A new year, a new crop of exciting-looking restaurants popping up around the Bay. In Livermore, a pair of sushi-restaurant vets are opening a raw bar that highlights local sake. A sprawling food hall with a dozen restaurants is scheduled for downtown San Jose, an oyster bar with whole cracked Dungeness crabs is coming to Oakland’s Jack London Square and a Sicilian joint based on good ol’ momma’s cooking is launching in Danville.
In no particular order, here are 10 of the most eagerly anticipated restaurants expected to make their debut in early 2024, and a couple more inching closer to opening day.
Downtown Food Hall, San Jose
All will be revealed soon at the hush-hush food hall at the prime downtown corner of Third and Santa Clara streets.
Thanks to an early build-out of the website, we know about the first dozen restaurants planned by CloudKitchens, the culinary project from Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick. Inside the historic Odd Fellows building look for Monosushi, Forza Italian Kitchen, Sophia’s Streets, Y-Linh Sandwiches, Silk Road Kitchen, Cosmic Cuisine Halal, Mercy Mediterranean, Sam & Curry, TeaZer, Azuma San Jose, Cinco Milpitas and SLobster.
Names not looking familiar? We’re expecting a number of these to be fresh concepts, perhaps spin-offs from existing restaurants. Sam & Curry, however, is a known — and popular — fast-casual restaurant, a customized Indian kitchen that first opened in North San Jose in 2021.
According to city planning documents, one sit-down restaurant and a coffee bar will also be in the mix.
Details: The website lists January 2024 as the projected grand opening date at 82 E. Santa Clara St., San Jose; sjdowntownfoodhall.com
Cured: Fish Bar, Livermore
Livermore isn’t exactly known for its glitzy raw bars. So it’s exciting that Cured: Fish Bar is coming with its promised bounty of fresh shellfish, Bay Area-sourced crudo and an expertly curated gallery of sake.
The folks behind the restaurant are Frances Catano and Joe Tomaszak, industry vets who’ve worked at swanky Japanese spots like San Francisco’s Robin and Los Angeles’ Ototo (she on the beverage side, he as a sushi chef).
“We live out here in Sunol, and have worked in San Francisco for 10 years or so, and sad to say, we don’t have anywhere in this area that we can pop in before dinner or on a sunny day for raw bar bites,” says Catano. “Something about slurping down oysters, tasty bread and butter and a nice glass of wine is nostalgic – and an overall experience we wanted to provide.”
For this venture, the duo are pulling hard on local producers. The fish is coming from places such as Four Star Seafood and Provisions and Water2Table, a sustainable hook-and-line fish company operating from San Francisco’s Pier 45. Other ingredients are sourced from farms such as Happy Acre in Sunol, which grows and presses olives for oil in Livermore, and there’s even talk about roping in famed Livermore bakery Wingen for the bread service.
The early menu should have every fan of seafood salivating. From the fish bar is Baja bluefin with roasted Anaheim chile, pumpkin seeds and miso dust and premium Ora king salmon with smoked trout roe, herb oil and charred lemon. Classic raw-bar dishes get elevated into an Old Fashion Prawn Cocktail with transparent sea prawns and fermented horseradish, marinated mussels with white wine and coconut vinegar and a Bowl O’ Steamers with melted butter and sake.
As for that sake, Catano and Tomaszak are featuring their favorite Japanese and local varieties, including Den Sake from Oakland and Sequoia Sake in San Francisco.
Details: Opening scheduled for late January at 136 Maple St., Livermore.
Isola Osteria, Danville
East Bay restaurateur Angelo Dalo is hoping to share his love for the Sicilian way of eating at his family’s new restaurant, a 1,600-square-foot space with two patios for Mediterranean-style alfresco dining when the weather warms.
This is the same family behind Agrodolce, a Sicilian restaurant in Berkeley. Dalo says that he and his siblings have been heavily influenced by their mother, Rosa, an advocate for Sicilian cuisine who has “made it her mission to push Sicilian cuisine and culture to the forefront of what people think about Italy.”
The menu will be familiar to Agrodolce fans with appetizers such as melanzana impanata, fried eggplant with mozzarella and tomato sauce, and dishes such as ragù di maiale ($25) as well as Sicilian-inspired seafoood and other entrees.
