Slated for a May 15 opening is Pinoli Cucina Rustica at Guerneville’s Applewood Inn. But don’t expect a wait staff or other front-of-the-house folks.
Headed by Chef Christian Darcoli, chef/owner of Pinoli Ristorante in Puerto Rico, the plan is to have a chef-driven experience where guests are guided through a personalized food and wine menu by the restaurant’s chef staff.
“I feel that it is very important for our chefs to have the opportunity to interact directly with our guests. Allowing them to run the front-of-house as well as the back, gives them the opportunity to welcome our guests into the restaurant, share their love for and knowledge about food that we create,” said Darcoli, who hopes this kind of restaurant experience will be trend-setting.
The menu is still in the works, but will focus on Mediterranean-inspired dishes, as well as including fruit and vegetables grown on the property and locally sourced meats and seafood.
The restaurant will be open to the public for lunch and dinner.
Most recently, the restaurant was re-opened as Revival with restaurateur Crista Luedtke and Chef Ben Spiegel. The high concept restaurant got rave reviews but shuttered in 2016. Prior to that, the restaurant had been home to a number of top-notch chefs including SF Chef Brian Gerritsen, David Frakes (Lynmar), Brian Anderson (Bistro 29) Bruce Frieseke (most recently of County Bench), Jamil Peden, Ty Taube (forageSF) and Shelly Cerneant (Sonoma Country Day School) .