopian red lentils and collard greens. Cocktail-wise, expect berbere-rimmed margaritas and an espresso martini made with Ethiopian coffee, Dominican spiced rum and cinnamon plantain syrup. 

When Fassil’s mother, whom Meski is named after, first opened her Berkeley restaurant in 1993, Ethiopian food was a rarity in Northern California, Fassil said. Three decades later, it’s a lot more mainstream. 

“People know it now, and I think people are now prepared to have derivations of Ethiopian food and to kind of pivot and incorporate our diasporic concept,” Fassil said. 

As far as Green’s role in Meski, he’s “not going to be waiting tables,” joked Fassil, but is lending financial backing and will be involved in marketing. Green also had an integral role in deciding how the space would look and feel. He wanted to create a restaurant that was elevated yet unpretentious, something he felt was lacking in San Francisco.

“When Draymond and I travel, we don’t go to Michelin-star restaurants. We like to frequent restaurants that are very vibrant and energetic and also have elevated cuisine,” Fassil said. “So we wanted to replicate that in San Francisco.”

To create that vibe, Meski will feature live DJ sets playing afrobeats, amapiano and R&B music in the lush, art deco-accented space. Meski’s grand opening is set for March 7, with pre-opening pop-ups happening through February.