Chef Michael Mina finally drops a restaurant in Marin, while chef Tyler Florence opens Miller and Lux at the Chase Center in San Francisco.
Featured
The Bungalow Kitchen by Michael Mina
A late-night party lounge has arrived in Tiburon, as chef Michael Mina opened a two-story restaurant and salon in the waterfront building that once housed Guaymas. “I’ve been part of the Bay Area culinary community for over two decades and never had the right opportunity to bring the Mina experience to Marin County, where I lived for so many years,” Mina says. Executive Chef Joseph Offner (The Trident, Presidio Social Club, Alexander’s Steakhouse) will oversee the menu of California fare inspired by Tiburon’s storied past, such as crispy Liberty duck wings glazed with Grand Marnier and black pepper, hand-rolled garganelli Bolognese, and jalapeño shrimp toast. On the brunch menu, sweet potato pancakes and house-cured king salmon gravlax or hot chicken and waffles are paired with cocktails. Longtime friends and partners, chef Mina and hospitality veteran Brent Bolthouse deliver a program of exemplary service and a bustling social scene in the evening, complete with a billiards table, a gas-powered fireplace, and a live DJ on weekends in the upstairs salon that runs until 2 a.m. “We’re thrilled to bring this concept of an exclusive clubhouse but on an accessible community level to Tiburon and the larger Bay Area,” Bolthouse says.
5 Main St, Tiburon; 415.366.4088
Eat & Drink
Miller and Lux
Diehard basketball fan and Corte Madera resident Tyler Florence fulfilled a dream on September 28 with the opening of his latest San Francisco restaurant. “Every table is a great table,” says Florence, who was inspired by San Francisco’s storied Stars restaurant. The two-level bar and restaurant boasts bay views, all-booth seating upstairs and an intimate bar downstairs. Every dish is an experience, but the talk of the town is the Caesar salad, cut tableside from potted romaine and peppered by hand from a giant pepper grinder. Steak dominates the menu, but look for American classics like lobster thermidor and French Dover sole prepared on a rolling cart before you scoot through a private back door and right into the Chase Center.
700 Terry A. Francois Blvd, San Francisco; 415.872.6699
Piatti
A new fireplace lounge and dedicated takeout counter are just a few of the changes at the long-running Italian restaurant facing Mill Valley’s Shelter Bay. The open format concept invites lingering over new menu items, such as house-made ravioli with lemon cream and citrus gremolata, roasted mushroom pizza with taleggio fonduta and black truffle oil, and roasted salmon with artichokes and Calabrian chili. House-made products, such as fresh pastas, sauces, dipping oils and wines from Piatti Provisions mean the same ingredients in the rigatoni Bolognese are now available for home cooks.
625 Redwood Highway, Mill Valley; 415.380.2525
Flybird
The success of the original chicken-centric casual eatery in San Francisco’s financial district inspired owners Guy Eshel and Jay Roberts to look for a second spot in Marin. Opened in early November, their spot at The Cove in Tiburon features rotisserie and fried chicken in international sandwiches (Hot Classic, Seoul Food, Mexico City) and atop meal-sized salads. Whole birds and wings, porcini fries and drippings mix, and a vegan sweet potato option are also available.
1 Blackfield Dr, Tiburon
Noble Cow Creamery
With a flagship launched in Berkeley in 2020, Tiburon resident and owner Matt Johnson sought to open a store closer to home. The loyal former Woody’s customer filled the community’s need for a family-friendly ice cream shop, opening in the same Mill Valley space in September. Look for small batch ice cream, handmade waffle cones and all the toppings.
802 Strawberry Village, Mill Valley; 510.570.8369
La Bande
A Cal-Med aperitif and tapas bar from Chef Jason Fox (Commonwealth) now reigns on the ground floor of the Proper Hotel’s restored 1908 flatiron. Craft aperitif cocktails, vermouth and Madeira programs and European draft beers complement dishes like eggplant tarts, green garlic churros, and house-made Merguez with a focus on local and Iberian ingredients. Sip a draft Negroni while sitting on the street-side patio to remind yourself that you are actually in San Francisco, not Barcelona.
1100 Market St, San Francisco, 415.735.7777
The Caprice
After a three-year remodel, the restaurant and bar with epic views at the far end of Shoreline Park from downtown Tiburon reopened on November 1. Owners Jerry and Jennifer Dal Bozzo and Dante Serafini preserved the charm and character of the restaurant while expanding the ability for views from every seat. The revamped menu of well-crafted comfort food includes land (bone-in filet mignon, French onion omelet) and sea (gnocchi with crab, abalone dore) options, classic cocktails and a wine list featuring mostly American, Italian and French bottlings.
2000 Paradise Drive, Tiburon; 415.435.3400
Shop
Margarita Cosmetics
Opened as Covid-19 arrived, this shop dedicated to nurturing skincare and makeup products from cosmetic and beauty expert Margo Martynko landed in downtown Tiburon. A French, Russian and Mill Valley-trained (at the Academy of Intuition Medicine) aesthetician, Martynko also offers facials, healing work and guided meditations.
1640 Tiburon Blvd #11, Tiburon; 650.799.7007
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Christina Mueller is a long-time Bay Area food writer. She hails from the East Coast and has spent way too much time in South America and Europe. She discovered her talent as a wordsmith in college and her love of all things epicurean in grad school. She has written for Condé Nast Contract Publishing, Sunset, and the Marin Independent Journal, among others. She volunteers with California State Parks and at her child’s school, and supports the Marin Audubon Society, PEN America, and Planned Parenthood. When she is not drinking wine by a fire, she is known to spend time with her extended family.