Details: Opening in January at 100 Railroad Ave. in Danville; isolaosteriadanville.com
Ritual at Manresa, Los Gatos
Los Gatos has been without Michelin cuisine for a year, ever since chef David Kinch closed his three-starred Manresa after a final feast on Dec. 31, 2022. That all changes Jan. 17, when Silicon Valley entrepreneurs Juan and Luis Caviglia will officially launch a most unusual concept, Ritual at Manresa, 10 months’ worth of culinary residencies that will pair Michelin-starred chefs from around the world with Kinch.
In announcing the news, Kinch called Ritual at Manresa “a creative playground for top culinary talent to innovate and create right here in Los Gatos.”
The residency weeks will feature innovative prix fixe meals open to a limited number of diners. In January, chef Angel Leon of the three-starred Aponiente in the south of Spain will join Kinch, followed in March by two-starred Atomix chef Junghyun Park from New York and in April by Brazilian chef Alex Atala from the two-starred D.O.M. in Sao Paulo. Tickets for those became available in December, and most dates are already booked. Diners hoping to score spots can add their names to the waiting list or purchase a Ritual membership, which offers early access to tickets.
Details: Dinners will be held at the home of Manresa, 320 Village Lane, Los Gatos; ritualatmanresa.com.
The Salty Pearl, Oakland
Few chefs have as deft a hand as Danny Pirello at transforming simple, fresh seafood into a totally scrumptious meal. So it was a shame when his Rocky Island Oyster Co. got unceremoniously booted from Point Richmond this year. But Pirello is now back in a big way – with a larger kitchen, elevated menu and perfect location near Oakland’s waterfront Jack London Square.
The formula is simple: Creatures pulled from the sea flow in – lobsters, market fish, oysters from Pirello’s childhood haunt of Massachusetts – and the chef does his thing to make them tasty. “I might bring in a whole salmon and break it down, maybe smoke some and serve other parts as fillets,” he says. “We’ll have steamed clams and moules-frites. There will always be crudo on the menu, whether that’s local halibut or scallop or salmon, and occasionally a sea urchin. And always Dungeness crab, when it’s in season.”
Accompanying the lobster rolls and chowders are smaller bites like $1 oysters, marinated olives, Acme bread with butter and artfully constructed salads. There’s Scrimshaw Pilsner to pair with raw oysters, and a small but lovable wine list pulling hard from Mendocino County and France. (A Melon de Bourgogne Muscadet, anyone?)
The design of The Salty Pearl resembles a charming, European corner bistro. “There’s a 10-foot bar with a cool green tile backsplash, a little bit of an outdoor area and then a dining area. The whole place seats about 50 people,” says Pirello. “It’s supposed to be like an Irish pub/oyster bar, but a little nicer, with a neighborhood bar vibe.”
Details: A grand opening is scheduled for Jan. 12 at 550 Second St., Oakland; www.saltypearl.us.
The Hideout Kitchen and Cafe, Lafayette
The Hideout’s signature weekend brunches and elevated lunch and dinner offerings will soon be taking place in a new, expanded venue – and fortunately, it’s not far. Chef and restaurateur JB Balingit is about to move his Lafayette bistro into the space formerly occupied by the Cooperage.
Expect to see all your favorites from the current menu — from waffle sandwiches at brunch to honey-fried chicken at dinner — in the new space too. But the expansion offers a chance to expand the food and cocktail offerings, as well as serve up a range of dining experiences for families looking to grab a bite or friends seeking an elevated multi-course dinner or fun, music-filled boozy brunch, says brand manager Peyton Ferrer says.
“We have so much more room to look forward to using,” she says.
As for the former digs on Mt. Diablo Boulevard, the Hideout team has plans to launch a cocktail lounge there with Asian-inspired bites. (And for those of you keeping track, The Cooperage moved to Walnut Creek’s Broadway Plaza last fall.)
Details: Opening in January at 32 Lafayette Circle, Lafayette; hideoutkitchen.com
Ocean Oyster Bar & Grill, Redwood City
A new player is coming soon to downtown Redwood City’s theater district.
Ocean, a restaurant in Union City with a large menu of fresh fish, seafood and raw bar offerings, is taking over the prime location that housed the Spaghetti Factory until early in the pandemic. Lovers of a certain crustacean will find a wide array of flavors and styles: Mango-Habanero Prawns, Garlic Prawns, Louisiana Prawns, Spicy Peanut Prawns, Crunchy Jalapeno Prawns and Chef’s Special Prawns. And if the East Bay menu is any guide, diners on the Peninsula will enjoy Oyster Tuesday and Taco Wednesday specials, along with a Monday Slider Trio special that features crab, lobster and fried fish.
Bonus: There’s a full bar with a weekday happy hour that lasts from 1:30 to 6 p.m.
