Ceron Kitchen — Restaurant in Alameda

This could so easily have been a five star review, except for two elements of our meal. First, I’ll start with the good.

Out server, Ariana, was fantastic. She was attentive and on top of things, subtly keeping an eye on our progress and firing timings for our courses. We were amongst the first seated in her section, which became busy quickly. This can often be a disaster for a two top, which gets lost in the crowd. Not in this case - she was excellent.

The food was excellent - a chef who is clearly ambitious, and who knows his ingredients. While not seasonal (we had both apple and pear included in our mains) oysters from the Pacific Northwest that were wonderful and Berkshire pork are nice things to see. The food was considered, well cooked and well presented. One error though - sweet things were far too sweet, savory dishes excessively salted. I have a robust palate and am not sensitive to such things, but even so, there was no escaping that everything, especially the proteins, were over salted and under peppered.

The worst thing was the “greeting” from the junior host. We entered using the second entrance and were met with a sign asking us to go to the main entrance to be seated. As we were doing this, he confronted us in the most unusual way. He physically blocked our path, just before we passed the bar, and demanded to know if we had a reservation. (We did.) He then demanded to know what name this reservation was under, even though, stood in the middle the restaurant, adjacent to seated diners, he had no way of checking. I’m equally at home in a diner as I am a three star restaurant. I have never experienced anything like the confrontation we were met with. It was a rudeness that lingered throughout the meal. I almost lost my temper, which is rare. It was that bad.

A little less salt (or more tasting by the chef) and a normal host, and this would have been an easy five stars. I’m sure these tweaks will come easily, and we’ll happily return. Great potential with this chef, kitchen and front of house staff. The Spanish speaking maî·tre d' (who discussed the issue with the host with my wife) also deserves a mention for being competent, professional and...

We found this amazing restaurant by happenstance! I had a last minute home showing late in the day on a Saturday in the Alameda area. I asked my husband to drive me so we could grab dinner after. While I was in the showing , he looked up places to eat in the area and came upon Ceron Kitchen.

We are so happy we found this place! This is definitely a higher end establishment and would be a great place for a special celebration or business dinner. However, diners on the patio were enjoying the relaxing, more casual atmosphere and there were families with children and groups of younger people enjoying drinks. Not a stuffy place at all.

The restaurant is aesthetically gorgeous, (Reas about the owner on their website, he is a home builder as well). The staff was professional and very knowledgeable but also super friendly and fun to talk to. The drinks and food were top notch! Definitely a fine dining experience.

They have a great creative cocktail menu( we tried a couple and they were delicious) and an extensive wine list. The menu was varied with many intriguing dishes in both the First and the Main courses and there were so many things we wanted to try! We settled on sharing a wonderful Blueberry & Strawberry Salad and the Street Corn for our Firsts. Both exceptionally good and made with the freshest produce. I have eaten a lot of “ street” style Mexican corn ( Esquites) and this was an elevated version. Delicious.

For entrees my husband got the Duck with Mushroom Risotto and I got the Frutti Di Mare. Both exceptional!! These dishes were both done exceedingly well. The duck was amazing, the seafood fresh and the Pasta in the Frutti Di Mare was cooked to perfection.

We don’t usually eat dessert, but we made an exception here because of how good the food was. We got the Chocolate Silk Pie and were not disappointed! So worth the calories!!!!

Ceron Kitchen is the perfect reason to head out yo charming Alameda. We strolled around the downtown area for a bit after dinner (since we ate every last bite!) and enjoyed the restaurants location. We will be back! There are so many other dishes we want to try and this will be a great special occasion or business dinner...

Let me tell you, Ceron is not just a happy place – it’s the only place. You walk in, and immediately it’s as if the world outside doesn’t exist. And then Arnold – the man, the myth, the legend – sweeps in, delivering hospitality so flawless, it’s like he’s running a five-star military operation. Attention to detail? Arnold invented it. This isn’t just fine dining, this is the benchmark by which all others should be judged. The food? Oh, the food! It’s not just good; it’s a symphony of flavors that perfectly marry each other like a couple out of a fairy tale.

We started with the salad – iceberg lettuce, but not just any lettuce, this was lettuce that made you question everything you knew about greenery. Paired with a blue cheese Caesar dressing and bacon bits that crunched like a Formula 1 engine roaring into life. The eggs were cooked so perfectly, they could have been served in a Michelin-starred space station. Oh, and did I mention the blackberry cassis cocktail? It was so expertly balanced, you could probably build a bridge with it.

But then, the ravioli! Stuffed with ricotta and infused with truffle oil and mushroom duxelle crème so rich, it could have bought a small island. The texture? The kind of pillow you’d want to rest your head on for all eternity.

And let’s not forget the chicken breast – brined, butterflied, and so tender it practically whispered, “eat me.” Paired with mash potatoes swimming in brown chicken stock and asparagus that had those perfect grill marks like it had just come off the set of a high-budget Hollywood movie.

Finally, we landed on the lemon tart. A tart so divine, it didn’t just finish the meal, it ended world hunger in that very moment – at least for me. Quite simply, my day was made.

In summary: go to...