Oakland's Pican - Uptown Style and Soul

With their new restaurant, Pican, Michael LeBlanc and his chef, Dean Dupuis, are part of the uptown Oakland renaissance. With the Paramount Theatre and the reopened Fox nearby, Uptown is kicking it. A flock of new condos doesn't hurt business either.

Pican is a modern soul food restaurant. Don't expect fat back in your collards, but do expect a light, interesting green dressed with good olive oil.

The fried chicken is so good that on the weekends, people reserve their chickens before they run out. Here is how they make it:

Dupuis starts with whole, all-natural chickens from Petaluma. After he breaks them down, they're brined for 24 hours in a solution of water, salt, sugar, black peppercorns, onion and bay leaves.

After the chicken pieces are removed from the brine, they swim in buttermilk and hot sauce for another 24.

Next, they are removed, rolled in southern wheat flour, which is spiked with salt, lots of black pepper, cayenne, garlic and thyme.

Finally, the parts are fried in canola oil in a cast-iron skillet.

If that doesn't tickle your taste buds, there's also a sugarcane roasted duck with pomegranate sauce and sautéed garlic spinach. Don't miss the smoked Gouda mac and cheese, or the Georgia pecan chocolate pie.

Pican is a stylish place, just right for Oakland.

Pican
2295 Broadway
Oakland
(510) 250-2270