New Mediterranean Restaurant Acre Opens Today in the Former Oliveto Space in Oakland

Acre, a new Mediterranean restaurant designed around a stone oven and wood-fired hearth, opens for dinner service Monday, December 19 in Oakland’s Market Hall building. The new restaurant takes over the former home of the well-loved Italian restaurant Oliveto, which saw some of the Bay Area’s top culinary talents come through its kitchen over a 35-year run that ended earlier this year. Over the past few months, Acre’s owners renovated the two-story space and are now ready to roll out two new menus they’re touting as both “California ingredient-driven” and “Mediterranean-influenced.”

Acre comes from a pair of experienced Bay Area hospitality professionals. Chef and co-owner Dirk Tolsma spent time at restaurants including Auberge du Soleil in Napa, Cyrus in Healdsburg, and Baker & Banker in San Francisco — but most recently worked as chef de cuisine at EPIC Steak in San Francisco. That’s where he connected with co-owner Pete Sittnick, who’s also a managing partner at Waterbar and Epic Steak.

Photo by Hardy Wilson, Courtesy ACRE Restaurant

Photo by Hardy Wilson, Courtesy ACRE Restaurant

Together they’ve flipped the restaurant into a 2-in-1 cafe and full-service restaurant. Downstairs, diners will find “an all-day, European-style” cafe serving pizzas cooked in a stone oven and alongside “unfussy” fare like cheese and tinned fish. Beverage options will include “classic-inspired” cocktails and wine; think a Cappelletti spritz and a riff on the Campari and sweet vermouth combo known as an Americano. Upstairs in the main dining room, the menu will showcase dishes cooked in the wood-fired oven and inspired by chef Tolsma’s European travels, according to the opening announcement. Dishes include steak tartare, whole grilled branzino, braised lamb sugo with polenta, and a grass-fed ribeye with black garlic new potatoes. The cocktail list upstairs features options like a black Manhattan and the Oakland’s Own, based on a classic mai tai.

Acre Kitchen & Bar will be open from 4 to 9 p.m. this week. Hours of operation will be 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. downstairs, and the upstairs bar will be open from 4:30 to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 4:30 to 9:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. Reservations are available via OpenTable.

Photo by Hardy Wilson, Courtesy ACRE Restaurant

Photo by Hardy Wilson, Courtesy ACRE Restaurant

Photo by Hardy Wilson, Courtesy ACRE Restaurant

Photo by Hardy Wilson, Courtesy ACRE Restaurant

Photo by Hardy Wilson, Courtesy ACRE Restaurant