POMET

Oakland

When Aomboon Deasy of K and J Orchards took ownership of a restaurant on Oakland’s Piedmont Avenue, we expected seasonal, farm-fresh ingredients. What we didn’t expect were avant-garde dishes that challenged our preconceptions of flavor and form.

This modern approach comes courtesy of chef Alan Hsu, whose résumé includes stints at San Francisco’s three-Michelin-starred Benu. He leans into that background—and his Asian American heritage—with dishes like the beef tartare, which impersonates a traditional Hawaiian poke by flavoring cubes of Stemple Creek Ranch beef with soy sauce and sesame oil, and mixing in julienned Niitaka Asian pear and pine nuts. It’s bewildering, but in a good way, and looks fantastic. Similarly, the short rib is “deconstructed,” sliced and cooked like a typical filet but then served alongside the chewy-tender tendon disconnected from the bone. It’s as well executed an entrée as you’ll find anywhere in the East Bay.

Though much of the fare is cerebral and complex, Hsu has a knack for infusing comfort into his modernist techniques. The lamb neck pasta, in particular, is a successful distillation of Pomet’s East-meets-West approach. Pull-apart-tender lamb neck marinated in rice wine and sautéed bitter greens is nested in chewy noodles topped with parmesan. It’s a dish that layers unexpected flavors with rewarding results. pomet-oakland.com. —Ethan Fletcher

Lita

WALNUT CREEK

From the lit-up marble bar to the lit-up cocktails, Lita makes a bold statement with its unapologetically flashy and fun Miami-inspired atmosphere. Fortunately, this instant hot spot in the heart of Walnut Creek backs up the style with substance.

So, yes, you can just order a Coco-naut, a tropical cocktail with a rum floater torched table side, with a whole lobster tail corn dog, and soak in the fun. But you can also go deeper into the Caribbean-inflected menu for a truly satisfying experience. The meaty jerk-spiced maitake mushrooms, for example, offer an ideal filler for the kitchen’s rustic scratch-made blue corn tortilla quesadillas. The fritters come out succulent with shredded salt cod spiked with diced peppers enmeshed in moist fried dough and topped with a lemony-piquant jerk aioli. And the skirt steak is tender and flavorful, accented by spicy-tangy verde and redolent rojo sauces, and served with delectable homemade yucca and plantain chips. The desserts are also on point, as is the entire (nonflammable) mixology program: The Jamaican Tody is a particularly adept example, mixing sweet, sour, and spicy elements to complement a funky Jamaican pot-still rum.

Created by the same family behind Broderick down the street and Batch and Brine in Lafayette, Lita does feel like something of a marker for Walnut Creek: a swashbuckling statement that you don’t have to head to Oakland or San Francisco for a fun, cosmopolitan dining-out experience. And in fact, Lita delivers the food, the drinks, and the atmosphere with a casual competence that comes off as less snooty than many of those highly-touted destinations through the Caldecott and across the bridge—and with a lot less traffic. Just make sure to blow out that cocktail before consuming. lita​walnut​creek.com. –E.F.

Occitania

OAKLAND

French onion soup, braised chicken with creamy mustard sauce, steak frites: Who doesn’t have a soft spot for old-school French bistro fare? Classically French-trained Oakland chef Paul Canales certainly does. On the other hand, Canales also has deep affection for Italian cuisine—he was the chef at Oakland’s Oliveto for years—and has dished out top-notch Spanish food at his subsequent concept, Duende, for nearly a decade.

So when presented with the opportunity to launch a second solo project, Occitania, he created the best of all worlds. Focusing the food on the Occitan linguistic region that spans southern France as well as northern Italy and Spain has proved a winning formula. Visitors to his gorgeous, lofty eatery can keep it traditional with a sterling rendition of steak frites, a classic salade lyonnaise, or even a French-themed burger with caramelized onions, mushrooms, and Gruyère cheese. Or they can take advantage of Canales’s inventive culinary spirit: a Provençale tart of caramelized onions, black olives, and boquerónes, perhaps, or a ratatouille with fried polenta cake.

Since debuting in June, Occitania has introduced lunch and weekend brunch, but the restaurant is perhaps best experienced in the evening, when you can partake in an excellent, well-balanced cocktail and enjoy the upscale but unpretentious atmosphere. Call it French bistro-plus, sans the stuffiness. occitania​oakland.com. —E.F.

T’Zunun

PLEASANT HILL

This Pleasant Hill spot, from the same family that brought us the popular Wence’s, presents a tour of Mexican cuisine unlike anything else you’ll find in Contra Costa.

Its ceviche appetizer is fresh and delicate, served with crisp yuca chips, the flavor of the shrimp, octopus, and fish fully preserved from their briny depths.

Accompany the opening rounds of your meal with a shot of top-shelf tequila or mezcal or a cocktail such as the slightly smoky La Frida, made with mezcal, Licor 43, lemon, rosemary, agave, prickly pear, and serrano chili. An intriguing beer and wine list, including some wines from Mexico, might also tempt you.

The tlayuda appetizer, a dish like a Mexican pizza on a satisfying blue corn masa crust, is at the other end of the spectrum from the ceviche. Its beautifully seasoned black bean puree and fresh greens, avocado, cherry tomatoes, and mushrooms or chorizo provide an explosion of flavor so hearty you can order one for the table and share it.

That way, you’ll be up for one of the stunning Platos Fuertes. Try the succulent rib eye, the Oaxacan chicken mole, or the seafood-studded arroz a la tumbada, a dish similar to paella.

