Aiona, a live-fire Mediterranean spot from the team behind East Sacramento’s Allora, is set to open Monday at 1213 K Street in downtown Sacramento. The long-vacant Esquire Grill space has been reworked into a dining room centered on charcoal and wood cooking, backed by a three-thousand-bottle wine cellar. Chef Deneb Williams and co-owner Elizabeth-Rose Mandalou are steering the project, which is built around shared plates and a serious wine focus.
As reported by Abridged – PBS KVIE, the restaurant follows roughly a $4 million renovation and puts an exhibition-style wood and charcoal grill squarely in the middle of the room. The outlet notes the team has already booked an 80-person event on the patio and plans to offer valet parking for guests.
From Allora to K Street
Williams is best known for Allora in East Sacramento, the Michelin-recognized restaurant he opened in 2018, and he has brought longtime colleague Lee Hinton along to run Aiona’s kitchen. As noted on Allora, the group leans into seasonality and a robust wine program, priorities that carry over to the new downtown address.
Menu Made for Sharing
Menus posted by Aiona show a lineup built for sharing and centered on live fire. A wood-roasted branzino serves as the marquee dish, joined by a 72-hour sous-vide short rib and organic Mary’s chicken that is wet-brined for 24 hours. Listed sides include gigante beans, roasted beets with farmer’s cheese, balsamic-glazed carrots with dukkah, papas bravas and Sacramento Delta asparagus.
Wine, the Room and Cocktails
Inside Sacramento reports that the build-out features a 3,000-bottle cellar, a private dining room and a heated, covered patio designed for year-round use. The outlet frames those touches as part of an effort to make the K Street corridor more appealing to convention visitors and performance-goers.
According to Abridged – PBS KVIE, Mandalou, one of the few advanced sommeliers actively working in Sacramento, curated the wine list, which the reporting says will range from about $45 to $6,500 a bottle. Brett Walker will lead the cocktail program. Williams told the outlet, “I don’t do fusion,” and later added, “I think chasing awards is a fool’s errand,” framing Aiona as a restaurant focused on feeding the city rather than chasing accolades.
Practical Details
Reservations are available through OpenTable and walk-ins are welcome. Aiona lists its phone number as (916) 790-3473 and posts hours for weekday lunch, happy hour and nightly dinner service, with the restaurant closed on Sundays. For menus and the latest booking availability, visit Aiona.
Whether K Street can support another high-end draw is an open question, but Williams has said he wants Aiona to help lift the broader downtown dining scene. With doors opening Monday, the restaurant is poised to slide quickly into the ongoing conversation about Sacramento’s culinary direction.
