Occitania
Modern French restaurant · Waverly ·
Bistro classics like steak frites, seafood stews, wine
Bistro classics like steak frites, seafood stews, wine
"I reported that Occitania, chef Paul Canales’s French restaurant inside the Kissel Uptown Oakland hotel, shuttered as of March 10 after debuting in June—about nine months after it opened—and had focused on French food influenced by the Occitania region." - Paolo Bicchieri
"I learned that Occitania opened in June 2022 inside the Kissel Uptown Oakland hotel and served Southern French cuisine in a space that featured large-scale artwork from local artists. Paul Canales used the project to explore the culture of the Occitania region, drawing on older historical texts to create a menu that showcased classic French bistro dishes like steak frites and seafood stews such as bourride provencale. In a statement he said closing on March 10 was a difficult decision because it was not sustainable to keep the restaurant open; he plans to focus on Duende and thanked Occitania’s investors, team members, partners, and fans." - Dianne de Guzman
"Located at the new Kissel hotel in downtown Oakland and opened in May, Occitania was born when chef Paul Canales—then of Spanish dining favorite Duende—decided to pursue a French direction; its menu is chock-full of recognizable dishes like salade Lyonnaise and boudin blanc but is heavily inspired by local farmers markets and Northern California seasonality, substituting items such as leeks mimosa for asparagus and promising additions like blanquette de veau, all served in a space with low, seductive lighting amid a broader Bay Area French-restaurant boom." - Flora Tsapovsky
"Do you like drinking wine in places that make you feel like a historian of European art? You will appreciate Occitania. The southern French restaurant in Oakland by the Duende people have created the perfect light-soaked place to enjoy a glass, complete with arched windows, hanging gold-leaf ceramics, and eye-catching textile wall art. Your sophisticated drinking hour will probably include something from their menu of appetizers like red-wine-and-leek-braised squid. There are also terrines, rillettes, a solid lyonnaise salad, and larger options like steak frites, burgers, and creamy herb sauce covered petrale sole. Come here for dates, special occasions, or any time you want to celebrate your sun in Aries. But a glass of full-bodied red at the bar with some snacks is how we like to go." - Lani Conway
"I’m excited that Occitania, Chef Paul Canales’s new southern French restaurant, debuts Wednesday, June 1 in the Kissel Uptown Oakland hotel (422 24th St, Oakland). Canales — who honed his craft at East Bay Italian stalwart Oliveto and at Spanish-focused Duende — has obsessively shaped every detail from recipes to artwork to introduce diners to the wide-ranging cuisine of the historical Occitania region, which touches parts of Italy and Spain. The ambitious menu ranges from time-intensive house-made sausages, pates, rillettes and a luxurious lamb shank slow-cooked in red wine and garlic then grilled and served with spring vegetables, to smaller plates like asparagus and leeks topped with egg, Parmesan, walnuts and vinaigrette, squid braised in red wine with aioli, escargot, and pigeon prepared three ways with olive tapenade; a seafood bourride provençale features petrale sole and shrimp. Canales plans rotating items and has already tested a bouillabaisse made with scorpion fish and a grand aioli with salt-cured cod for vegetables and poached shrimp. Still, he keeps recognizable bistro classics for hotel guests: steak frites with a prime New York strip, onion soup with croutons and Gruyere, a Lyonnaise salad, and a carefully researched French burger inspired by his childhood favorite at Cafe Midi — garlic-buttered bread, a 50/50 parmesan and grain-Dijon spread, caramelized onions, mushrooms and Gruyere. The beverage list emphasizes an extensive selection of French wines (with a few Italian, Spanish and California options), French aperitifs, local beers, and classic cocktails such as a spritz of Aperol with charred cara cara orange, rosemary blanc vermouth and cava, and the Waking Joseph, which pairs vodka with lemongrass, ginger, pineapple, mata bianco, lime and cilantro. The dining room, shaped by Arcsine, features suspended ceramic pieces by Peter St. Lawrence with gold leaf nodding to mistral winds, Ramona Downey’s Rothko-like red textiles, and a mural by Sam Strand in the private dining room. Canales frames the whole project as a personal, historical and daily creative compulsion — he calls himself an amateur historian "engaging in history" through the restaurant — and I can see he’s built Occitania to be a place he wants to show up for every day. The restaurant opens Wednesday to Sunday 5–9:30 p.m. (extended to 10:30 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays) and plans to add lunch and weekend brunch." - Dianne de Guzman