Restaurants in Orinda

Hot Spud's chef and owner Simone Powers combines the convenience of fast food with the taste of gourmet cuisine, stuffing piping-hot potatoes to the skin with fresh and organic fillings. Baked to perfection in an imported King Edward convection oven, each 12-ounce potato attains a fluffy interior and evenly browned exterior reminiscent of the Doughboy after spring break. Dungeness crab and lemon beurre blanc sauce tower atop the Wharf—the restaurant's signature spud—while other creations include toppings and sauces such as grilled shrimp, chipotle tartar and alfredo. Powers creates salads and soups with local and organic products when possible, and incorporates Idaho's state flower, the sweet potato, into desserts. Customers lounge in a sleek, modern dining area with tall picture windows and an interior wall covered in bright, multicolored panels.

Melody Lounge's meals start with fresh ingredients and daily-baked bread. The menu at the Mission Street café stretches like a bungee cord attached to a falling anvil—from American breakfasts and European coffee to Mediterranean standbys such as the chef's specialties, curry melody, tri-cheeses sandwich, and melody french toast.

Though they’re working 2,500 miles from Havana, Chan Chan Cafe Cubano’s chefs trim small sidewalk tables with sweet and spicy dishes inspired by the laidback eateries of the tropical capital. Shareable small plates of tapa capricho accent sweet plantains with black-bean sauce at small sidewalk tables or in front of an indoor accent wall bathed with the orange and purple shades of a Caribbean sunset or an oompa loompa after a fistfight. Shared sustenance makes way for personal servings of the corderdo borracho’s grass-fed lamb slowly simmered in beer, rosemary, and Michel spices.

Haymen Da Luz and Ying Wu travel the tea gardens of China and Taiwan to find the choicest leaves to stock the shelves of their San Francisco shops. The husband-and-wife team promotes a thorough understanding of steeped beverages, brewing complimentary tastes of their many green, oolong, jasmine, and herbal teas. Standing behind a curved tea bar with a built-in stone drain, Da Luz shows the techniques of rinsing leaves, preheating mugs, and ridding teapots of displaced genies during demonstrations and private classes.

Homesick for traditional Hawaiian food, friends Kurt, Al, and Eric opened Hukilau to serve the breaded mahi-mahi, fresh ahi tuna, and teriyaki hamburgers they once bought from island eateries. Inside, the kitchen cooks spam musubi—teriyaki-soaked spam wrapped in rice and nori—alongside aloha chicken adobo simmered in Aloha Shoyu, vinegar, custom blended spices, and grated ukuleles. In the dining area, gently strummed acoustic tunes provide a Hawaiian backdrop to conversations over tropical cocktails modeled after Waikiki favorites.

A Tootsie Roll is known for its chewiness and cocoa flavor. But at Chin Sushi Bar and Restaurant, the Tootsie roll takes on a different form: a sushi roll in which crisp shrimp tempura, spicy tuna, and salmon lay snugly against one another. Or try the Joey roll—the miso-marinated tuna, unagi, and avocado combination has nothing to do with a baby kangaroo. Chin Sushi's chefs turn out such catchy-named specialty rolls—more than 30 in all—inside a brightly colored eatery whose walls are dotted with colorful landscape prints. Signature maki rolls also make an appearance on the extensive menu, as do dinner entrees such as pan-seared salmon, vegetable udon, and grilled chicken teriyaki.