Butter in Berkeley?

Berkeley, Calif., is buzzing about a hot local restaurant that’s got nothing to do with sprouts, micro greens or wild salmon, and everything to do with boudin, gumbo and fried catfish.

Brandon Dubea (pronounced do-bay), the 28-year-old chef at Angeline’s Louisiana Kitchen, is a Baton Rouge transplant who’s not afraid to cook with butter, and lots of it.

Dishes such as fried oysters bordelaise, fried cheese grits with crawfish etouffée and bananas Foster bread pudding have kept people lined up outside Angeline’s since owner Robert Volberg opened with Dubea just over a year ago. And they’ve earned rave reviews from a dozen Bay Area papers and magazines, one praising Dubea for resisting “dumbing the food down for Berkeley.”

“Nothing we do is over the top,” Dubea says. “It’s not overly New Orleans-style cuisine. I try to mix in a lot of Cajun influences and things like that—it’s very comforting, but really fresh and executed in a fine dining manner. We’re still in California, and people have certain standards when it comes to eating out over here.”

Dubea attended Glen Oaks and Woodlawn high schools. He moved to the Bay Area in 2000 initially to pursue a career in music production. But his love of food took over; he honed his culinary skills under acclaimed California chef Chris Cheung at Marica Seafood in Oakland, then learned the fine art of pastry making at Café Rouge in Berkeley.

Now he applies his new knowledge to Louisiana favorites like barbecue shrimp and beignets. (Dubea’s Baton Rouge gastronomic loves haven’t been forgotten, and range from Juban’s to Brew-Bachers.)

“They’re happy to come here (to Angeline’s) and get fat, but then you still have your vegetarians, and the vegan thing is huge,” Dubea says.

But he’s got that covered, too. His hush puppies are menu favorites, and wild mushroom jambalaya is as vegetarian-friendly as it gets—it’s still Cajun, just with a Cali twist. angelineskitchen.com.