Maria Alderete is up on a ladder hanging up a papier-mache sea creature by the kitchen while her husband and business partner, Rick Mitchell, is sitting at the bar with his laptop, replying to emails and updating a spreadsheet. In the kitchen, chef Wilson Mendez is testing the fryer. Each member of the crew, who have worked in concert for close to two decades, knows their part well and is relishing having the band back together. Back at the bar, Jared Hirsch is fixing a pesky mint leaf garnish, part of an amber colored gin tonic, in a ribbed balloon glass. The team is putting the finishing touches on 542 Grand Ave., where Bar Skula opens today, July 1. 

For 15 years Alderete and Mitchell were at the helm of Luka’s, a restaurant often credited with catapulting the revitalization of Uptown Oakland. In January of 2022, after they were unable to negotiate a new lease with the landlord, they closed the restaurant.

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