Hoping to bring a more casual vibe to their second location, restaurateurs Anu and Vikram Bhambri opened Alora Social in City Center Bishop Ranch of San Ramon this week.
With flavors they describe as bold, creative and innovative, Alora Social will bring many of the same dishes from its original location in San Francisco, which opened early last year, while expanding the menu to include more family-friendly options.
“The approach was really to try to take a lot of the sharable dips and spreads and make it a social experience,” said chef Nicholas Peters, who had previously worked at SFMOMA’s grace and Lita in Walnut Creek. “Even doing some more things, the kumpir, it’s a really fun, Turkish street food-style baked potato. A really nice russet potato baked with butter and halloumi cheese, loaded with pickled veggies, olives, roasted peppers, white and red sauce. You see peoples’ eyes light up.”
The Bhambris, the team also behind Michelin Guide-recognized ROOH Progressive Indian, Pippal in Emeryville and Fitoor in Santana Row and Santa Monica, said they discovered their love for Turkish food on a trip to Europe two years ago and knew they wanted to open a restaurant to celebrate it.
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They hired Peters last September to bring his Italian-American background to help give the menu some fresh flavors.
His favorite is the classic Turkish kabob (price TBD) with house marinated and house-cured halal brisket and lamb shoulder, “bringing authentic spice and pop and roasting it over an open fire,” he said.
He also loves the muhamarra ($17), a roasted pepper and walnut dip.
“It sounds simple but it’s a multi-day process of charring peppers, reducing down syrup, candying a walnut butter with spices and finishing with a house fermented pita,” Peters said. “A lot of people don’t get muhamarra like that. If you get it in a jar it’s red pepper paste with nuts and sweetness.”
Peters’ dips have been so popular that Alora will start selling them out of a retail section of their new location.
Anu Bhambri explained the vibe of the new space as “very bright and airy.”
“We have a huge patio which will be open as the weather opens up a little bit,” she said. “We’ll plan to have tables outside. A casual lounge side. A few fire pits. So it’s really cozy. We’ll plan to have bands on the weekends, in the morning. To bring people together and enjoy the local bands. It’ll be high energy.”
Details: Open Monday through Thursday, 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., Friday and Saturday until 10 p.m. and on Sunday from 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. at 6000 Bollinger Canyon Rd. in San Ramon; visitalora.com.
From the team that created Alora, a coastal Mediterranean restaurant in San Francisco, comes Alora Social, which opened this week in City Center Bishop Ranch of San Ramon (photo courtesy of Alora Social).
From the team that created Alora, a coastal Mediterranean restaurant in San Francisco, comes Alora Social, which opened this week in City Center Bishop Ranch of San Ramon (photo courtesy of Alora Social).
From the team that created Alora, a coastal Mediterranean restaurant in San Francisco, comes Alora Social, which opened this week in City Center Bishop Ranch of San Ramon (photo courtesy of Alora Social).
