Issue date: July 08, 1998
By JANE KNOERLE
Left Bank, Menlo Park's new Parisian brasserie, due to open early in August, will be introduced to the public with a series of three benefit dinners for local charities.
Proud to have secured the first pre-opening party is Valley Auxiliary to Family Service Agency. The auxiliary's benefit will be held from 6 to 10 p.m. Wednesday, July 29, at the Left Bank, 635 Santa Cruz Avenue. Proceeds will be donated by Left Bank owners Roland Passot and Ed Live to the Family Service Agency of San Mateo County, which helps families with counseling, child care, a family loan program and senior employment and nutrition services.
On Thursday, July 30, the Menlo Park-Atherton Education Foundation benefit will be held at Left Bank, from 6 to 10 p.m. "Menlo Park is known for its good schools and good food," says Pam Gullard, foundation board member. The foundation raises funds for the libraries and science programs at Oak Knoll, Hillview, Encinal and Laurel Schools in Menlo Park. Reservations for the July 30 may be made through Laura Foster (328-2527).
Peninsula Volunteers Inc. will hold its pre-opening dinner Friday, July 31, from 6 to 10 p.m., with proceeds donated to Peninsula Volunteers' new Rosener House building fund. Reservations should be made before July 24 by calling 326-0665.
Cuisine Grand-mere (grandmother's cooking) is how executive chef Roland Passot describes the Left Bank's menu. The menu will change with the seasons, but always offer the classic dishes of a brasserie, many drawn from Mr. Passot's hometown of Lyons, France. The menu will also feature items from the wood-fired rotisserie. While Mr. Passot is executive chef, Kenneth "Todd" Kniess will be chef de cuisine for the Menlo Park restaurant.
Located on the site of the former Yuen Yung restaurant, Left Bank is a 5,000-square-foot restaurant designed by Michael Guthrie, who also designed Bix in San Francisco and Tra Vigne in St. Helena. The exterior has been restored to resemble its original Art-Deco style. An outdoor sidewalk cafe seating 24 will be sheltered by glass awnings.
The restaurant's interior has been remodeled with hardwood floors, cherrywood millwork and two walls of windows. Walls will also be decorated with colorful French posters. The restaurant seats 135, and has a private upstairs dining room seating 35.
"We will create food appealing to families. This is a place where people can drop in whenever they like and come back often," says Chef Passot, who also has a Left Bank restaurant in Larkspur, as well as La Folie in San Francisco.
Partner Ed Levine, a Stanford Business School graduate and former Gordon Biersch and Il Fornaio executive, says choosing Menlo Park was easy. "This is a market we know well," he says. "We're glad to be in this neighborhood, which has a wonderful, sophisticated ambience."
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