Words by Johanna Harlow
Don’t tell Jared Wentworth what he can and can’t do. An upscale restaurant in a concert hall? Sure, why not. A Michelin-starred brewery? Make it two stars. “My background is opening crazy, weird, esoteric concepts,” Jared chuckles. Because what’s the fun in doing what’s already been done? “I could do a straight-up French restaurant, but it’s been done a thousand times,” he points out. “It’s perfectly fine. But that kind of lukewarm tweezer food—I’ve done it for a while at a very high level and I’m kind of over it.”
Café Vivant in Menlo Park, his latest venture, centers around heritage breed chickens sourced from Corvus Farm in nearby Pescadero. These aren’t the industrial hybrid birds we all know with mild-mannered meat that serves as more of a blank canvas for sauces and marinades. Heritage chicken—hardy traditional breeds established before the mid-20th century that mature more slowly— offer firmer texture and a delightful depth of flavor. “I’ve spent the last 10 years of my life cooking nothing but A-5 beef from Miyazaki, the best Japanese fish that you can possibly get, the best urchin, all of that,” Jared shrugs. “And at this point, I’m bored of it.”
Oftentimes, less is more, Jared preaches, a lesson drilled into him by an unexpected source. As an avid bonsai enthusiast, this man finds beauty in the process of reduction. “There’s a simplicity to it that’s not garnered through simplicity,” he describes of the Japanese artform. “It’s refinement. It’s a lot of stuff you’ll never see.” That complexity behind simplicity also applies to cooking. “As a young chef, you will throw everything but the kitchen sink at a dish,” he reflects. “You don’t need 700 ingredients thrown at something. Let’s keep it down to four really pristine ingredients that pair well with this.” Which is why whole-roasted chickens at Café Vivant are spotlighted with their own umami-rich jus simmered from about 300 birds a week. “It’s kind of like my Americanized French mole,” he describes.
As forthright as his cooking, Jared doesn’t like to mince words. “I’m a difficult partner. I will tell people exactly what is on my mind. There is no internal voice up here. It just comes out,” he says. With almost 18 years of Michelin experience under his belt, he’s no stranger to scrutiny. “Nothing hurts my feelings … my skin is thicker than a dinosaur’s!”
That said, he’s received countless glowing reviews for his original and audacious concepts. Take Dusek’s, a restaurant he helmed within a Romanesque Revival-style opera house (where Jared also lived for over a decade). “It was maybe the hardest restaurant I’ve ever done,” he says, recalling the swarms of diners that descended before and after every show. Later, he helmed The Moody Tongue, the world’s first brewery with two Michelin stars. Despite all the accolades, Jared is delightfully self-effacing about it all. “Almost every job, I’ve just answered a Craigslist ad,” he grins. “I’m kinda like the Bill Murray of chefs in that way.”
Weary of Chicago’s brutal winters, Jared decided it was time for a change. After some thought, he narrowed it down to two places: “It was Kyoto or Northern California.” Fortunately for Peninsulans, the West Coast won out.
Visitors to Café Vivant can expect the heart of the concept to remain constant: “It’s gonna consist of some chickens,” Jared says. But the menu will shift too. “The sauces will change, the presentations will change.”
Several items will remain, but in different iterations. The savory seafood cannoli might shift from crab to lobster. The pâté may be rabbit one week and duck the next. “It’ll be whatever animal gets in my way,” Jared jokes.
His most playful appetizer will stick around: heritage chicken nuggets topped with crème fraîche, a sprig of dill and a dollop of Keluga caviar.
Though in the future, Jared wants to serve these nuggets on dishes shaped like chicken claws. “I absolutely abhor having stuff that lives on menus for longer than two or three months,” Jared says. “I have to cook it every night. And after about the 16,000th time I’ve seen it, I don’t wanna see it anymore.”
Chicken may be the main attraction, but having grown up on Cape Cod, Jared also knows his way around shellfish. (He was ordering lobster at restaurants at the age of five). His bouillabaisse, a magical medley of spot prawns, plump mussels and halibut (in season), swims in a spicy garlic rouille sauce. “We poach everything separately to order,” Jared says. “Everything’s cooked to its textural perfection, and then assembled.”
And you’re going to want to order a glass of wine. Partnering with Somm Cellars, the restaurant is paneled in wine racks (nearly 3,000 bottles worth). Their vast collection ranges from vino harvested from vines in the Santa Cruz Mountains to storied vintages dating back to the 1930s. “These guys have really good wine. I like really good wine,” Jared states simply. A longtime wine collector, he used to manage cellars and possesses an overflowing knowledge of old Bordeaux and California Burgundy. “If someone’s opening a bottle of ‘55 Inglenook, we can take a backseat … let’s let the wine sing!”
A memorable meal from appetizer to aperitif requires more than an accomplished executive chef. Joining Jared is Almira Lukmonova, a pastry chef with a career studded in Michelin stars and desserts as delicious as they are artful. He’s also supported by his chef de cuisine and partner Emily Phillips. “She’s a very grounding, balancing and calming person in the kitchen,” Jared says of Emily. “We both respect the hell out of each other.”
And let’s not forget to raise a glass to farmer Rob James back at Corvus Farms, supplier of that hearty heritage chicken. There’s something really satisfying about pasture-raised poultry, Jared notes. “Those birds get acres to run around!” Call it inspiration for Jared spreading his own culinary wings.
MAKE IT - GRILLED LAMB LOIN This succulent dish is sure to be a crowd-pleaser. Serves 4. Ingredients 4 six-ounce boneless lamb loin, sinew removed 3 garlic cloves, crushed 2 large sprigs rosemary 1½ pounds Thumbelina carrots, whole, peeled 4 tbs ras el hanout spice 8 oz cipollini onions 1 cup roasted pistachios 1 cup mint leaves, picked 1 cup labneh or thick Greek yogurt 1 tbs cumin ½ cup extra virgin olive oil 1 lemon, juiced Finely mince garlic and rosemary needles. Season lamb with salt and pepper, then rub with olive oil. Coat loins in garlic and rosemary, then marinate overnight in the refrigerator. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Toss carrots and peeled cipollini onions in enough olive oil to coat and add ras el hanout spice, salt and pepper to taste. Roast in the oven for 45 minutes or until tender. Toast pistachios in olive oil to coat, season with salt and pepper, then toast. When cool, chop nuts in the food processor until fairly fine. Season labneh with salt and cumin. Sear or grill lamb loins until desired doneness. Make a large circle of labneh and pile on carrots, cipollini, then top with pistachios. Add sliced lamb over carrots and sprinkle with mint, then drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice.