Menu Highlights from The Rock & Rye at Sweetwater Music Hall

A short 14 miles north of San Francisco just across the Golden Gate Bridge, The Rock & Rye at Sweetwater Music Hall welcomes diners and beverage enthusiasts with South American and New Orleans-inspired dishes from Executive Chef Rick Hackett (Bocanova, Florio).

Chef Rick Hackett introduces Mill Valley to his admiration for South American recipes he discovered while traversing through Machu Picchu and Lima, Peru. The Creole cuisine of Crescent City further influences singular dishes at The Rock & Rye, an affinity Hackett culls from a lasting impression after witnessing an in-person cooking demo by the late great Chef Paul Prudhomme of the famous K-Paul’s (New Orleans). 

Local ingredients are sourced from Bay Area farmers and ranchers (Allstar Organics, Marin Roots Farm, Pasternack) who Chef Hackett has longstanding relationships with at San Francisco’s CUESA Ferry Plaza Farmers Market. Fresh produce with roots in both South American and Creole dishes informs Hackett’s menu with key ingredients such as okra, a wide variety of chili peppers, sweet potatoes, summer squash, eggplant, tomatoes, and others. 

Highlights of The Rock & Rye’s menu include 

Appetizers: Dungeness Crab Deviled Eggs with chipotle aioli, Sunchoke-Almond Soup with pickled oysters and almond oil; Quinoa & Corn Chowder with avocado, tortilla strips, and chives.

Entrees: 

• Rye Braised Beef Short Ribs with sweet potato gratin, roasted garlic, maple syrup 
• Flatiron Steak with saltado sauce, mushroom puree, and roasted carrots
• Shellfish Gumbo with andouille, shrimp, scallops, oysters, and crispy okra
• Ling Cod – Manhattan Clam Chowder with bacon, fingerling potatoes, and tomatoes
• Buttermilk Chicken Cutlet with broccolini, shallots, black olives, and aji amarillo sauce
• Vegetable Etouffée with eggplant, peppers, tomato, and jasmine rice
• Forest Mushrooms and Grits with roasted shallots, and spicy tomato sauce
• Roasted Stuffed Heirloom Tomatoes with roasted garlic sauce 
• NOLA Burger with green onion dressing, crispy shallots, cheddar, and French fries
• Cornmeal Crusted Catfish with red bean sauce, and maque choux
• Atlantic Haddock Fish-n-Chips with sauce remoulade

Desserts: Sweet Potato Cheesecake with creme fraiche and Chocolate Croissant Bread Pudding with vanilla ice cream.

The Rock & Rye cocktail menu features The Feel More with tequila reposado & mezcal infused with pineapple, lime juice, ginger syrup, jalapeño, and cilantro served with an aleppo chile salted rim; Great American – Melon Ball with jack daniels, melon juice, ginger syrup with mint and lime garnish; Red on the Rocks with rye whiskey, cherry syrup, lemon juice, egg white with lemon and cherry garnish; The Greek with grappa, gin, cucumber juice, lime juice, maple syrup, sea salt, parsley, olive and cucumber garnish; Tipitini with vodka, caper berry pickle brine, lemon juice, simple syrup with caper berry and dill garnish.

Ingredients from the cocktail menu are from Farmers Markets in Mill Valley, Ferry Plaza, and Alemany. The house wine list exclusively includes releases from family-owned and operated small production houses in California and Argentina. Craft beers focus on Northern California breweries with five taps pouring beers brewed between San Francisco and Santa Rosa. Cans and bottled beers venture further north up the coast to Fort Bragg. A variety of Agua Frescas are made daily. 

Sweetwater Music Hall, The Rock & Rye is open seven days a week starting at 11:30am with brunch service on Saturdays and Sundays (10am – 3pm). The Rock & Rye will be open nightly with a condensed menu for post-concert dining. The Rock & Rye has a 50-seat outdoor patio and 18-seat indoor classic café adjacent to the North Bay music venue, Sweetwater Music Hall.

Cocktail Photos: Josh Miller

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