Mark Liberman of Mägo

Help Support Oakland Chef Mark Liberman – a dedicated supporter of Sprouts!

Born in San Francisco, Mark has owned several restaurants in the Bay Area, including SF’s wildly popular AQ and now Mägo, opening this winter in Oakland. Originally, educated at the Culinary Institue of America, his career kicked off as Chef de cuisine of the Michelin-starred La Folie. He has won many prestigious awards including Food Network’s Chopped, Rising Star Chef Awards, and top 10 in the Bocuse d’Or USA.

Mägo means magician in Spanish, which is the nickname Mark earned by his coworkers at AQ. But also, magic is what Mark plans to bring to Oakland, a diverse and unique place itself, through his new restaurant with locally-sourced ingredients based on the 52 microclimates of the Bay Area. Besides adding a one-of-its-kind 45-seat restaurant, Mark, passionate about local ingredients, will be supporting the community as well. 

After 2 years of looking for a space, Mark and his team have found an incredible location on Piedmont Avenue in Oakland – and have just signed a lease. Now he needs YOUR help! Due to construction, design and extra costs, Mark is in need of extra funding.

As some of you know, getting funded through conventional methods (banks) doesn’t really work for new business, especially restaurants so Mark has decided to get creative and give donors two ways to get involved! The first way is through Kickstarter, a crowdsourcing platform to fund creative projects. Depending on your gift amount, you get cool rewards such as a limited edition Mägo cookbook or experiential rewards like working as a chef for a day or inventing a cocktail with the bar team.  When the final fundraising goal is reached, you get the cool stuff and Mark + his team gets the financial support they need. If the goal is not reached, you don’t lose any money (or get any cool stuff!).

Mägo is also offering gift cards available for use once the restaurant opens. The gift cards make a great gift for the upcoming holiday season – and there are no limitations or expiration dates on the cards!  To help raise funds, we are offering two gift cards, one at $500 valued at $750 and one at $1,000 valued at $1,350.

This cannot be done without the support of the community and Mark wants to extend a special thank you to everyone who has helped in getting Mägo where it is now. Please forward this to anyone you think that would be interested in being a part of Mägo and the start of something fun and exciting here in Oakland! It has been an incredible journey and the fun is only starting!