Weston Richards Expands Menus

Chef Weston Richards, who rose to regional fame by running the Spare Parts pop-up dinners five years ago, is the red-bearded, tattooed mastermind behind the charcuterie, potted meats, and other wine-friendly cuisine at Les Marchands, where he’s run the kitchen since it opened in 2013.

Earlier this year, he started a brief run of lunch service at the wine bar. “There’s not a lot of lunch options down in the Funk Zone ​— ​you can’t eat at Mony’s every single day,” said Richards, referring to the popular taco joint around the corner. Today, his lunch creations stock the deli counter at the adjacent Helena Avenue Bakery. Highlights include the couscous and farro salad with cherry tomatoes, cucumber, and feta (“my play on a Greek salad,” said Richards); the potato salad with whole-grain mustard and Castelvetrano olives (“my absolute favorite olives”); the brussels-sprouts Caesar salad (“a staple”); and the cold fried-chicken sandwich on ciabatta with blue cheese, dill pickles, and hot sauce, which Richards makes from fermented red chiles in the Tabasco-esque style of the South.

More exciting for the neighborhood, Richards will soon be taking Les Marchands into brunch-land. He, co-owner Sherry Villanueva, and team tested the concept this past Mother’s Day and will roll out every Friday and Saturday starting this fall. That menu includes smashed avocado, orange, furikake, radish, and scallion on sourdough; crispy fried rice, kale, poached egg, mushrooms, herbs, and fish sauce vinaigrette; fried chicken, buttermilk biscuit, sausage gravy, and sunny-side egg; shakshuka, with baked eggs, tomatoes, charred peppers and onions, feta, and cilantro; and a croissant with crab and shrimp salad, mint, celery, and jalapeño.

“We are constantly asked by guests to add brunch to our offerings, so we’re super excited to finally be able to do that,” said Villanueva. “This is the perfect example of how a shared food space can ebb and flow with guest demand.”

131 Anacapa St., Ste. B, 284-0380, lesmarchandswine.com