SAN RAMON, CALIFORNIA – You can do a lot of things at San Ramon’s City Center Bishop ranch: catch a movie, escape from a Scooby Doo themed room, make a pair of bedazzled sunglasses, and even watch a falconer at work.
Now, you can add a new activity to the City Center bucket list: catch a world-class jazz performance while noshing on delicious Turkish food.
That’s the concept behind Meyhouse, a new Turkish restaurant and jazz club that opened recently in the former Dumpling Time space at City Center.
We previously reviewed the restaurant’s food in detail. Now, we’ve got the second part in our two-part review: the music!
(With a bit more on the food for good measure.)
A Transformed Space
Meyhouse has entirely transformed the old Dumpling Time space. In fact, it’s gone beyond that, turning the single space into two.
When you first walk into Meyhouse, you’re greeted by a cozy lounge area and an energetic, lively restaurant.
Small tables near the entrance are filled with people out for date night, a charcoal grill sizzles away towards the back, and larger tables near a full bar serve big groups.
But Meyhouse’s concept goes well beyond being another Turkish restaurant. In a second, glass-walled space connected to the main restaurant, you’ll find what’s essentially a very upscale and intimate jazz club.
On select nights, Meyhouse offers world-class jazz music in this space. You can still dine in the main restaurant at any time, but if you want to eat and see the performance, you’ll need to get separate tickets for that (Meyhouse covered a portion of our visit so we could review the jazz performance. Thanks! Bay Area Telegraph covered the rest).
Meyhouse generally offers two seatings on jazz nights. Guests attending the first performance arrive at 5 p.m., with the show beginning around 6:30 p.m. The second seating begins at 8 p.m., followed by music around 8:30 p.m.
Performances typically last approximately 75 minutes. A jazz ticket reserves a seat and covers admission to the performance, while food and drinks are purchased separately. Guests do not need to make an additional restaurant reservation.
The first seating seems geared towards those who want a full meal before the show. The second–with a shorter period before the performance–seems aimed towards those who want dessert and a drink.
We didn’t get the memo, and ordered lots of food during our later seating! (More on that below).
That’s a fine approach, too. But it’s helpful to know that the two seatings clearly have different intended setups.
World-Class Music
Meyhouse’s August 15 performance featuring British jazz vocalist Claire Martin and pianist Tamir Hendelman.
The program, titled “Celebrates the Divas,” paid tribute to distinctive jazz singers including Shirley Horn, Carmen McRae and Anita O’Day.
Martin and Hendelman performed songs associated with composers such as George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Harold Arlen and Richard Rodgers, interspersed with stories about the artists who influenced Martin’s career.
Martin has won the British Jazz Award for Best Vocalist eight times during a career spanning nearly four decades.
Hendelman has performed and recorded with artists including Barbra Streisand, Natalie Cole, Tierney Sutton and Roberta Gambarini, in addition to his longtime work with the Jeff Hamilton Trio and Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra.
So there’s some pretty world-class jazz talent here!
One nice thing about the Meyhouse space is that you’re extremely close to the performers. Our table was about 10 feet away from Martin, and we could easily watch her facial expressions and movements as she performed, and see Hendelman’s hands as he deftly played the keys.
The caliber of talent that we saw at Meyhouse is apparently typical. The lineup continues to mix prominent local musicians with nationally and internationally recognized performers. Upcoming San Ramon shows include four-octave vocalist Janice Maxie Reid on August 28 and the Tim Lin Quartet’s John Coltrane centennial tribute on August 29.
September bookings include two-time Grammy-winning violinist Mads Tolling, two-time Grammy winner Alan Broadbent, vocalist Jackie Ryan and other established jazz artists.
Music and Food
Of course, any opportunity to experience live music is great. But pairing music with food (and drinks!) makes any experience that much better.
Normally, if you’re attending a live musical performance, you’re probably going to be limited to an $18, too-weak gin and tonic served in a plastic cup, hurriedly slugged during intermission.
In contrast, at Meyhouse, the food and the performance go together. We started with cocktails. I had the Island Chai, a drink combining rye, sage tea, and spiced pear liquor. It was tasty and smooth.
My wife tried the very pink and apparently very popular Cos-Mey-Politan.
We paired this with muhammara dip, a red pepper and walnut spread with pomegranate molasses.
For an entree, we shared Meyhouse’s Lokum, a sliced USDA Prime tenderloin steak cut very thin and grilled over the restaurant’s signature charcoal grill.
It was tender and surprisingly flavorful for such a thin cut.
We finished the meal with sour cherry chocolate chip ice cream. Meyhouse is known for its creative ice creams, but their machine wasn’t up and running the first time we visited, so it was nice to try these items.
The Verdict
We had a great time trying the musical side of Meyhouse. The combination might sound strange at first, but pairing jazz music and Turkish food works surprisingly well.
Sipping a cocktail and eating tasty Mediterranean dishes while watching widely talented artists perform just feet from your table is a lovely way to spend an evening.
The pairing of food with music isn’t always perfect. A big table did some fork-clinking towards the start of the performance, as they finished their dishes. And our waiter sometimes had to duck down to avoid disrupting other diners’ sightlines while bringing us dishes.
Overall, though, the jazz club-meets-restaurant vibe was great. If you go, I’d recommend choosing the first seating if you want a full meal (it gives you 90 minutes of eating time before the music begins), and the later one for cocktails and ice cream.
Again, we tried to eat a full dinner during the later set, which meant more of our eating time overlapped with the music. That worked for us–I love all music but admittedly don’t know jazz music very well.
If you were there primarily for a specific artist, though, you’d probably want to eat first and then watch them perform–perhaps with a dessert cocktail in your hand!
Meyhouse is a very cool new addition to the City Center lineup–and to San Ramon’s restaurant scene in general.
The Bay Area has so many restaurants offering a roughly comparable dining experience–you sit down, order, eat, pay and leave. Meyhouse’s decision to include live music as a centerpiece of the experience makes eating there feel distinctive and different.
Until the City’s big music halls start serving your charcoal-grilled steak and big bowls of ice cream, Meyhouse has you covered–both for the music and the food.
