The 61-room boutique hotel officially opened at 1400 El Camino Real two weeks ago.
A press release describes Oak + Violet as serving "California craft" cuisine, with locally sourced, seasonal dishes like Dungeness crab toast and a whole-roasted Petaluma chicken. Executive Chef Mike Gadd, who comes with 15 years of cooking experience in Columbus, Ohio, is overseeing the hotel's culinary program.
Diners can enjoy small bites, wine, beer and cocktails in a courtyard outside Oak + Violet at the Park James Hotel in Menlo Park. Photo courtesy Park James Hotel.
Oak + Violet's dinner menu is split into "shared bites," "grains and greens," entrees, sides and desserts. Appetizers include bread served with salt-cured local yogurt, huckleberry jam and olive oil; mini lobster tacos, steak tartare and oysters. For entrees, there's a stuffed whole branzino fish with roasted fennel, artichokes, olives and peppers; a toasted farro risotto with baby spinach, butternut squash puree, mascarpone cheese and toasted hazelnuts; and a cast-iron bone-in filet with roasted shallots, fennel, parsnip puree and bone-marrow butter, among other dishes.
Dessert includes panna cotta, doughnut bread pudding and salted caramel pudding.
There will also be daily "off the menu" chef specials, according to an announcement.
A "casual, tapas-style" menu is available in the outdoor O+V Courtyard, which is open now from 5-11 p.m. nightly.
Oak + Violet serves wine, beer and cocktails.
The restaurant will serve breakfast starting Oct. 15, lunch on Oct. 22 and Sunday brunch on Oct. 28. For more information, go to parkjames.com/oak-and-violet.
The hotel and restaurant names are locally inspired. The "James" is intended as a nod to Menlo Park's Irish history, after Dennis "James" Oliver, one of the ranchers who gave Menlo Park its name. (The name doubles as an homage to the hotel developer Jeff Pollock's father, James Moore Pollock, who has developed over 80 real estate projects since the 1960s, mainly in the Bay Area, he said.)
Oak + Violet is named for Menlo Park's designated city tree and city flower.