If you’re not up for a big entrée, sample from the list of tacos. Each is special in its own way—the duck carnitas are rich and flavorful, their salsa verde cutting in with a bright tang; the lobster tacos offer gorgeous hunks of sweet seafood; the arrachera tacos, with their medium-rare slices of skirt steak, bits of bacon, and roasted pepper salsa, will have you looking askance at ordinary beef tacos forever. Whatever you pick on the menu will take you to a delicious destination. tzunun​restaurant​.com. —Michaela Jarvis

Crescent Bistro

PLEASANT HILL

Downtown Pleasant Hill got an upgrade when Crescent Bistro arrived. Killer ingredients meet ultrainventive cooking techniques, and their love child is a menu of food and drinks comparable to the best served anywhere around the Bay Area.

Take, for example, the restaurant’s beet salad. Like all Crescent Bistro’s salads, it is a showcase for amazing produce: peppery arugula, shaved fennel, house-made pickled apples, and perfectly toasted pecans. Served with unrivaled goat cheese and dressed with a citrus vinaigrette, it will very likely have you wondering if there’s any reason to eat meat.

But do try the perfectly grilled and luscious hanger steak with chimichurri. Or the wintry comfort food dish of red wine–braised short ribs and Yukon gold mashed potatoes. Or opt instead for the buttermilk-brined crisp-fried chicken or a version of carbonara that includes fresh snap peas.

Artisan cocktails and mocktails, a wine list with both Old World and California oomph, and a wide selection of interesting beers complement the quality of the food. Desserts include a chocolate cheesecake topped with a fine layer of ground pistachios and served with a house-made strawberry port sauce, and a “s’more” that’s about a thousand times better than anything you ever ate around a campfire.

In an unassuming space along Pleasant Hill’s Crescent Drive, a culinary adventure awaits. crescentbistro.com. —M.J.

The Yellow Chilli

DANVILLE

A celebrity-driven restaurant in Contra Costa isn’t unusual: The Yellow Chilli, after all, took over the former location of the Carlos Santana–inspired Maria Maria. But one in Danville backed by a star Indian chef (Sanjeev Kapoor) is a surprise. That it works so well is a credit to the owners of the franchise, one of dozens opened globally by Kapoor’s SK Restaurants group.

It’s also an indicator that the Yellow Chilli fills a need in the area for a more upscale Indian dining experience. The restaurant hit a home run by executing an elegant South Asian revamp of a naturally inviting space blessed with lofty ceilings and copious patio seating. Similarly, the presentation leans contemporary, with decorative flowers, dark slate platters, and colorful swirls of sauce framing many dishes.

But in the end, it’s all about the food, and on that front the Yellow Chilli delivers. The menu covers an unusually wide culinary swath of India and does it well. The amritsari machchi, for example, offers a delicious Punjabi spin on British fried fish, while the ghara dum ke aloo is a vegetarian specialty from the Kashmir region featuring peeled, fried baby potatoes in a yogurt and red chili paste “gravy” perfumed by ginger, cardamom, clove, masala, cumin, fennel, and saffron, among other spices.

At the same time, the kitchen isn’t above serving familiar standards like butter chicken, juicy dark chicken bathed in a masala curry enriched by cream and butter. Even the dal—typically a yellow split pea soup served as a side—is a cut above here, where it’s a stand-alone dish in several iterations. In fact, our surprise favorite was the complex and satisfying dal tadka dhaba, which is topped with a splash of vivid red chili–infused oil. Then again, this is a restaurant full of surprises. theyellow​chillidanville.com. —E.F.

BEST NEW (CASUAL) RESTAURANTS

THESE FIVE NEW DESTINATIONS HIT THE MARK FOR INFORMAL DINING AND DRINKING.

By Ethan Fletcher

BOCADO, UN PETIT BISTRO - PLEASANTON

Bocado offers a welcoming downtown Pleasanton setting for its expertly executed crepes with traditional and inventive flavors. The pesto chicken is a delight, while more unusual options include Thai chicken with potatoes, carrots, and red curry. bocado-un-petit-bistro.ueniweb.com.

DUMPLING HOURS - BRENTWOOD, WALNUT CREEK

When it comes to Shanghai-style soup dumplings, you might not find a better example than Dumpling Hours, where the delicate receptacles of soupy, porky goodness have created a sensation. Try the heartier pork buns for a fun spin-off, or sample the Mandarin specials throughout the menu. dumplinghours.com.

OK’S DELI - OAKLAND

Albert Ok became a pop-up favorite during the pandemic with Asian-accented sandwiches, headlined by his Taiwanese-style fried chicken. His new brick-and-mortar in Oakland’s Temescal provides that and more, including an inspired egg salad sando on milk bread and banh mi featuring housemade spam. oksdeli.com.

SPICY JOI - CONCORD

Owner Joi Simmaly has enriched the Bay Area’s Lao dining scene with his first solo restaurant, where you can enjoy expert and authentic noodle soups, papaya salads, and homemade sausages bursting with enough padaek (fermented fish sauce) to satisfy the most hard-core of Lao grandmas. spicy​joibanhmi.com.

WORLD FAMOUS HOTBOYS - WALNUT CREEK

Restaurateur Victor Ghaben launched his third World Famous Hotboys location in Walnut Creek, bringing a refreshingly fun and delicious dining option to downtown. You can’t go wrong with the signature fried chicken, but all the poultry iterations are great—in particular a Creole-inspired étouffée and a decadent Pollo Moco. worldfamoushotboys.com.