BayWolf Restaurant: Reviews

From 2012 Zagat San Francisco Bay Area Guide to Restaurants:
"After all these years" (since 1975), Michael Wild's "howling good" "East Bay stalwart" still keeps it "fresh" and local with "outstanding" "seasonal" Cal-Med dishes ("especially the duck"), "stellar" wines and new experimental Monday dinners; it might lack "the excitement" of Oakland's new-wave eateries and "prices are on the high side", but the "gracious service" and "quiet" "Craftsman" setting with a "delightful" patio make it "enchanting" for "special occasions and casual dining both".

From 2012 Michelin Guide:
In a wood-shingled house on Piedmont Avenue, Bay Wolf has been an Oakland icon since the 1970s. Even then, this quaint little haunt was at the forefront of the Slow Food movement and today still serves the kind of seasonal California fare that warms the soul: a rustic duck pâté is spread on toasty Acme bread with capers and cornichons, and celery root purée lends a little sweetness to grilled steelhead trout and crispy onions.

Chef/owner Michael Wild continues to run this show, greeting neighborhood regulars who crowd the heated patio and dining room, which is split in two by a small, central bar. Simple desserts are a pleasant cap to the meal. With layers of lemon curd and champagne gelée, the lime panna cotta is a mandatory indulgence.

From San Francisco Examiner's Patricia Unterman:
I actually don't think Bay Wolf has changed that much over the years, but the restaurant has achieved a sureness, an appealing self-confidence, a patina of graciousness, that makes the customer feel great the minute they walk in.

The original owners, Michael Wild and Larry Goldman, keep working on the physical space, making the odd-shaped dining rooms in a converted Victorian house more accommodating and pleasing.

They've enclosed the redwood front porch and installed electric patio heaters to create a spacious new dining area, cozy even in cold weather. Their longtime staff, both in the front of the house and in the kitchen, work along with them to continuously improve the restaurant. You get the feeling that the line between owners and employees has blurred, that the restaurant has become a family, a dedicated community, proud of its home.

Diners get all the advantages of the local bistro along with the professionalism and broader range of a larger operation. Bay Wolf has evolved into this divine state like a great wine that has aged to maturity. There are no more rough edges, just depth, complexity and sensual completeness.

From San Francisco Chronicle's "Sommelier Selections" by Patrick J. Comiskey:
The menu at Bay Wolf has always been simple, accesible, thoughful and fresh, full of cozy Mediterranean flavors. Homey sides like pepperonatas, succotashes and gratins adorn the entrees created by chef Louis LeGassic. The menu's forte has always been duck, from creamy duck liver flan and rich confits to succulent Liberty Ranch breasts, accented by savory sauces.

This allegiance to duck offers a convenient middle point in the menu's range of flavors, and Wild's small, frequently changing wine list serves this area well, with a nice selection of high-acid whites and medium-bodied reds.

Many of his (Michael Wild, owner) come from the Loire Valley in France and from northern Italy, both areas that produce wines with a lot of high-acid nerve. And his reds place special emphasis on acid over tannin, like Pinot Noirs, Dolcettos, Barberas and Rhone Valley reds.

At Bay Wolf you'll also find a selection of proprietary wines -- a Bay Wolf Chardonnay and "Noir" red blend. At some establishments you should approach these sorts of offerings with caution; it's often a restaurant's way of making profits on a bulk product. But the Bay Wolf wines are made Wild's friend Jim Clendenen of Au Bon Climat in the Santa Maria Valley, part of the Santa Barbara County wine region. Clendenen is a larger-than-life winemaker with a fair amount of lifeness in his own right.

3853 Piedmont Ave., Oakland CA 94611, 510-655-6004
We serve dinner every night of the week starting at 5:30