Timber & Salt celebrates city’s history: New bar and restaurant opens in downtown Redwood City

Burns and bartender Brian Matulis are all about sustainability and they both concoct their own ferments and pickles for the food and syrups, bitters and tinctures for the bar’s cocktail list on site.

The restaurant sources much of its food from local and sustainable farmers, ranchers and fisherman.

Its name celebrates the city’s colorful past when its hillside timber rolled down Woodside Road to the port which was then bordered by dozens of salt ponds.

Burns makes sure many of his dishes, especially the bar bites, reflect the city’s salty past.

The decor reflects the city’s past as a center of timber.

The core group, including Stewart Putney and Chef de Cuisine Joshua Regal, are all about the details and mixing ingredients together in unique ways that will take its customers by surprise.

Putney handles the restaurant’s marketing and Regal, from South Carolina, will take over the day-to-day operations of the restaurant, Burns said.

Putney and Burns happen to be old surfing buddies in Pacifica going back to the 1990s before teaming up on Timber & Salt.

Matulis handled the bar at Station 1 in Woodside before finding his way to downtown Redwood City.

At Timber & Salt, the ice becomes part of the show behind the bar.

His day starts by freezing water to make large ice blocks that will be cut and shaved behind the bar for the cocktails Matulis will serve including Jalisco collins, Rio stars, early autumns, martinis, Manhattans and the Zissous.

Most of the liquor behind the bar is 100 proof, the best for making cocktails, he said.

The bar also has an extensive beer and wine list that will also grow, he said. It now serves on draft Firestone Pivo Pils and Almanac Dry Hopped Sour Blonde among a few others. The wine list is more extensive although it is only served by the glass now. Bottle service is coming soon.

The restaurant also doesn’t open up until 3 p.m.

In the future, brunch service is planned for the weekends.

Take a peek into the kitchen and you will find very little freezer space because they don’t store food. Fresh comes first.

With outdoor seating, Redwood City’s “perfect weather,” downtown location and new developments being built right at its doorstep, Putney said he hopes locals and out-of-town office workers soon to flood the area both find their way to Timber & Salt.

When they do, they can sample the pickled potato chips made on site and the kimchee they make in house.

They also bake bread, produce charcuterie, cure the bacon and make soup stocks on site.

The restaurant caters, too.

The group at Timber & Salt hopes it becomes a destination where people can come in and take the stress off the day by connecting with other people over a drink and bite.

The restaurant is located at 881 Middlefield Road in downtown Redwood City.

Go to timberandsalt.com to learn more.

bill@smdailyjournal.com

(650) 344-5200 ext. 102