First Look: Inside longtime Chez Panisse chef’s new casual Oakland restaurant
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Cal Peternell’s Cal-Ital restaurant, The Lede in Old Oakland, has unveiled its highly-anticipated dinner menu, and it’s exactly what we wanted from the Chez Panisse alum: A California-centric ode to his James Beard Award-winning cookbook, “Almonds, Anchovies and Pancetta: A Vegetarian Cookbook, Kind Of,” with counter service, classic cocktails and no dish over $18.
The Lede is Peternell’s first restaurant, and refers to the name for the introductory paragraph of a news story, meant to entice a reader. It drew us with its lack of pretention. It’s not trendy or loud; just simple and casual with wholesome and delicious food. Here’s a taste from Wednesday night’s soft opening:
THE VIBE: Homey and familiar. The restaurant shares its dining rooms and patio with Studiotobe, which produces community-focused podcasts, including Peternell’s Cooking by Ear, and also functions as a co-working space for journalists. That explains the colorful typewriter mural in the central dining room, the old Oakland Tribune sign in the patio and other nods to local journalism.
The building dates back to 1877, with vaulted ceilings, brick walls, large windows arched with stained glass and a small, semi-open kitchen where you’ll spot Peternell cooking alongside his son, Henderson, a painter and New York-based private chef who is taking some time off to help his dad. The bar offers full dinner service and even though you order and pay at the counter, servers bring your food to you and are happy to bus your table.
THE FOOD: Organically and locally-grown, with a focus on vegetables and fresh Italian comfort food. The dinner menu is small but enticing: Just half a dozen appetizers, like herby marinated olives ($4) and zucchini fritters with turmeric and cilantro yogurt sauce ($12); a few pasta dishes ($14-$18), a stunning, singular salad ($11; $13 with an egg); and fresh-baked cookies ($6).
That salad, the Very Crunchy Vegetable Salad, is a must-order. On our visit, it was a rainbow of late-season heirloom tomatoes, radishes and skin-on cucumbers sliced razor-thin, sprinkled with bell pepper matchsticks and doused with one of two housemade vinaigrettes — Almond-Sherry or Garlic Anchovy — both nods to Peternell’s James Beard Award-winning cookbook.
Another standout, the Arancini ($18), also comes with a delightful wild rocket salad. It’s perfect for cleansing the palate between bites of golden, fried risotto spheres stuffed with sage and saffron and served with a schmear of “cheesy” sauce. We also recommend the Paccheri ($14), wide and thick ribbons of handmade pasta in a light sauce of late-harvest tomatoes, pancetta and fried sage. Just ask for extra pecorino or pepper to punch up the flavors.
DON’T MISS: The classic cocktails ($12 each), including a gin negroni that pairs perfectly with this type of cuisine. We also loved a perky rum punch that was served at the soft opening. Hopefully it’ll make it onto the drink menou.
PERFECT FOR…Pretty much everything, including a work lunch; solo dinner at the bar; family meal under the typewriter mural; cocktail and arancini on the patio.
DETAILS: Open Tuesdays-Fridays for lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and for dinner from 5 to 10 p.m. Saturday hours are noon to 10 p.m. 906 Washington St., Oakland. www.theledeoakland.com