Mijo

Wood-Fired Rotisserie Chicken and Seafood Shine at New North Bay Spanish Spot Mijo | Eater SF

"Debuting Monday, March 3, this is the third restaurant from Chef Jared Rogers and restaurateur Dustin Sullivan — the duo behind Michelin-listed Guesthouse in Kentfield and the now-closed Easy Rider in Petaluma. “We couldn’t find a wood-fired, Catalan-inspired Spanish restaurant in Marin [County] that had the caliber of food and drinks that we’re trying to do,” Rogers says. Rogers, who cooked in Madrid and San Sebastián following his time at the California Culinary Academy, said he and Sullivan will take advantage of a wood oven, wood grill, and a rotisserie and offer a raw bar highlighting seafood; “I wrote the menu with classic Spanish dishes, some flair we added from the wood, and put some California-Spanish influence on there,” says Rogers, who collaborated with executive chef Chris Loberg. A signature is a spit-roasted and smoked chicken roasted over white oak for two hours that will be freshly available for orders throughout the night — a heritage breed that’s brined, dry-rubbed, then thrown on the rotisserie and basted in a saffron-herb-garlic butter that also helps smoke the poultry; “It’s a great, family-friendly dish,” he says, and the birds are carved tableside. Another favorite of Rogers off the menu is the head-on langoustines, tossed with peppers and spices and fired up in the wood oven. The octopus dish also gets some time in the fire, charred on the grill over almond wood, and served with marble potatoes, romanesco, and a mojo rojo sauce. Larger dishes include a chicken- and seafood-stuffed paella, a seasonal vegetable tagine, and a 32-ounce ribeye with chimichurri. There’s a seafood tower with prawns, oysters, mussels, and lobster and a “ceviche del dia,” a ceviche that highlights the freshest seafood of the moment; vegetable options include eggplant chips with chile honey and patatas bravas served with sherry aioli. “I think this is going to be a menu where you come in one time, and then you’ve got to come in three other times because you didn’t try everything,” Rogers says. The team is going all-in on happy hour with daily deals on food and drinks from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., and there will also be a weekend brunch available; Sullivan and Guesthouse bar manager Erin Hines worked on a drink menu with “gentle nods towards Spanish mixology,” Sullivan says, featuring classics such as a white Negroni and inventive options like a Spanish gin and tonic made with pink gin and dehydrated dragonfruit that gets pinker the longer it sits in the glass. Sullivan hopes the two patios prove transportive — “I was going for a little alleyway street that could feel like it was in Barcelona or Santa Monica,” he says — and he adds, “It’s about people coming together and laughing and enjoying. That’s the core of what we’re trying to do, anyway, is fill a room with laughter and happiness. We cook food that helps people make memories with the people that they love.” Open 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, with Sunday brunch at 11 a.m." - Dianne de Guzman