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The rollout of destination eateries in downtown Tiburon’s continues. The latest addition is traditional French bistro Petite Left Bank that opened last week on the site of the former New Morning Café.
This adds another notch to the Left Bank Brasserie trio of restaurants from Vine Hospitality, co-founded by Michelin-starred chef and Marin County resident Roland Passot. The Larkspur original is nearing the three-decade mark and locations in Menlo Park (1998) and San Jose (2003) followed.
The Petite Left Bank menu is the co-creation of Passot and executive chef Justin Minnich (Café Claude and Town Hall in San Francisco). It features French classics such as escargot en croute, steak frites with Béarnaise sauce, beef bourguignon, salade Niçoise with olive oil-poached tuna, and the Le Grand Burger with faux gras torchon and bacon onion jam.
The restaurant serves dinner only for now, but hours will expand soon to include espresso drinks and French bakery items in the morning and then a lunch-dinner menu.
Sommelier and beverage director Serena Harkey has chosen a list of domestic and imported wines that are served by the glass. Artisan craft cocktails, spirit free libations, pastis and CBD sparkling water round out the selection.
Oakland architecture and design firm Arcsine handled the reinvention of the 1,700-square-foot interior that brings to life the style of the Left Bank bohemian district of Paris while embellishing it with contemporary California flair. Authentic bistro elements (antique metal details, herringbone wood floors, vintage antique mirrors and tin ceiling tiles) balance with whimsy (a French blue-gray custom toile wallpaper of dancing pigs sailing through Tiburon’s waterways).
Up to 65 diners are accommodated at marble-topped tables set with bistro chairs or along a red banquette with French caning. A small pewter bar in the corner bar is visually distinguished from the dining room by black and white floor tiles. Garage-style doors fully open to replicate the indoor/outdoor French café ambiance.
Petite Left Bank is open from 4 to 8 p.m. nightly at 1696 Tiburon Blvd. in Tiburon. Morning café, midday lunch, weekend brunch, take-home meals, picnics items and catering services are part of the near-term plans.
Go to petiteleftbank.com for details and reservations, or call 415-910-1010. Walk-ins are accepted, but reservations are recommended. The bar is first come, first served.
Take a peek before or after this weekend’s 39th annual Tiburon Wine Festival from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday at Point Tiburon Plaza at 1701 Tiburon Blvd. Purchase tickets ($95) at tiburonchamber.org for unlimited tastings from 58 wineries and many local restaurants, including Petite Left Bank, the Bungalow Kitchen by Michael Mina, Luna Blu, Sam’s Anchor Cafe, Servino Ristorante, Tiburon Tavern, Salt & Pepper and the Caprice. Work off the consumption with groove-based soul and progressive funk band Soul Mechanix.
While Novato is not lacking in taco and burrito shops, Shah Bahreyni, managing partner of the recently departed Crave, feels a region of Mexico and level of service is underrepresented.
“There is not a really authentic Oaxacan restaurant with the many different house moles and salsas and a wood-burning oven on upper scale nearby,” says Bahreyni about deciding to close his Californian restaurant Crave last month. On Friday, he’ll reveal the reinvention of the space and menu with Mamita Cocina Mexicana.
Partner Bernardo Robles whom Bahreyni has worked with for the past 14 years on his other three restaurants — Boca Pizzeria in Corte Madera and Novato and Cielito Cocina Mexicana in Danville — is the executive chef.
The menu is informed by a recent trip Robles took to Oaxaca for a culinary training program. This augmented the skills and recipes he’d learned in Guadalajara from his mother and grandmother, who visited his kitchen this month to make sure all is as it should be.
The menu features appetizers like flautas de pollo (braised chicken pibil in yellow mole with Mexican slaw, cotija and salsa), ceviche, ahi tuna crudo, chile relleno and roasted cauliflower al pastor with achiote, cumin, grilled onions, pineapple and chipotle aioli. Six wood-grilled tacos include birria braised short ribs, chili-marinated rock cod and quesabirria.
Bahreyni says the chiles and spices are brought in twice a month from Oaxaca.
“The oregano and chilies are so fresh,” he says. “We marinate and roast over oak wood to give them a lot of flavor and mix with tomatoes and spices for the salsas.”
Margaritas and other hand-crafted cocktails made with fresh-squeezed and strained fruit juices are shaken outside at the patio tequila bar where it’s DJ dance night on Thursdays starting in October. Close to 60 tequilas and mezcals range from the highest end down, some of which are on a table-to-table tequila cart.
The interior remodel that includes Mexican tiles, lanterns and artwork “really transports you to that region of Mexico,” Bahreyni says. The landscaping was fully redone to evoke a tropical look.
Starting Friday, Mamita Cocina Mexicana is open from 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays; 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Fridays; 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturdays and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sundays at 340 Ignacio Blvd. in Novato. Find more information at mamitamarin.com.
Leanne Battelle is a freelance food writer and restaurant columnist. Email her at ij.lbattelle@gmail.com with news and recommendations and follow on Instagram @therealdealmarin for more on local food and updates on the launch of The Real Deal Marin restaurant guide.
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