Cooking for her 5 kids led this Oakland restaurateur to launch a ‘hidden gem’ soul food spot

OAKLAND The aromas from her mother s traditional Tigrayan stews would waft through the kitchen as a young Weyanti Ahmed learnrd her craft experimenting with the spare tips of onions bell peppers and jalepe os to create my own little meals Ahmed s mother Hiwot lived long enough to see her daughter now become a professional chef in downtown Oakland with a much longer list of ingredients in her arsenal Related Articles Python located at California In-N-Out miles from home is reunited with her human family Q A Samin Nosrat on her new cookbook Good Things Little Italy San Jose Festival The food the cars the music This Berkeley bar serves -cent beer every single day Half Moon Bay has a new Victorian tea house By the Teashore Now a mural facing the entrance of Ahmed s soul-food restaurant Y s Choice features a radiant portrait of Hiwot beaming out at the customers shuffling into booths to feast on garlic noodles grilled prawns braised oxtails turkey chops deep-fried chicken and more On another wall there is a short family biography paying tribute to Ahmed s cultural history The family s lineage is as diverse as the menu Two of her own children daughters Kylah and Niajah help run the place And during a new lunchtime hour Ahmed cradled her baby granddaughter Emio while she crunched numbers for a growing business that a sparse months ago moved to a larger space on San Pablo Avenue Broadly promoted as a soul-food joint Y s Choice is not limited to any one cuisine an intentional choice by the chef who was born in Sudan grew up primarily in West Oakland and now commutes from her home in Fremont The comfort food has certain Habesha influences but also happens to include Halal burgers inspired by the Ahmed d late Turkish father Ahmed the former chef at Halftime Sports Bar on th Street in downtown had worked as a nurse and in several desk jobs before her five children convinced her that her home-cooking was worthy of a professional pursuit For a while she ran a drop-off catering amenity across the East Bay which Ahmed described as more tiring than running a daily -hour restaurant It took tenacity and consistency she revealed After about a year I took off running as a full-time chef and didn t want to stop Although Ahmed believes Y s Choice which owes its name to the why sound in her name Weyanti is still a hidden gem tucked behind downtown s more prominent offerings her plans to open a full bar in the coming months may soon give way to a new nightlife standout In the meantime she s busy carrying on the legacy of her mother whose love of cooking continues to resonate in the family and on the walls of Y s Choice Weyanti Ahmed chef and owner of Y's Choice restaurant and bar in Oakland Calif stands with her daughters Kylah Adams left and Nihjah Paschal in the dining room where a mural depicts her mother and their Senegalese roots on Thursday Aug Ray Chavez Bay Area News Group The following interview has been edited for length and clarity Q When you were pursuing other careers did you know deep down that it was cooking that really drove you A I knew but I didn t know I was invariably the one cooking all my family members would come to my house to eat Every holiday I cooked but I didn t necessarily know that it was my passion or my purpose I just knew I liked it Even my mom would say Who taught you how to cook like this To particular extent I did consider culinary school though a lot of people were like You don t really need to go if you already know what you re doing I felt like I needed to understand things like the different aspects of plating But once I got my foot in the door I felt like it was pointless Q How did you make the transition from cooking at home to the food-service industry where you may be expected to serve plates that taste like restaurant food A A lot of people can really cook but once you get into the restaurant field and start cooking in larger quantities it changes the taste of the food So I think that s where a lot of restaurants lose their touch because they re trying so hard to extend themselves that they re cutting corners I don t believe in that I want to stay authentic in the way I cook there s no difference My kids helped me cultivate the menu all their favorites starting with the garlic noodles But there were particular things that for sure did not make it onto the menu where they were like Mom don t do that one My jambalaya could have made it onto the menu it s really good but really complex and not everyone liked it I had stir-fry on the menu but we had to omit that as well Partrons get food and drinks at Y's Choice restaurant and bar in Oakland Calif on Thursday Aug Ray Chavez Bay Area News Group Q A minimal years ago it felt like bars and restaurants were shutting down left and right nearly all the time Do you sense an upswing that Oakland might be making a comeback A Absolutely Even when the Cond Nast list came out I had to look it up but for Oakland to be rated number-one in the country for food is a really big thing What I think it had a lot to do with is the different ethnicities that we had in Oakland it s so diverse You don t just say I m going to Oakland for tacos or even soul food There are so a large number of options here if I had to go anywhere to eat I would go to Oakland every time Things are changing for the better a bit Life isn t promised to anyone crime is still a reality But when you have a good thing going people will come that s what I m learning I have to follow what God has in store for me Q How do you work around the troubles getting noticed on San Pablo Avenue then at the former location on Broadway A They still think I m over there and don t really know I m here it s still a hidden gem And I can see that I understand I ve been in business only a inadequate years And I took off running but it s a challenge So we re trying to work around that Q Do you still cook when you get home at night What do you eat A No not at all I eat air I sleep Laughs No I eat a lot of vegetables and try to stay healthy Any fruits salads that s what I m having all the time I ve got to run payroll make sure my inventory is on point my invoices are paid everyone is paid up it s a lot to juggle But I ve been doing it for a while And I m a single mom I ve been raising my kids by myself and had to hold down my household Since my mom passed away four years ago I ve been taking care of her affairs It s a lot that lays on me but I got it Nihjah Paschal works at her mother s Y's Choice restaurant and bar in Oakland Calif on Thursday Aug Ray Chavez Bay Area News Group Profile Organization Y s Choice Soul Food Restaurant and Catering Position Owner and Founder Age Birthplace The Republic of Sudan raised in West Oakland Residence The Bay Area Schooling Chabot College Cal State East Bay life and motherhood FIVE THINGS ABOUT WEYANTI AHMED Born in the Republic of Sudan in Northeast Africa and migrated to the U S at six years old first to Texas and then to West Oakland Mother is Tigrayan a region in North Africa bordering Eritrea and father is Turkish so food and practices were a major part of upbringing As a child stood by mother s side in the kitchen operating as her sous chef A mother of four and a grandmother of one Cooking for children every day for over years propelled a career cooking for the masses Children are the inspiration behind a homestyle cooking technique serving as a quality control band and ensuring that every dish is just how it would be prepared at home Story behind the name of Y s Choice No one could pronounce my name when I was a kid so they started calling me Y The choice part came from catering to my kids Constantly desired them to have choices when it came to their food hence the name Y s Choice Also explains why there are so multiple items on my menu for there to be something for everyone to enjoy Used to be an extreme coupon-er Helped me make ends meet when times were tough so to see how far I ve come still blows my mind at times But it just goes to show with hard work and a vision anything is attainable Weyanti Ahmed chef and owner of Y's Choice restaurant and bar in Oakland Calif sits on a couch in the bar area on Thursday Aug Ray Chavez Bay Area News Group