Uptown's Alamar to Put Upscale Twist on Asian-Cajun

Asian-Cajun is definitely one of the most unique cuisines to emerge in the Bay Area in recent years, with spots like Hang Ten Boiler, Cajun House, and Swamp drawing big crowds for their crawfish boils and garlic noodles. Vietnamese immigrants to Louisiana are primarily responsible for the fusion of the two cuisines, but they're getting a fine-dining upgrade for the first time, thanks to chef Nelson German. As Inside Scoop reports, German plans to open Alamar sometime in late April in the former Noble Cafe in Uptown Oakland. The seafood-focused restaurant is a pet project for the NYC native, who cooked at the Gramercy Park Hotel on the East Coast and the Supper Club on the West before deciding to open his own spot.

Diners can still expect seafood boils by the pound, but with twists like housemade sausage and Meyer lemon pepper on the crawfish and a Chardonnay-ginger-scallion butter on the Dungeness crab. (There won't be plastic bags, either, just nice servingware.) Small bites will include blue crab poppers and chicken-wing confit, and organic corn will come on the side. For lunch, expect salt-and-pepper squid panini and pork-belly flatbread, plus Blue Bottle coffee, Firebrand bread, and cocktails featuring locally-made booze. If all goes well, Alamar will open for dinner the week of April 28, with lunch and brunch following in subsequent weeks.

· Alamar bringing upscale seafood boil to Oakland [Inside Scoop]
· Alamar [Facebook]