Acclaimed Indonesian-Inspired Café Relaunches at BAMPFA, Bringing a New Culinary Destination to Downtown Berkeley 

(Berkeley, CA) October 30, 2025—This Saturday, November 1 at 1 PM, Kopi Bar and Bakery will reopen at the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, inaugurating a major new addition to Berkeley’s vibrant culinary scene. Hailed by the San Francisco Chronicle as “one of the best coffee shops in the San Francisco Bay Area,” Kopi Bar and Bakery is relocating from its previous location next to Haron’s sister restaurant SanDai in Walnut Creek—bringing an Indonesian-inspired café with a distinctively Californian sensibility to BAMPFA, where it will be located one block away from the Downtown Berkeley BART Station. Admission to the museum is not required to visit Kopi Bar and Bakery, which will be open to all visitors from 11 AM to 5 PM on Wednesdays through Sundays.

In its new space at BAMPFA, Kopi Bar and Bakery will advance Haron’s longstanding practice of providing guests with a sophisticated culinary experience that blends the flavors of Indonesia and Singapore with California café culture and its very open dialogue about ingredient sourcing, how foods are produced, and culinary traditions and experimentation. The menu at BAMPFA will include a range of sustainably sourced espresso and cold brew coffee drinks—including Kopi Bar’s signature Avocado Coffee, acclaimed by Eater SF as one of the Bay Area’s most notable coffees and brewed with specialty locally oak wood roasted Indonesian-grown Arabica beans from Mr. Espresso—as well as salads, soups, handmade pastries, and snacks. In Chef Nora’s signature style, many of her pastries will begin with her ten-year sourdough starter, for depth of flavor. Items will include Pandan and Coconut Brioche Swirls, Kaya Toast Brulee with Coddled Eggs; Makrut Lime Shortbread, Bubur Ayam (An Indonesian-style chicken congee) with Soy Sauce Sambal. In partnership with BAMPFA, Haron plans to introduce artistically inspired seasonal offerings that correspond to specific exhibitions and film programs at the museum. 

Following the August announcement that Kopi Bar and Bakery would relocate to BAMPFA, Haron has partnered with the museum to refresh the café space on the museum’s second floor, which has been vacant since 2021. This refurbishment has included the installation of traditional Indonesian artworks on the café walls, including Balinese sandstone carvings that were previously commissioned for SanDai, as well as wrought Javanese copper stamps (cap batik) from the Haron family’s personal collection. The artwork installation and renovations were supported in part by a generous donation from the Bay Area philanthropists Margarita Gandia and Diana Campoamor.

“We’re thrilled to welcome Chef Nora Haron and Kopi Bar and Bakery to BAMPFA. Nora’s deeply personal approach to food—rooted in heritage, hospitality, and bold creativity—resonates with our mission to present art that expands perspectives and sparks connection. This partnership brings new energy to our museum and contributes to the rich cultural and culinary fabric of Downtown Berkeley,” said BAMPFA’s Executive Director Julie Rodrigues Widholm. 

“Kopi Bar and Bakery at BAMPFA is meant to be more than just a café. It’s a continuation of the museum experience,” said Haron. ”I want people to feel like they can come to the café space to slow down, take it all in, and enjoy something delicious that also sparks curiosity and reflection. The menu is about flavors I love from Indonesia and Singapore, interpreted through a California lens, celebrating regional abundance from local food producers. We’ll be creating drinks and dishes inspired by current installations, so there’s always something new to discover. With coffee after a film, or dish or pastry that connects to the art on view, I hope it adds something meaningful to each visit.”

About Chef Nora Haron

Chef Nora's passion for multiplicity-in-influences-cooking ignited while helping her mom prep meals in their Singaporean home. Haron attended the San Francisco Baking Institute and honed her skill set as Head Kitchen Manager and Culinary Operations Manager for Blue Bottle Coffee, Director of Food Operations for Farley’s, and Executive Chef at Monkey Forest Road and Crema. 

Advocating for super-local, sustainable, organic, and distinctly culturally representative ingredients, Haron is a vanguard in the kitchen, always creating new destination-worthy savory dishes, and a revered baker of artisanal, housemade breads and pastries. She was Executive Chef at Drip Line Oakland, a café and gathering place in the heart of West Oakland, and Executive Chef and Partner at Local Kitchen in SoMa SF, Rincon Hill. Chef Nora was the Founder and Executive Chef of the popular pandemic-era Pop Up IndoMex, in Oakland, CA. Most recently, Chef Nora was Director of Culinary for Killiney Kopitiam, USA and SanDai Restaurant + Kopi Bar in Walnut Creek. As a Chef, she has worked with Mr. Espresso coffee roasts since her Crema days in 2007, and today she partners with Mr. Espresso as a Chef Ambassador, making the most of her specialty coffee drink expertise and creativity. 

About BAMPFA

Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA) ignites cultural change for a more inclusive and artistic world. BAMPFA has been uniquely dedicated to art and film since 1970, with international programming that is locally connected and globally relevant. It holds more than 25,000 artworks and 18,000 films and videos in its collection, with particular strengths in modern and contemporary art and historical Chinese painting, as well as the world’s largest collection of African American quilts. As part of the University of California, Berkeley, BAMPFA is committed to artistic diversity through its robust slate of art exhibitions, film screenings, artist talks, live performances, and educational programs that shed new light on the art of the past and connect our audiences with leading filmmakers and artists of our time. BAMPFA sits on the edge of campus and downtown Berkeley, where it welcomes visitors from across and beyond the Bay Area in a repurposed building designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro.