Chef James Syhabout doesn’t want to celebrate his restaurant’s birthday. Maybe you can relate, if you’ve rung in a few big ones. Still, it’s worth wishing a quiet congrats to Commis, the only two-MICHELIN-starred restaurant in the East Bay, which turns 15 on June 18. To mark the occasion, Syhabout plans to do nothing. No blowout party, no celeb guest chefs, no throwback menu, no thanks. “I want to keep it lowkey,” he says.
It’s honestly on brand—Commis has always been understated, and that’s exactly what’s propelled it to the superstar status it has today. Syhabout might not have a party planned, but you should toast this ever-evolving Oakland legend by making a booking and tasting the newest exciting dishes the chef’s cooking up right now—Commis has never been better; read on to find out how it achieved icon status.
How it all started
Commis opened on June 18, 2009, at the end of the recession when the restaurant industry was still reeling from the aftereffects. Syhabout, an ambitious young chef coming from acclaimed restaurants like Manresa, El Bulli, and the Fat Duck went for broke with his first restaurant on Piedmont Avenue.
“It was not the best year to open a fine-dining restaurant, but I didn’t care,” says Syhabout, who was living with his parents at the time. He couldn’t afford restaurant signs. He had three sauté pans and a thousand dollars in the bank. Commis opened with four courses for $59. “It was bare bones, stripped down, very raw,” Syhabout says. “It was like the first Wu-Tang Clan record. Low production.”
Sprinting into the big leagues
Acclaim followed fast and furious. Commis snagged a MICHELIN star in its first year, and a second followed just a few years later, making it the only two-MICHELIN-starred restaurant in the East Bay to this day. San Francisco Chronicle critic Michael Bauer heaped more praise in 2016, writing that Commis is “simply stunning.”
All the success propelled Syhabout to expand with street food–style Hawker Fare, fried chicken spot Hawking Bird, and brew pub Old Kan Beer & Co. in subsequent years. He even wrote a cookbook in 2018, Hawker Fare, which dug deeper into his Thai heritage and Southeast Asian flavors.
Syhabout closed most of his other projects during the pandemic, but the silver lining is that he’s now able to give his full attention to Commis. He’s dedicated a third of his life to this restaurant, and Commis is a teenager just as his two kids are entering their teen years.
Relaxing into superstar status
Commis continues to mature and evolve; Syhabout is even considering removing the fan-favorite slow-smoked egg yolk dish from the menu. “I feel like it doesn’t fit on the menu anymore,” Syhabout says. “Like, what’s Asian about this? Really nothing.”
Throughout the restaurant’s evolution, Syhabout’s commitment to spotlighting Southeast Asian ingredients in fine dining has only sharpened. A new eel dish for the summer sees the eel cured and baked until gelatinous, glazed in a concentrated lobster stock, dusted with numbing spices, torched for a touch of bitterness, and placed on top of a rich taro root purée. It’s the kind of bold ingredients, textures, and flavors that have become synonymous with Commis.
Syhabout might not be celebrating his anniversary, but he recognizes its impact. He feels proud to see Commis alums tearing it up across the country, from chef Carlos Salgado of Costa Mesa’s Taco Maria fame to service director Matthew Calidonna at the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in New York.
He’s also inspired by a new wave of Asian restaurants including LA’s Taiwanese tasting-menu spot Kato and buzzy SF Cantonese restaurant Four Kings. “It’s refreshing to see. It gives more confidence to other young Asian American chefs,” Syhabout says. “Actually, it makes me proud, like, man, I want to keep up with them.”
Syhabout is more than keeping up, and Commis just keeps getting better with age. “There are still exciting things to come,” he says. “We’re still pulling out surprises, for our customers and ourselves.”
Becky Duffett is a food writer living and eating in San Francisco. She was the deputy editor at Eater SF and has written for The New York Times, The San Francisco Chronicle, and Bon Appétit, among other places. Follow her on Instagram at @beckyduffett.
