Le Nocturne, Livermore: A French Supper Club From a Michelin Vet's Son

One SF/Bay Area opening a day, chosen and checked. Today: the Tri-Valley's first turn, as a 17-year Livermore restaurateur soft-opens a contemporary French supper club next to the Bankhead Theatre, with his Michelin-starred-SF-chef son designing the menu and a dance floor that wakes up at 10 p.m.

Gianni Schell has run Rebel Kitchen & Libations on First Street in Livermore for 17 years, a gastropub his own site bills as a three-time "Best in East Bay" cocktail winner, and he co-opened the natural-wine bar The Black Cat down the block (Diablo Dish, July 22). He was not looking for a third project. Then the space next to the Bankhead Theatre came free, the former Last Word cocktail bar that briefly reinvented itself as the mafia-themed speakeasy The Syndicate, and the owners "offered me a deal I couldn't refuse." He took it and named it Le Nocturne, "the night."

What he built is a contemporary French supper club, a format Livermore has not seen. The dinner menu runs through the classics: steak tartare, salade Lyonnaise, and escargot to start; steak frites, coq au vin, trout amandine, and moules à la marinière as entrees; Pt. Reyes oysters; and a "les indulgences" section pouring caviar by the bump, the blini, or full service, with A5 Japanese wagyu promised soon. The wine list pairs French bottles with Livermore Valley labels, and the cocktails move from a Sidecar and Boulevardier to the Clair de Lune, clarified gin with lime and elderflower (Diablo Dish, July 22).

The pedigree behind the plates is the surprise. Schell is a restaurateur, not a chef, so he brought in his son Cameron, a veteran of several Michelin-starred kitchens in San Francisco, to shape the concept, design the menu, and hire the young chef now running it, Raj Desai (Diablo Dish, July 22; Whatnow SF, April 10). A father handing the culinary vision to his Michelin-trained son is the thread that turns a Livermore nightlife operator's pet project into something worth the drive through the Caldecott.

The room leans vintage Parisian, moody and dim, and that is when the second act kicks in. At 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday the dinner crowd gives way to deep house and EDM until 1 a.m. (Diablo Dish, July 22). Schell has said the point was never to flip tables but to have diners stay, lounge, and carry into the nightlife (Whatnow SF, April 10).

Why this opening matters more than the others this week: Livermore is a city long defined by the national lab, and downtown First Street is mid-build as a restaurant row, with at least five new food-and-drink businesses working toward openings this year (The Dissent, July 4). A serious French dinner with caviar and a Michelin-vetted menu is a different bet for the corridor, and the early read is that it is landing. Schell told Diablo Dish he was "a little hesitant about doing French contemporary, but so far it's been embraced with open arms," and he soft-opened quietly last week to let the kitchen dial in before going loud.

The details: 2470 First Street, Suite 100, Livermore, next to the Bankhead Theatre, in the former Last Word space (The Dissent, July 4; Livermore Vine, April 17). It is soft-open now and walk-in, with no reservation system listed yet (the website is still a "coming soon" placeholder); on Friday and Saturday nights the dinner service gives way to a club at 10 p.m.

Also opening

Milk Cloud Bakery, West Berkeley: Liz Khuu's Japanese milk-bread pop-up goes permanent Friday, July 24, with shokupan toast, "ramen egg" sandos, and choux au craquelin. (Berkeleyside, July 21)
Lorella, Russian Hill: Frances and Octavia's Melissa Perello and pastry chef Melissa Loar open a croissants-and-sourdough bakery at 2139 Polk Street, slated before the holidays. (SF Standard, July 21)
Souley Vegan, Oakland (Jack London Square): Tamearra Dyson's vegan soul-food favorite reopens after a three-year hiatus, with a rebirth party July 25 and a new retail marketplace. (SF Bay View, July 21)
Khaki, San Ramon (City Center Bishop Ranch): Curry Up Now and the Michelin-recognized Tiya team up on an upscale Indian dinner concept, debuting July 31. (desi.net, July 19; first reported by Eater SF)
Sakura Market, downtown San Jose: a Japanese konbini-style market and dining store from the Osaka Marketplace team, grand-opening Friday, July 24. (Diablo Dish, July 22)