Reopenings

First Look Inside the New Manresa, Now With Cocktail Lounge

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Manresa reopened last Wednesday to unveil their brand new dining room, bar, and cocktail lounge, as well as a reconfigured and much grander entrance over to the side of the building. Sterry Architecture and Sunny Hills Studio did the redesign, and now guests can come, reservationless, and enjoy just a drink in the central lounge area with a small stand-up bar. The renovation also adds a sleek new dining room in back where the porch once was, but this won’t make it any easier to get a reservation on a weekend — the room only replaces the seats lost in creating the bar and lounge space. Wine director Jeff Bareilles worked with executive chef-owner David Kinch to craft a cocktail menu that’s an extension of Manresa’s marriage with Love Apple Farm, with a changing array of cocktails — both new creations and twists on classics — that will be driven first by seasonal fruit and herbs, with spirit choices meant to complement each fresh flavor, rather than the other way around.

See the full cocktail menu below, and check out our slideshow of the new entrance and interior, shot during a preview event last night.

Manresa Cocktail List

Humble Pie
La Diablada Pisco / Yellow Chartreuse V.E.P / Rhubarb Consommé / Ginger
14

Jamaica Fresca
Los Azulejos Silver Tequila / St. Germain Elderflower / Hibiscus / Cynar
14

Shizuka
Hendricks Gin / Tonic / Green Chartreuse V.E.P / Love Apple Cucumber / Love Apple Shiso / Aloe
14

Mountain Tea
Calvadoon 13yr Apple and Pear Brandy / Black Tea / Lemon
14


Classics

Santa Cruz 75
Osocalis Brandy / Lemon / Love Apple Farm Honey / Diebolt-Vallois Blanc de Blanc Brut Champagne
20

Cosmo Blanc
Hanger One “Straight” / Cointreau / Japanese Plum Wine / Lemon
14

Aviation
Aviation Gin / Lemon / Luxardo Maraschino / Crème Yvette / True Maraschino Cherry
14

Negroni
Blade Gin / Campari / Carpano Antica Formula
14

Manresa - 320 Village Lane, Los Gatos - 408.354.4330 - Cocktail lounge now open at 5 p.m., Wednesday through Sunday. Dinner reservations here.

Earlier: Manresa’s Renovation, Complete With Cocktail Bar, Due in June

Straight ahead, where that wall is? That’s where the old front door used to be. That area has now become the wine cellar, and guests enter along the walkway that circles to the side of the restaurant.
The new host stand, with a custom chandelier that’s a collaboration between Berkeley-based Erik Powell and L.A.-based Cleveland Art. The chandeliers feature hundreds of hand-blown crystals in the shape of spoons.
A new etched-glass divider separates the cocktail lounge from the original main dining room – which now features subtler lighting, with each table individually spot-lit as well.
Guests can opt to come in just for a cocktail now, and eventually Kinch hopes to make some or all of the nightly food menu available here as well, in a more casual setting. Also later on, guests will have the option of enjoying first courses here before moving to their tables.
David Kinch stands proudly at the new bar, along with Sara Lieber, garden manager at Love Apple Farm, which supplies Manresa with all of their vegetables. The farm’s fruit production this year will drive the new cocktail menu.
A view into the new dining room, with clerestory windows, which used to be the back porch of the restaurant.
The view from the new room back into the bar/lounge.
One of Bareilles inaugural spring cocktail creations, featuring La Diablada Pisco, yellow Chartreuse V.E.P, rhubarb consommé, and ginger. Several of the drinks on the menu are heavier on the fruit and lighter in alcohol than your average cocktail, in order not to intoxicate guests too heavily before nine courses with wine pairings.
Perhaps the most unique of the new drink offerings, and an example of things to come with fresh flavors from the farm, this savory drink combines gin, tonic, green Chartreuse, aloe, shiso and cucumber from Love Apple Farm.
A parting shot of the light fixtures, as night fell.
First Look Inside the New Manresa, Now With Cocktail Lounge