Charcuterie to become Persimmon?
Lots of buzzing around the Healdsburg Square as details about the new Southeast Asian fusion restaurant, Persimmon, comes into focus.
Executive Chef Danny Mai, formerly of the Sheraton Tolay, is still working on the menu, but told BiteClub that it will definitely include a few Vietnamese staples. “Of course I’ll have pho on the menu. If it’s not there, people will laugh me out of town,” he said, adding that banh mi sandwiches with house made pate and “soulful” dumplings are in the works. Mai, who was a Vietnamese refugee, has embraced a variety of cooking styles throughout his career, including a stop at La Folie in SF, and most recently…Mexican.
The kicker to this story is that Healdsburg’s Oaxacan culinary giants, the Diaz family (Agave, El Farolito and Casa Del Mole) are the financial backers of Persimmon.
“The only way we can grow is to diversify our cuisine. There are so many Mexican restaurants already, and we want to do something different,” said Octavio Diaz, of Agave.
Until the restaurant opens this fall, Mai is doing menu consulting for the Diaz family restaurants which, he said with a laugh, often makes for some curious looks when he steps out of the kitchen. “They’re like, wait, are you the chef here?” he giggled over the phone.
Charcuterie closed in early 2015 after more than a decade on the square.