"The story this year in Silicon Valley dining doesn't belong to a single restaurant. It belongs to the city of Menlo Park. By the end of 2025 its longheld nickname "Menlo Dark" felt like ancient history. Sort of. By 8pm, Santa Cruz Avenue still looks pretty sleepy but the new restaurants that opened this year remain wide awake after dark."
"I'm going to attribute the general awakening to Camper's 2018 arrival in the neighborhood. Chef Greg Kuzia-Carmel's restaurant presented a tonal shift on the avenue. The décor heralded a new era of streamlined interior design. While the dishes on the menu mixed rustic and elegant elements together. Camper embraced everything we know about California fine dining: it's farm-to-table and seasonal."
"They opened their doors, with an al fresco patio, in the spring. National chain restaurants are generally impersonal places. They can land in any city and add nothing to the culinary landscape. The restaurant group behind Clark's smartly tailors each of their new locations to the particulars of a region. For Menlo Park, the owners hired Rob Moss Wilson, a Bay Area artist, who painted a cliffside seascape above the prominent and finely buffed wooden bar."
Menlo Park emerged as a major Bay Area dining destination in 2025 as new restaurants revitalized Santa Cruz Avenue and shed the "Menlo Dark" reputation. Camper's 2018 opening by Chef Greg Kuzia-Carmel initiated a tonal shift toward streamlined interior design and farm-to-table, seasonal California fine dining. COVID-19 delayed further openings until Clark's Oyster Bar reopened with an al fresco patio and regionally tailored design, including a cliffside seascape by Rob Moss Wilson. Clark's nautical interior, seafood-focused menu, and other new establishments extended evening activity on the avenue, transforming the neighborhood's culinary landscape.
Read at Metro Silicon Valley | Silicon Valley's Leading Weekly
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