Beef Wellington. Lobster Newburg. Flambéed desserts. Classic cocktails.
That’s the menu coming to the Peninsula this summer in a restaurant space that served continental cuisine for nearly 90 years.
Two years after Chantilly closed its stately dining rooms here on El Camino Real, the Bacchus Restaurant Group plans to re-imagine the historic building as a glamorous Hollywood-style supper house, circa the 1930s, 1940s.
The restaurateurs are naming it Selby’s after the location at the corner of Selby Lane on the Atherton/Redwood City border.
A summertime opening is planned by Bacchus, which owns the Village Pub, the Michelin-starred restaurant in Woodside, as well as Spruce and the Saratoga in San Francisco.
“This is a very special location in a special area and needs a special restaurant,” said Tim Stannard, founding partner of Bacchus. “We feel some obligation to continue the tradition of this space.”
That tradition dates back to 1938, he said, when this southern San Mateo County restaurant opened as Johnny’s, which served continental and high-end Italian cuisine. Decades later, it became two others also known for their continental cuisine, Barbarossa, and then Chantilly. The latter closed in 2017.
“We see Selby’s as the torch-bearer for the next 30 years — or beyond,” he said.
And that legacy includes continental cuisine, which reigned on high-end menus in U.S. dining rooms for decades.
“It’s part of our American heritage that’s been passed over,” Stannard said. “I think that’s a shame. It’s beautiful, intricate, fun food.”
But some of those dishes need to be rethought for today’s palates, he said, so Mark Sullivan — he’s the executive chef at the Village Pub — is doing a “deep-dive into that world,” including research with vintage cookbooks. “He’s reworking those recipes with a lighter, modern sensibility.”
Guests will also find a number of lighter, healthier options on the menu, featuring produce from Bacchus’ local organic farm, especially in the bar/lounge area, which is intended to be more casual than the two main dining rooms.
The transformation of the building is now under way. Interior designer Stephen Brady, formerly of Ralph Lauren Home, is designing and overseeing the project, with chandeliers by steelworker-artist Magnus Schevene and curated pieces from the Lost Art Salon.
Details: You can follow the progress on the 3001 El Camino Real building at Facebook.com/selbysrestaurant/ or www.selbysrestaurant.com.
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