Picán restaurant’s offshoot, Playt, opens in Hayward
When the much-acclaimed Picán closed last year, the restaurateur responsible for helping revitalize uptown Oakland promised a chapter two (or more).
Owner Michael LeBlanc’s plans are now coming to fruition.
He and his team have opened Playt, a Hayward restaurant specializing in what they call “Sideways Southern” comfort food — albeit served in an elegant dining room and bar setting.
Executive chef Jerome “Spike” Williams, who came over from Picán, has developed a menu that incorporates Cajun, Creole, Gullah and other Southern influences.
Look for Louisiana hot wings, Carolina fish fingers and Jamaican chicken skewers on the small plates menu. Main dishes include Sideways Gumbo, shrimp and grits, Mama’s Fried Catfish, Sunday Meatloaf (made with beef and pork belly) and not one but two variations on chicken: fried and pan-roasted.
All the Southern classics show up on the side dish menu: braised greens, red beans and rice, grits and slaw. Williams tweaks the macaroni and cheese by making his version with smoked Gouda.
He’s also got Spike’s Peach Cobbler on the dessert menu, along with bread pudding and banana pudding.
Playt serves from 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday (until 9 most nights and 10:30 Friday and Saturday) at 1036 B St. near Main Street. Reservations: 510-888-1092; www.playtonb.com.
Brazilian steakhouse coming to Concord
San Jose and San Francisco have them. So do San Mateo, Cupertino, Oakland, Richmond, San Bruno and Napa.
We’re talking Brazilian steakhouses.
Finally, central Contra Costa County will get one too.
Brasas Do Brazil will open soon in the former Mimi’s restaurant building on Willow Pass Road in Concord, according to Claycord.com.
No further information was available about the owners,
but if the restaurant follows the churrascaria model, here’s what diners will find: You pay one price for this upscale allyou-can-eat experience. First, you fill up on cured meats, cheeses, salads and marinated vegetables at the salad bar, then you sit down to a feast of grilled meats served tableside by wandering waiters. You flip up a card on your table to indicate you’re ready for more.
The concept has been growing in the Bay Area, with Galpao Gaucho the newest entrant. That group opened in
Cupertino this year after a successful 2016 NorCal launch in Napa.
Stay tuned for updates on Brasas Do Brazil.
Porta Blu restaurant comes to Facebook’s neighborhood
Menlo Park’s newest restaurant is nowhere near downtown’s Santa Cruz Avenue.
You have to head east of Highway 101 to where the 11-story Hotel Nia has sprung up not far from Facebook’s headquarters.
Inside is Porta Blu (“blue door”), a restaurant with a decidedly Mediterranean outlook. Although he’s a fourth-generation French chef with global experience from Paris to New York to Turks & Caicos, executive chef Eric Cousin decided to focus on what California has in common with the Mediterranean in terms of climate, ingredients and latitude, and he found inspiration in the recipes of the noted chef Joyce Goldstein. The result is a menu that blends influences of Greece, Spain, Portugal, Turkey and Italy.
Chef de cuisine Michael Riddell, formerly of the Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay, works with local purveyors to add the California perspective.
The inaugural menu includes entrees of Portuguese ameijoas na cataplana (clams with ham, chorizo and tomatoes); Middle Eastern rack of lamb (with pomegranate molasses); grilled salmon in grape leaves; four tagines with couscous (fish, chicken, lamb or vegetable); and flatbreads (including one with jamon serrano and manchego cheese). On the appetizer list are shareable plates of meze, crabcakes and a shrimp gratin.
Lunchtime brings kebabs, falafel, salads, sandwiches, plus a pasta, tagine and flatbread of the day. Dessert also reflects
the Med flair: There’s a citrus and olive oil cake, panna cotta and poached seasonal fruit.
This being a hotel restaurant, breakfast is served every day too. It’s a global array, from Irish oatmeal and a Greek yogurt parfait to a Basque omelet and eggs poached in an Israeli tomato-harissa sauce. American favorites are available too.
The lounge and restaurant offer craft cocktails, an international wine list and several NorCal beers on tap.
Porta Blu serves daily from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. (2:30 on Sundays) and from 5 to 10 p.m. at 200 Independence Drive (near Highways 101 and 84 and Marsh Road), Menlo Park. Reservations, menus: www. portablurestaurant.com.
Cheesecake Factory closing in Palo Alto after more than 14 years
The Cheesecake Factory has decided to close its Palo Alto location, a company official has confirmed.
The restaurant with the encyclopediasized menu — 250 dishes’ worth, including 34 varieties of cheesecake — has operated on University Avenue for more than 14 years.
May 26 will be the last day of service, the Palo Alto Weekly’s website reported. Alethea Rowe, senior director of public relations, wouldn’t comment on why the company “terminated” its lease.
The Bay Area is home to seven other Cheesecake Factory restaurants, most in or near malls: San Mateo (Hillsdale), Santa Clara (Valley Fair), San Jose (Oakridge), Pleasanton (Stoneridge), Walnut Creek (Plaza Escuela), Corte Madera (Village at Corte Madera) and San Francisco (Union Square).
In the meantime, this 375 University Ave. location is open from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily, until midnight on Friday and Saturday. www.thecheesecakefactory.com.
Send restaurant tips to Linda Zavoral at lzavoral@bayareanewsgroup.com.