An Oakland eatery that specializes in fresh-made tofu has landed in the national spotlight.
On Sept. 9, Food & Wine announced its 2025 winners for Best New Chefs in the United States. On it is Steve Joo, the chef at Joodooboo in Oakland’s Longfellow neighborhood. It’s a small, almost deli-like restaurant, with Korean-style small plates and seating on the sidewalk amid planters of vegetables and herbs.
Joo makes tofu using a careful process that involves domestic, organic soybeans and a traditional method of coagulation with reconstituted seawater. The result is blocks of jiggling, pearl-white protein that customers quickly snatch up. Also on Joodooboo’s menu, which leans vegetarian, are small-batch banchan made with hyperlocal ingredients, and mains like chilled acorn noodles with nori vinaigrette and pickled mushrooms and a rice bowl with seasonal veggies and fried egg.
Here is what Food & Wine had to say about the restaurant in its Best Chefs edition, which hits newsstands on Sept. 17:
“At his tofu-centric restaurant, Joodooboo, Joo interprets Korean food and flavors through a California lens, an approach shaped by his training at restaurants like Chez Panisse and sharpened during a transformative year spent in Korea in 2024: While seeking to better understand Korean food through the eyes of rural cooks, Joo tasted a tofu so remarkable it redirected his life, leading to an apprenticeship where he learned to make dooboo (the Korean word for tofu).
“Making tofu became Joo’s meditation practice and the foundation of Joodooboo. His process is still evolving. ‘We still have some curiosity about it,’ he says, noting that small changes in temperature, stirring and setting time can transform the final product. ‘Play, curiosity, discovery — those are key components to the process.’ Silky, nuanced and jiggly, Joo’s tofu is exquisite: a revelation, almost like a pudding.”
Joo’s backstory fits in well with Food & Wine’s theme this year, which is a chef’s embrace of personal history. Writes the magazine: “This year’s class reflects a clear shift: Chefs are putting their histories at the center of the plate.”
Here is the full list of Food Wine’s Best New Chefs for 2025:
Mariela Camacho: Comadre Panadería, Austin
Vinnie Cimino: Cordelia, Cleveland
Aretah Ettarh: Gramercy Tavern, New York City
Kelly Jacques: Ayu Bakehouse, New Orleans
Steve Joo: Joodooboo, Oakland, California
Telly Justice: HAGS, New York City
Phila Lorn: Mawn, Philadelphia
Yotaka Martin: Lom Wong, Phoenix
Colby Rasavong: Bad Idea, Nashville
Jordan Rubin: Mr. Tuna, Portland, Maine
Details: Joodooboo is open noon-3 p.m. and 4:30-8 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday at 4201 Market St., Oakland; joodooboo.co