A landmark Bay Area coastal restaurant is adding a retail shop and a wine bar with a 1,000-bottle list, overseen by a celebrated sommelier and winemaker.
Café Aquatica, a scenic destination overlooking the terminus of the Russian River in Jenner, has been a popular waystation for coffee and views for nearly two decades. But since owner Rachel Kulinski bought it in 2018, she has transformed the once-humble café, expanding the menu — adding, for instance, a crab sandwich that’s now a signature dish — and introducing alcohol, including wines from her fiancé Patrick Cappiello’s brand, Monte Rio Cellars. Last year, Chronicle restaurant critics Cesar Hernandez and MacKenzie Chung Fegan named Café Aquatica one of the 25 best restaurants in Wine Country.
This summer, Kulinski will expand into the adjacent space to open Jenner Outpost, a retail shop offering gifts, picnic supplies and art.
Inside of Jenner Outpost will be a wine-centric concept called Outpost Cellar, overseen by Cappiello. He will pour Monte Rio Cellars wines by the glass — making it the brand’s first tasting room — and will also offer an extensive selection of wines from California and Europe, drawing from the prodigious cellar that Cappiello spent decades building as a sommelier…