Photo Credit: Nick Vasilopoulos
Laissez les bon temps rouler! Manresa chef/owner David Kinch and partner Andrew Burnham have announced their first casual bar and eatery, The Bywater, opening this fall. Located minutes from his Michelin-star restaurant, the space is inspired by and named for The Bywater neighborhood of New Orleans, the city where Kinch grew up and got his start in the culinary industry. Kinch has brought on chef David Morgan, formerly of August in New Orleans and Cyrus in Healdsburg, to collaborate on the menu and Chad Arnholt and Claire Sprouse of San Francisco-based Tin Roof Drinking Community to lend their expertise to the beer, wine and cocktail program.
The Bywater will pay homage to the city where Kinch fell in love with cooking and maintain the same high standards he is known for when it comes to ingredients, execution and creativity. “The Bywater is the kind of place where I would want to go after work or hang out on my day off,” says Kinch. “It’s casual, eclectic, and brings a bit of the food, drink, and atmosphere of New Orleans to this part of Northern California – music and all.”
The cocktail team, which brings experience from Trick Dog, Kin Khao, Rickhouse and ABV, will keep the drinks simple and authentic, offering a list of classic and sometimes eclectic New Orleans cocktails including the Sazerac, Gin Fizz, and Milk Punch. While a full menu of spirits is available, the bar showcases a large collection of American Whiskey, Bourbon, and Rye with some French brandies in the mix. For the carefree imbiber, a frozen daiquiri machine playfully and instantly quenches one’s thirst while a selection of cocktails on tap make it easy to serve a single guest or fill up a swing-top bottle for a larger party. Beer and wine, which will make its way into spritz cocktails, cobbler cocktails, and low ABV drinks, are also available.
The Bywater’s menu showcases classic French and New Orleans-inspired dishes as well as southern staples from fried green tomatoes to po’boys reimaged with ingredients from Northern California. A raw bar offers a rotating selection of oysters, clams, and crabs.
Guests of The Bywater can pull up a stool at the 10 seat bar, settle into a table in the 30-seat dining room, or lounge on the outside patio in the back. Working with San Jose’s Eaton Hall Architecture and San Francisco-based Robert van Horne, the design is casual and simple, pulling in New Orleans design accents such as shutters, vintage neon signs, and bright hues inspired by the buildings and houses in The Bywater neighborhood. Just as much as the food and drink, music plays a big role in the ambience of the space and also draws inspiration from New Orleans, featuring everything from classic jazz to funky brass bands.
Located at 532 N. Santa Cruz Avenue in Los Gatos, The Bywater will be open seven days a week for lunch and dinner as well as brunch on the weekends.
