Parche, the contemporary Colombian restaurant at 2295 Broadway in Uptown Oakland, will match its empanada and cocktail sales on Sunday, Aug. 17, sending the proceeds toward earthquake relief in Colombia, where co-owner Paul Iglesias has deep family ties.

Parche, the contemporary Colombian restaurant at 2295 Broadway in Uptown Oakland, is putting a night of its bar and kitchen behind earthquake relief. On Sunday, Aug. 17, the room will double every empanada and cocktail sold between 5 p.m. and close, routing the matched total to relief work in Colombia, as NBC Bay Area reported (external source, opens in a new tab). The magnitude-7.4 quake struck the country's western region on Monday, per the station.

For co-owner Paul Iglesias, it lands close. His parents are from Colombia, and he told the station he had been staying in one of the hardest-hit areas only weeks before, on a culinary trip; the house he'd slept in for a week, he said, "basically crumbled to the ground." He cast the fundraiser as the reach an Oakland restaurateur actually has — not on the rescue lines, but able to fill a dining room and send the money home, a way to "celebrate our culture and our community," in his words to the station.

That culture is the premise of the room, not a one-night add-on. Iglesias — a Bay Area cook who worked at San Francisco's Canela Bistro & Wine Bar before opening his own place — launched Parche in January 2023 with part-owner Kendrick Wu, as the trade outlet WhatNow SF reported (external source, opens in a new tab) at the time. The name is Colombian slang for a gathering of friends, and the food follows suit: shareable plates of ceviche, arepas and braised meats plus the empanadas now doing double duty, set against a cocktail list built on Colombian and Spanish spirits, by the restaurant's own account (external source, opens in a new tab). Iglesias and Sophia Akbar also run a sister restaurant a few blocks north, the contemporary Afghan spot Jaji (external source, opens in a new tab) on 24th Street.

One night of matched sales won't rebuild a town. But moving money from a full room to somewhere that needs it is close to the only civic lever a neighborhood restaurant holds — and Parche is betting its Uptown regulars pull it Sunday.