When chef-owner Josh Silvers' former Syrah restaurant reopens tonight in Santa Rosa's Railroad Square, guests will discover a new name, a new menu, a new décor and a new dining experience, but the same team in the kitchen.
The name is Petite Syrah. The menu focuses on composed, seasonal Cal-Ital dishes in smaller portions and smaller prices. The new décor is more urban chic, and the previously upscale dining experience is decidedly more casual, with tables and furniture accents crafted from a salvaged, 100-year-old redwood water tower.
It all comes about because, as Silvers notes, after Syrah's successful 12-year run, today's diner wants less fuss, greater variety, less froufrou, and more approachable pricing.
In real terms, that means that Silvers, chef de cuisine Jamil Peden and executive sous chef Seth Harvey have put together a wide-ranging menu where prices start at $3 for a chilled oyster splashed in mignonette and Tabasco, then cap out at $16 for strips of Balinese long pepper-crusted New York steak over mushroom reduction with a side of potato-mushroom croquettes.
Among the more unique dishes are potato gnocchi in a cloud of carrot foam ($11), crispy spiced quail flattened with a brick alongside grapefruit salad ($14), and roasted, shaved asparagus with sunflower seed "soil" and radish ($9). Grilled wild King salmon is laid over creamy grano in a mix of capers, raisins, almonds and celery ($13), while roasted beets are paired with horseradish panna cotta, mache and bacon ($9).
Lunch service starts on Monday, expanding into an all-day menu.
Petite Syrah: 205 Fifth St., Santa Rosa; 707-568-4002 or petitesyrah.com.