The former Le Meridien hotel on Clay Street near the Embarcadero Center reopened earlier this year as The Jay, a Marriott Autograph Collection hotel. And now the hotel’s main fine-dining restaurant will open next week as Prelude, a Southern-inspired, California-style prix fixe eatery.
The chef behind Prelude is Celtin Hendrickson-Jones, who has worked in the kitchens of Morimoto Napa, Picco in Larkspur, the Michelin-starred Niku Steakhouse, and awarded two Michelin stars Commis in Oakland. And when he takes on his first job as a head chef, Hendrickson-Jones draws inspiration from his maternal grandmother’s cooking from Alabama and the flavors of the South, combined with cutting-edge technology and Californian produce.
The Southern influence is evident in dishes like Cornbread Financier served with Hokkaido uni butter and Tierra Farms Hominy Grits served with rotating seasonal sides.
In addition to the evening prix fixe menu ($145), the salon offers an a la carte menu, including dishes such as anchovy toast ($10) and dirty rice-stuffed chicken wings ($9), as well as full entrees such as a hangar steak and a dry-aged pork chop.
Inspired by the eucalyptus groves of the Presidio in San Francisco, the atmospheric interiors by hotel and restaurant design firm AvroKO include deep greens and warm wood tones, as well as custom stained glass windows from Oakland-based Glow Glass Studio.
The dining rooms feature banquettes upholstered in dark green leather and mohair fabric, and local artist Kate Greenberg was commissioned to create solid wood bases for the banquettes.
The bar is made of eucalyptus wood and offers a cocktail program by bar director Franco Bilbaeno, who previously worked at Michael Mina, Angler and Niku Steakhouse.
The connections to Niku Steakhouse are no coincidence, as Prelude is the newest restaurant from the Omakase Restaurant Group, which also operates Michelin-starred restaurants Omakase, Dumpling Time and Okane in San Francisco. The group also operates the other restaurant on the grounds of The Jay hotel, The Third Floor, as well as the breakfast and lunch restaurant Rosemary & Pine near Showplace Square.
Prelude opens August 20th and reservations are now available here. Below is an example of a prix fixe menu.
Kick-off – 433 Clay Street – Opening August 20th
