A sunny African dinner option in the East Bay

This world? It’s a small one. I have always known this, because I started traveling the world when I was a kid, and am amazed how often my path crosses and recrosses paths of others who I’ve met along the way.

Back in Iowa City, I got to know a fantastic chef named Soleil, who started by renting out a local restaurant for African dinners on Friday and Saturday nights, and eventually opened his own place in Coralville, Iowa. My friends and I used to visit for his delicious Sunshine Soup, his amazing Tanzanian Coconut Fish, and his Beignet de Banana that even wowed me (and I am not a big fan of the banana…).

But, best of all, Soleil greeted everyone with one of the warmest, most wonderful smiles in existence, and makes every diner feel at home in his dining room. Going to Soleil’s Place was more like going to a friend’s house than a restaurant — we brought some wine, tried different dishes, and the conversation flowed over the African rhythms in the background.

Then he disappeared, leaving the restaurant shuttered, and someone thought he might have come out to California, but no one really knew, and eventually I moved, and that was the end of that.

Until, just before Thanksgiving, when I stopped in the farmers’ market and food court at the Metreon in San Francisco for a quick bite before a movie. There, though it was closed for the evening, was a stand that said, “Soleil’s African Kitchen.”

No way, I thought. It cannot possibly be the same Soleil.

A quick Google search on the iPhone yielded his website. Indeed, it was the same Soleil, now living in the East Bay. I started laughing out loud right there in the food court. The empanada vendor stared at me like I was crazy. I didn’t try to explain.

Soleil’s back in the dinner business, as of this week, cooking up his African food at Zocalo Coffeehouse, 645 Bancroft Avenue, in San Leandro. Dinners will be held on Saturday nights at 7 p.m., except for the first Saturday of each month. He’s serving up a tight-but-diverse menu of African dishes, and you can bring your own wine for a $5 corkage fee. Reservations are available by calling 510-228-6747, and I encourage you to support this wonderful chef in this endeavor. One other note: Though it doesn’t appear on the menu attached to this post, there will definitely be a vegetarian entree option.

I know I, for one, cannot wait to dig in to another plate of the flavors that warmed me in Iowa City, time and time again. It’s a small, tasty world, and that puts a sunny smile on my face.