Bay Wolf Restaurant   

3853 Piedmont Ave
Oakland, CA 94611
510-655-6004
www.baywolf.com

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Housed in an old Victorian home, Bay Wolf feels a world apart from the outside bustle of Oakland's Piedmont Avenue. Diners cozy up on an enclosed redwood patio or in one of two intimate dining rooms, there to enjoy Michael Wild's seasonal blend of Mediterranean and California cuisine. Wild, Bay Wolf's founder and executive chef, likes to experiment with seasonal fruits and vegetables mixed with fresh meats and seafood, and his changing monthly menus reflect his creativity. Late summer might bring heirloom tomato salad and duck in a fresh blackberry sauce. Fall comes with creamy pumpkin and leek soup or a lettuce salad sweetened with French butter pears. Pastry chef G. Earl Darny gives his desserts a similar seasonality; with pomegranate ice cream, quince torte or a sweet and spicy pumpkin spice cake in fall. For vegetarians, the monthly menu usually includes one meatless main dish with a Mediterranean feel, like baked cannelloni with ricotta and fontina cheeses to goat cheese-filled cornmeal crepes. Bay Wolf's extensive wine list offers French, Italian and California wines at a range of prices. A few wines, including a Central Coast Pinot Noir, are bottled exclusively for Bay Wolf. -- Kim Rutledge