Details: Aiming for a March opening at 2107 Broadway, Redwood City; oceanoysterbargrill.com
Arthur Mac’s Big Snack, Hayward
Eating on a BART train car is pretty rude. Unless, of course, that car is part of an actual restaurant, as is the case with Arthur Mac’s Big Snack.
For the centerpiece of the new space, cofounders Adam Stemmler and Joel DiGiorgio transformed a legacy 1990s BART car into a dining compartment complete with a retro arcade and a kid’s play area. All that’s missing are the rowdy A’s fans and people dozing ’til the end of the line.
“No one has ever craned a 75-foot BART train car onto a vacant lot in Hayward, so the engineering and permit process has been long and complicated,” says DiGiorgio.
But that’s not the only thing that sets this new Arthur Mac’s apart from its sister locations in Oakland and Emeryville. It’s twice the size of the Oakland location, for one thing, making it ideal for parties and big sports-watching events like the Super Bowl and Women’s World Cup. There’s a sprawling outdoor dining area with fire pits and heating lamps, plus a corrugated awning to provide shelter from the elements.
The food is a hearty mix of brick-oven pizza, hot wings, double-fried french fries and a growing assortment of gluten-free and vegan slices and snacks. These are prepared in a repurposed shipping container, a nod to the original Arthur Mac’s in the MacArthur Annex shipping-container park in Oakland.
Big Snack also has a full-service cocktail bar in the garden by the BART car. “That’s not to say that we won’t have 20 draft handles serving up our favorite Bay Area craft beers, as that is a staple of our brand,” says Stemmler. “This location will just lean really hard into innovative, refreshing cocktails – timeless classics and modern spins on your favorite drinks.”
Details: Opening is scheduled for summer at 1060 B St., Hayward; arthurmacs.com
Pinstripes, Walnut Creek
This bistro-meets-bowling-alley-and-bocce-space has been in the works in Walnut Creek for some time, with a debut currently set for spring in Broadway Plaza. Although if your gameplay extends to a great fondness for musical chairs, you’ll want know that Pinstripes is going into the space formerly occupied by Crate and Barrel, which has moved to the former Talbots space across the street.
Pinstripes is known for its Italian and American fare — think wood-fired pizzas, meatballs and polenta, crispy chicken sandwiches and burgers, and weekend brunch buffet — and lively atmosphere, complete with a bowling alley, bocce options and full bar.
Don’t want to wait for spring? Head for the Pinstripes at San Mateo’s Hillsdale Mall. While pricing varies by market, locations share the same menu, bowling and bocce offerings, says Anthony Colucci, Pinstripes’ vice president of marketing.
Details: Opening spring 2024 at 1115 Broadway Plaza in Walnut Creek; pinstripes.com/walnut-creek.
The Silos, Morgan Hill
For years, foodies have been wondering when chef Ross Hanson would branch out from his super-successful Los Gatos pizza-focused restaurant, Oak & Rye, with a second location. And would it be Willow Glen? Downtown Campbell? The Peninsula? Turns out he’s heading south to Morgan Hill, where his new venture, The Silos, will be located in the historic Granary District, agricultural buildings that have been renovated for retail and office uses.
The craft cocktail lounge and restaurant, with indoor dining for 52 patrons and patio seating for 27 more, will go into newly constructed space in the Weston Miles project.
Don’t expect artisanal pizza. Instead, Hanson’s looking to expand upon the Oak & Rye bar program and put the food focus on small plates. He’s not dropping any hints. but considering his background – he was chef at the revered Restaurant James Randall – this could be a very creative menu.
Details: Slated for later in 2024 at 17480 Depot St., Morgan Hill; hoakandryepizza.com
STILL COMING
We’ve highlighted these much-anticipated restaurants before, and they recently confirmed that, yes, they are still on the way! Most say it’s hard to estimate opening dates, given the current economic climate, but here’s what lies ahead.
Hobee’s, San Jose: Yes, this venerable breakfast establishment is taking over a German beer garden downtown. Camille and Danielle Chijate, owners of the long-running Hobee’s chain, are opening soon in a historic blue Victorian on North Second Street, the German social-club venue with a street-facing patio that had formerly been home to Ludwig’s.
Mazra, Redwood City: The second location of the popular San Bruno Levantine eatery is now expected to open March 1, according to co-owner Saif Makableh. The restaurant, located at 2021 Broadway in Redwood City, has faced delays in opening due in part to the large mesquite-burning grill they’re installing.