Reem Assil slices a za’atar mana’eesh in the kitchen at Reem’s in Oakland in 2019. She’s opening a new location in San Francisco’s Ferry Building.

Reem’s California, the beloved Arab bakery from nationally renowned chef Reem Assil, is coming to San Francisco’s iconic Ferry Building.

Assil will bring her popular mana’eesh (flatbreads) covered in za’atar, house-made dips and fresh-baked Arab pastries to a kiosk in the former Cowgirl Creamery space in late September. Diners will be able to grab a mana’eesh topped with chicken and caramelized onions to go, or hang out at a bar with a cup of cardamom cold brew coffee. Expect pita with muhammara, the deep red, slightly sweet red pepper spread; and baked goods like fatayer sabanikh, turnovers filled with spinach and onion. There will also be new dishes only available at this location.

The new Reem’s, inspired by street-corner bakeries in Syria and Lebanon, also reflects a new approach to expansion for Assil. It will be the first of many smaller kiosks she plans to open in the Bay Area.

“What do little outposts of Reem’s look like, that can be accessible to a wider scope of people without a heavier lift?” she said.

Chef and owner Reem Assil takes freshly baked pitas out of the oven at Reem’s California in San Francisco.

It’s also a homecoming of sorts for Assil. Before she opened her hit restaurants in Oakland and San Francisco, people lined up for warm mana’eesh at the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market every Saturday. The Reem’s farmers’ market stand closed in 2020 but built a customer base so loyal that Assil said she still sees orders at the Mission District restaurant requesting “farmers’ market style,” which means the mana’eesh should be cooked on the saj grill until slightly crispy on the outside and doughy on the inside, with ample za’atar.

She’s also excited to be part of what she described as a “time of change” for the Ferry Building, with more diverse restaurants operated by people of color. The culinary destination is now home to Oakland’s Black-owned Red Bay Coffee, Filipino-Mexican food truck favorite Señor Sisig and Latin American spot Cholita Linda. (The Ferry Building has struggled with many pandemic closures, however, including the longtime Cowgirl Creamery and, most recently, Golden Gate Meat Co.)

“It feels good to be part of this renaissance where there’s more diversity in offerings,” Assil said.

Beyond her culinary acclaim, Assil is also known in the food community as a social-justice minded activist. Last year, her restaurants replaced tips with a 20% “workers’ resilience service charge,” which helped raise wages and pays for health care and other benefits.

She’s also in the midst of transitioning Reem’s to worker ownership. When the process is complete, all restaurants, including at the Ferry Building, will be worker-run.

Assil built a following through Arab street food in Oakland’s Fruitvale neighborhood (that location closed last year, though a commissary kitchen remains open) and a second restaurant that opened in the Mission District in 2020. She’s since expanded into Bay Area grocery stores, which sell Reem’s frozen mana’eesh, falafel and other baked goods.

Elena Kadvany (she/her) is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: elena.kadvany@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @ekadvany

Elena Kadvany joined The San Francisco Chronicle as a food reporter in 2021. Previously, she was a staff writer at the Palo Alto Weekly and its sister publications, where she covered restaurants and education and also founded the Peninsula Foodist restaurant column and newsletter.