<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=3sVUAe_0uUQ2buT00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3sVUAe_0uUQ2buT00" width="1210" height="806" ></figure><p>Dianne de Guzman is a deputy editor at Eater SF writing about Bay Area restaurant and bar trends, upcoming openings, and pop-ups. </p><p>Duende, the modern Spanish restaurant from chef Paul Canales, has closed. Canales confirmed the last day of service was Sunday, June 30. “We had a great run,” Canales says, “there’s no doubt about it, and I’m super appreciative of that. But it’s just not sustainable to keep going.”</p><p>Canales shares that several factors contributed to the decision to close Duende. Since the pandemic, “it’s been a super challenging business environment,” Canales says. Ultimately, business has been down, and from what he’s noticed from his restaurant, customers are leaning more on delivery or to-go — both of which never really took off at Duende or fit its style of food, he says.</p><p>As an Oakland business owner, Canales hesitates to outright name crime as a factor in the restaurant’s closure. “It’s such an easy out [to blame crime],” Canales says. He doesn’t believe in contributing further to the negative narrative around Oakland — “it makes the perception a reality,” he says — but he acknowledges it did make business tough at times. “I live in Oakland, I love it here,” Canales says, “but the city needs to get their act together and they need to get serious about taking significant action to support the business community and their citizens.”</p><p>Duende first opened in 2013 as a highly anticipated restaurant from Canales. He spent 15 years in the kitchen at beloved East Bay institution Oliveto, before he struck out on his own with Duende. The restaurant served regional Spanish cuisine with local ingredients, serving pans of paella, as well as smaller tapas plates, alongside Spanish wines and cocktails. The art-filled space often hosted events and special dinners, often with flamenco dancers, cultivating a neighborhood restaurant feel. </p><p>But now that Duende has closed, Canales is feeling nostalgic. From the restaurant’s first days to as recently as last month, Canales says, he would look at the restaurant from the mezzanine, peering into the bodega and dining room as diners ate their meal. “I always said to myself, ‘Paul, be incredibly grateful for these moments because it won’t always be this way’ — and it can’t always be that way. 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Uptown Oakland Favorite Duende Has Closed After 11 Years

Dianne de Guzman is a deputy editor at Eater SF writing about Bay Area restaurant and bar trends, upcoming openings, and pop-ups. Duende, the modern Spanish restaurant from chef Paul Canales, has closed. Canales confirmed the last day of service was Sunday, June 30. “We had a great run,” Canales says, “there’s no doubt about it, and I’m super appreciative of that. But it’s just not sustainable to keep going.”

Uptown Oakland Favorite Duende Has Closed After 11 Years

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