New farm-to-table restaurant opens in Sausalito
This week marks the completion of Cultivar Sausalito, a full-scale restaurant near the ferry landing that starts dinner service this week. Siblings Jody Harris and Gingy Harris Gable, who co-founded Napa Valley wine and retail brand Cultivar in 2009, branched into San Francisco in 2017 with a Marina District seasonal restaurant, followed by a tasting room in Ghirardelli Square in 2024.
The menu at their third dining venture is built around produce grown at Cultivar’s culinary garden in Napa along with ingredients from other local purveyors. Executive chef Matthew Curry (Sam’s Anchor Cafe, Waterbar, Boca Tavern) oversees the kitchen at all three Cultivar locations along with chef de cuisine Justin Bruckert (Piatti, Station House Cafe, Due West, Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn and Spa).
Start with shishito peppers finished with tempura rock shrimp and sunchoke puree; duck confit in brandy gravy over canoe-cut fries; a salad of coriander- and sesame-crusted tuna with rustic potatoes, leeks and garlic-poached green beans; or a charcuterie board of local cheeses, cured meats and pickled vegetables with grilled crostini.
A Tuscan-made Valoriani oven takes center stage in the kitchen, where six artisanal pizzas bake over a wood fire. The North Bay is topped with prosciutto, fig jam, goat cheese, frisee and duck egg; the Alcatraz with sausage, olives, red onions, provolone and basil; and the West Marin with grilled squash, zucchini, eggplant, mushrooms, leeks and crumbled feta.
Other dishes from the Italian hearth include empanadas de mole and roasted whole branzino with salsa verde, grilled Romanesco and fingerling potatoes. From the grill comes a pork chop with roasted eggplant, leeks and apple chutney and a white cheddar cheeseburger with caramelized onions and bacon jam on a house bun.
House-made gnocchi with provolone, oven-roasted mushrooms and tomato cream sauce, and baked lobster macaroni and cheese with Gruyere and cheddar are among a selection of four pastas.
Pastry chef Candace Rowan (Cavallo Point Lodge, Wayfare Tavern, A16) is handling the desserts. Caspar Estate olive oil and wildflower honey come together in a cake and parfait with candied citrus, and the treacle tart features seasonal fruit, whipped cream and caramel apple compote.
Most of the terroir-driven, limited-production wines are from Cultivar and Caspar Estate and sourced from California appellations. These come by the glass, in flights or by the bottle. Harris, a fan of draft wine, also offers eight reds and four whites on tap along with eight beers.
Many of the signature cocktails incorporate syrups made from garden produce and house-infused spirits. House honeydew and cucumber juices are mixed into a blanco tequila margarita, mezcal is combined with a beet reduction and spicy bitters and chamomile-infused gin is layered with yellow Chartreuse and Caspar Estate honey. Spirit-free options are also on the menu, and canned drinks and bottles of wine are available to go.
With many years in the making, Harris describes the Sausalito project as a labor of love. The lower level of the landmark 1915 building, previous home to Petri’s Fine Arts and Caffe Tutti, was stripped to its bones and reimagined under the direction of San Francisco-based boutique architecture and design firm Sutro Architects. Founding principal Stephen Sutro is a Marin resident and grew up with Harris in San Francisco.
The team also collaborated with Yinger Studios and Lucy McCormick Design on an interior that balances rustic comfort with a tailored edge, complementing watery blues and earthy tones with steel and brass accents. An oversized olive tree anchors the room near a 14-seat bar and a wall lined with Cultivar and Caspar Estate bottles.
The dining area that accommodates approximately 80 guests offers high-top tables and contoured booths with quartzite tabletops. Outside, an expansive patio opening in the coming weeks has built-in benches and love seats framed by garden planters and both open-air and heat-lamped covered seating for up to 50 diners.
The Harris siblings’ Cultivar flagship carries forward the agricultural traditions their grandparents began in Napa Valley in 1958. What started as a rural family property gradually grew to include vines, fruit trees, olives, beehives and kitchen gardens, all of which influence how they approach food and hospitality today.
“Our goal is to be an everyday kind of place that is a draw for tourists and delivers enough value to land on the regular rotation list for locals,” said Harris in a recent phone call about their hopes for Sausalito.
Cultivar Sausalito is open for dinner at 5 p.m. daily at 690 Bridgeway in Sausalito. Hours will expand to include happy hour, brunch and lunch in the coming months. Reserve a table at cultivarwine.com, where you can also read more about Cultivar and the wines produced, or call 415-962-4200.
Leanne Battelle is a freelance food writer and restaurant columnist. Email her at ij.lbattelle@gmail.com or follow The Real Deal Marin at therealdealmarin.com for more local food news.