This cult favorite S.F. wine destination is opening a new seafood restaurant
Seafood restaurant Sirene is coming to Oakland from the owners of the Morris in San Francisco The team behind the acclaimed San Francisco restaurant the Morris is opening a new seafood restaurant, Sirene, in Oakland. The restaurant, which will specialize in seafood, will take over the former Sister restaurant space at 3308 Grand Ave. in the Grand Lake district. The chef and business partner, Gavin Schmidt, was brought up in the Pacific Northwest and plans to incorporate his love of charcuterie into the restaurant's menu. The food program will feature both aged wines from the Morris cellar and current release domestic and international offerings, heavy on Champagne. Additionally, the restaurant plans to operate a coffee bar during the day and dinner at night seven days a week.
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The Bay Area is getting an exciting new restaurant from the team behind critically acclaimed San Francisco destination the Morris, whose beverage program is a finalist this year for a prestigious James Beard award.
The new restaurant is called Sirene, the French word for mermaid, and will appropriately specialize in seafood when it opens this winter in Oakland. It will take over the shuttered Sister restaurant space at 3308 Grand Ave. in the Grand Lake district.
“Oakland is alive right now,” said sommelier and owner Paul Einbund. “We’re excited to join the community of great dining establishments, but adding our own touches to the scene is our goal.”
Whereas the Morris, which opened in 2017, is a very personal project for Einbund (the restaurant was named after his late father), Sirene will be rooted in the experience of his chef and business partner Gavin Schmidt. A longtime Oakland resident, Schmidt was brought up in the waterways of the Pacific Northwest, raised on Bainbridge Island near Seattle.
“Sirene is a nod to the draw that the sea has had on Gavin,” said Einbund, “both of the time spent on the water and also the tasty creatures that lie beneath.”
They’re still writing the menu, but Einbund said those sea creatures could come in the form of oysters (both raw on the half shell and grilled); crispy smoked cod fritters; brothy bowls of moules frites; and large-format whole roasted cod. Also of note is Schmidt’s obsession with charcuterie (a required order at the Morris), which he plans to extend and experiment with using everything under the sea at Sirene: think plump shellfish boudin blanc, multi-layered seafood terrines and spicy shrimp chorizo.
The restaurant will inherit the wood-fired pizza oven that fueled Sister and, before it, the Cal-Italian Boot & Shoe Service. But pizza is not currently in the plans: “There are plenty of great pizza spots in Oakland,” said Einbund. Instead, expect Schmidt to use the oven to cook produce like roasted cabbage covered in savory XO sauce and proteins like grilled abalone.
On the beverage front, Einbund is working with Alec Cummings, head sommelier at the Morris, to craft the program together, which will feature both aged wines from the Morris cellar as well as current release domestic and international offerings, heavy on the Champagne. There will also be cocktails coming from Craig Lane, who was previously the Morris’ bar manager and a longtime Bar Agricole vet.
When it opens, Sirene plans to operate a coffee bar during the day and dinner at night seven days a week. “The Morris is a neighborhood place first and foremost,” says Einbund. “If we can bring that same vibe to Sirene, we will have done our job.”
Topik: Food & Drink