New fine dining restaurant will replace closed SLO County brewery
This spring, Atascadero will add a new upscale, fine dining restaurant to its growing downtown corridor.
The latest restaurant from North County Restaurant Group, Barley and Boar Restaurant and Distillery will feature local ingredients and unique meats and protein options, plus a distinctive cocktail program, restaurant owner Trevor LaSalle said.
It is taking the spot of the former Dead Oak Brewery and Restaurant on Entrada Avenue, and the owners hope a key detail of that property will help set Barley and Boar Restaurant and Distillery apart.
“Our concept is we’re going to have an open kitchen,” LaSalle said. “So it’s kind of different than any other kind of concept (North County Restaurant Group) has really done in the past.”
The head chef will be Sean Deniz, who will move from that same role role as Cielo, the upscale Italian restaurant that opened at the La Plaza building in Atascadero this summer.
“Sean is going to be the one running the kitchen,” LaSalle said. “So he’s kind of going to be the main show, in a sense.”
The open-air kitchen means patrons can watch as Deniz leads his team in creating one-of-a-kind dishes.
A glance at the Barley and Boar menu
To start, the restaurant will be open for lunch and dinner, Tuesday through Saturday.
While the lunch offerings will be more casual, dinner will lean deeper into a fine dining presentation and dishes, LaSalle said.
Barley and Boar is a passion project for everyone involved, but particularly Deniz.
“I think it’s more of a roots thing for me and where I grabbed my inspiration from even as young as a kid to today,” Deniz said, “what’s inspired me, what’s excited me and just kind of being vulnerable and putting my experiences in my own way on a plate.”
The menu will be heavy on ingredients sourced from local farms whenever possible, Deniz said.
Consistent with the restaurant name, every night, wild boar from a farm in Texas will be on the menu.
The full menu hasn’t been finalized yet, but Deniz shared a sneak peek at some of the dishes he is experimenting with currently.
Diners can start with pastrami-brined Westholm wagyu grilled tri-tip with three mustard sabayan and house-made pickles and/or Morro Bay oysters, pickled Granny Smith apples, kumquat oil, serrano chili and chorizo.
Among the entrees are black cod with papaya BBQ, fried green tomatoes, smoked chili verde, roasted corn and wild boar bacon succotash; braised wild boar shoulder with mighty cap mushroom risotto; and smoked Westholm wagyu tri-tip, Yukon gold potato mash, broiled bone marrow and a mushroom Marsala pan sauce.
The restaurant also includes a distillery, giving it more opportunity to experiment with a unique cocktail program.
“It’s always kind of been a dream to own a distillery to where we can play around with different recipes and things to make different types of liquors and whatnot and bring a different experience to the customer that way,” LaSalle said.
The restaurant is still tinkering with its cocktail menu.
Atascadero restaurant features fine dining details
Barley and Boar Restaurant and Distillery will located in the spot that was once home to Dead Oak Brewery and Restaurant, a brewery that featured unique food and beer pairings and a standout open-air kitchen. The restaurant has since closed, with Barley and Boar taking its place.
LaSalle said the open-air kitchen is about all that will be familiar to previous Dead Oak patrons.
“Anyone that’s been to Dead Oak won’t really recognize the place by the time they get in there,” LaSalle said. “We’re in the midst of a big remodel. My hope is that when you go into it, there’s no remnants, really, of Dead Oak left, that we’re really just a whole new restaurant.”
Barley and Boar is working with the same interior designer that designed Cielo, LaSalle said.
The concept will lean more toward a sophisticated English pub style, he said, with lots of wood, brick and tile adding texture to the restaurant.
Barley and Boar opening is just one of many investments the North County Restaurant Group has made in the Atascadero’s downtown corridor.
Some of the restaurants in the North County Restaurant Group portfolio are Cielo in Atascadero, Streetside Ale House and Eatery in Paso Robles and Atascadero, Jack’s Bar and Grill in Templeton.
“We’ve been here for 15 years doing restaurants and we’ve watched the downtown slowly grow,” LaSalle said. “We like to think that we’ve kind of helped with that, helped trying to build that downtown back up and just try to make Atascadero have a really nice downtown scene.”
Barley and Boar Restaurant and Distillery is at 5925 Entrada Ave. in Atascadero. The restaurant is set to open in the spring.
This story was originally published January 23, 2023 at 1:51 PM.
