Here’s a First Look Inside the Newly Renovated Three-Michelin-Star Atelier Crenn

If you can believe it, it’s been 12 years since chef Dominique Crenn first opened the doors to her namesake restaurant Atelier Crenn along with pastry chef and business partner Juan Contreras. Of course, in the intervening years, Crenn went on to become the first woman chef in the U.S. to earn three Michelin stars, catapulting her and the restaurant to the forefront of not only the Bay Area but also the international food scene.

Now, Crenn says she’s ready to shepherd the restaurant into a new era. For the past four weeks, she shut down the restaurant — moving service over to the still-closed Petit Crenn for a limited-run pop-up called Crenn Essentials — while both Atelier Crenn and the adjacent Bar Crenn got a full makeover. Crenn worked with production designer Ethan Tobman on the new look; the two met while Crenn was consulting on the hit horror-comedy The Menu. In a post on Instagram, Toban described the collaboration as “written in the stars.”

Jason Bowman

The restaurant’s main dining room got a modern update, with warm wood accents and natural fixtures. One of the most eye-catching elements is a 25-foot paper chandelier evoking waves, which runs across the center of the space, while a mirrored column nods to Beaux-Arts design. A rock wall in the bathroom adds to the organic-yet-modern aesthetic, and geometric patterns intend to echo the precision of Crenn’s food. In a press release, Tobman cites a variety of international influences, all of which tie back to the chef’s history and passions: “her love of nature and Japanese culture, subtle references to her childhood in France, and potential origins in Morocco.”

Here diners will experience Crenn’s new 12-course tasting menu, which continues to shun meat, a move the chef first made at the Atelier in 2018. (In 2019, she announced plans to remove meat from all her restaurant menus.) The new menu will remain as personal as ever — for example, one of the signature bites during a meal at Atelier Crenn is a riff on a Kir Royale, which Crenn’s mother used to serve at their home in France — but will now focus more specifically on California, “the place chef Crenn now considers home,” a press release says. That means more foraged ingredients, more dishes drawing from California history, and, of course, more vegetables grown at Crenn’s own Bleu Belle Farm in Sonoma.

Jason Bowman

Jason Bowman

John Troxell

John Troxell

John Troxell

Next door at Bar Crenn, guests enter a bold and welcoming space designed to feel like a 1950s Tokyo music bar. There’s a powerful sound system tucked into a wall of shelves stocked with vinyl records, a mirrored back bar that curves into the textured gold ceiling, and distressed rugs and ottomans meant as nods to Morocco. Though there are only five tables scattered throughout the space, Tobman hopes to have created a room conducive to both conversation and community, a place that’s both private and exclusive but also engaging.

Bar Crenn will continue to host Le Comptoir Crenn, which launched in 2022. It’s an interactive meal hosted at the bar itself, during which cooks prepare food in front of diners using an ever-changing lineup of premium and local ingredients. For those not taking part in that limited experience — it’s open to only six guests at a time — there will also be an a la carte small-bites menu, dubbed Mise en Bouche, that’s designed to pair with the bar’s list of cocktails, wine, and high-end spirits.

Jason Bowman

Jason Bowman

Jason Bowman

Jason Bowman

Reservations for Atelier Crenn and Bar Crenn are available online through Tock.