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Porta Blu, a restaurant combining Mediterranean and California cuisines, is now open inside the new Hotel Nia in Menlo Park.
Porta Blu is located at 200 Independence Drive, just off U.S 101. The all-day hotel restaurant “marries the ambiance and flavors of the Mediterranean with the Bay Area’s fresh and forward approach to dining,” a press release states.
For breakfast, look for dishes including shakshuka, lemon-ricotta pancakes, omelets and smoothies. Sandwiches, salads and panini are served at lunch. For dinner, there are flatbreads; a variety of tagines — chicken, fish, lamb or vegetable — served with couscous; Portuguese steak frites; salmon wrapped in grape leaves; and other dishes.
There are also cocktails, a “California-driven beer program” and an international wine list.
The luxury hotel also has a cafe serving coffee from Santa Cruz’s Verve Coffee Roasters.
View the food and drink menus here.
Chef de Cuisine Michael Riddell, a Bay Area native who worked at the Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay for the last decade, is leading the kitchen with Executive Chef Eric Cousin, who previously worked at The Essex House in New York, The Plaza Hotel in New York and Disneyland Paris.
The restaurant’s name, which translates to blue door, is reflected in design elements: rolls of blue rugs and suspended blue doors hang from the ceiling in the main dining room.
Porta Blu is open for breakfast, lunch, dinner and weekend brunch. Its hours are Monday to Saturday, 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 5 to 10 p.m.; and Sunday, 6 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., and 5 to 10 p.m.
Make sure you have a good expense account available.
We went to Porta Blu last night and had a lovely dinner.
The staff were superb and the food tasty and nicely presented.
There were a few hiccups as might be expected of any new restaurant – like serving a delicious hot entree on a cold plate.
We are going back tomorrow to share it with friends.