LE MARAIS is getting closer to opening its expanded restaurant space next door, which will lead to about 45 seats in all, plus 10 outdoor seats. They hope to open the bistro in mid-June for daytime menus, and will start offering bistro-style fare at dinnertime in July.
The team has expanded to include an executive chef, Nicolette Manescalchi, whose background includes working her way up from line cook to executive sous chef at A16 in San Francisco, and she also helped open A16 Rockridge. Her cooking style integrates pristine California ingredients with old-world/Mediterranean cooking traditions and cuisine.
Head pastry chef Emily Riddell has been at Le Marais since March, developing their menu of entremets, tarts, macarons, panna cotta, cakes, and muffins, all filled with farm-fresh fruits from the market. Her background includes schooling at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, as well as Brasserie Perrier in Philadelphia, Le Bec-Fin, The Mildred, and she ran the pastry department at Stephen Starr Events.
Head baker Kate Mooring was head baker at Della Fattoria Bakery in Petaluma, established Parkside Bakery in Stinson Beach, and prior to that was a pastry assistant at Boulevard, Ubuntu in Napa, and A16 in San Francisco. She bakes organic, artisan loaves from scratch each day with natural starters and long fermentations.
2066 Chestnut St. at Mallorca, 415-359-9801.
Chef Nicolette Manescalchi. Photo courtesy Le Marais.
