What you see in the gallery above might be the only time you catch Anchor & Hope empty, so take it all in. Already a member of the "5:30 or 10?" resy club, the East Coast-style seafood shack is the third restaurant by Doug Washington and the Brothers Rosenthal, and like Salt House and Town Hall, it's safe to say that the place is livelier (err, louder) than your average restaurant. 80 seats, give or take, are scattered throughout the high-ceilinged space, an auto repair shop in the early 1900s. The ownership trio designed the look themselves, with Washington's wife responsible for the fishy Darwinian mural above the 35-foot zinc bar. Sarah Schaffer, formerly of Frisson, is in the kitchen, putting her twists on lobster rolls, bacon-wrapped oysters, fancy clams and the like. Further reading on Anchor & Hope can be enjoyed in the Eater Archives.
Anchor & Hope Local Faves, Ropes Aplenty, Shacktastic
83 Minna Street, SoMa; (415) 501-9100 Open for dinner nightly, lunch weekdays; website
The return of Frjtz—the city's only "Belgian Fries, Crepes and Art Teahouse"—to Hayes Valley brings an interior vastly different from the look of the two original (and now shuttered) Frjtz locations in Ghirardelli Square and Hayes Valley. The new Frjtz, at 581 Hayes, is located right next door to the old one and continues the minimalist, sterile, ultra-modern theme put forth by its Valencia Street counterpart, which is the only other one still open. Eclectic artwork adorns the walls throughout the space, which snakes back well beyond the Hayes Street entrance into even more lounge areas rife with wooden banquettes and artsy frivolities like molded moose heads, comic book portraits and exposed pipes.
Further reading on the new Frjtz can be had at Chowhound and NFT.
Frjtz Trendy Belgians, Whiteness, Art Teahouses
581 Hayes Street, Hayes Valley; (415) 864-7654 Open daily for lunch and dinner; website
Since Mixt Greens is one of the few local restaurants to be designated a Certified Bay Area Green Business, it would make sense that the third branch of the FiDi lunch hotspot follow the greener than thou pattern set by the first two locations. The menu—and for the most part, the overall look—is pretty similar to the others, but the space is bigger and its environmental amenities are aplenty. Like the food itself, the design actually resists sacrificing style for substance. Just a few of the green features: low VOC-paint throughout, recycled plastic chairs/tabletops, special concrete flooring, and all wood finishing is FSC-certified. Plus, rumor has it that this location also has something anyone can appreciate: sandwiches.
In a very special East Bay spinoff of Eater Inside, here we have Mono. Now several weeks into dinner service, Mono is the brainchild of the husband-and-wife team of Todd Wilson and Eloisa Castillo and the latest in Oakland's steady rise to dining prominence. The space, inspired by the couple's industrial loft down the street, seats no more than a few dozen, but there's an outdoor patio for those sunny days and the seasonal menu is available at the horseshoe bar as well. With a reinvented Jack London Square area trying to make a name for itself, Mono should play a key role in bringing in new blood, and early reports have been largely positive. Given all the costs overflowing in San Francisco, we still can't help but wonder about a possible eastern migration by local restaurants.
Already holding the distinction of being the only Italian restaurant/poetry lounge in town, Poesia has its work cut out if it's going to succeed where so many others have failed: the upstairs space at 4072 18th Street. Not content with just going for a southern Italian angle, the 49-seat Poesia has tried to differentiate itself even more by taking the poetry schtick pretty far: there's that aforementioned poetry lounge, stocked bookshelves, poetry-inspired artwork, and our favorite of the lot, this little guy at the foot of the staircase, trying to entice the street-level crowd to the restaurant above. It's a small but notable operation on 18th Street, with Gregory Leon (Tapeo, Kelly's Mission Rock) in the kitchen; in the earlygoing, not a great deal of buzz has been generated outside the 'hood, so only time will tell if Poesia can turn the challenging space around.
The pretty gal you see above is Beretta, the transformed version of the Last Supper Club that opened about a fortnight ago. Chef/owner Ruggero Gadaldi is going for a simple niche: late night dining, pizza, antipasti and perhaps most buzzworthy to this point: high-profile, high-end cocktails. As for the space itself, just over 100 are seated between two stories, with 70 upstairs and 35 below; communal tables, vintage chandeliers (so hot right now?), various swirly murals and custom woodwork abound as well. Initial reports have been largely positive in the earlygoing, which suggests that the Last Supper Club, despite the reactionary mourning, is not missed by Missionites just yet. Further reading on Beretta can be had at Thrillist, Daily Candy, Chowhound and of course, in the Eater Archives.
Beretta Late Nights, Transformers, Artisan Alcohol
1199 Valencia Street, the Mission, (415) 695-1199 Open nightly for dinner and drinks; website
As you can see, the Mint Plaza sequel to Potrero Hill's Chez Papa is nothing like the rustic, traditional original bistro. Blacks and oranges dominate the 60-seat space, which more than a few media outlets have dubbed as "swanky." The high-ceilinged room features banquettes, a central communal table and a bar area. The chandeliers, glass tables, meticulous floral arrangements and such offer a decidedly Manhattan vibe, and in the kitchen, David Bazirgan is a legit cook (and onetime Chronicle rising star). As the first true restaurant to open in Mint Plaza, the success or failure of Chez Papa will likely have a big impact on the restaurant development of the plaza beyond its current role as "coffee thoroughfare." So for everyone's sake, let's hope that security guard isn't too off-putting.
All the Chez Papa coverage you can muster can be enjoyed right here.
Chez Papa Rising Stars, Orange Means Swanky, Bulow
414 Jessie Street, Mint Plaza; (415) 546-4134 Open nightly for dinner; lunch en route; website
Open now for about a week, Candybar prides itself on being San Francisco's first dessert lounge. Though at this point, we're not quite sure if this extension of the NY-LA trend of dessert lounges is a good or bad thing, there's no denying that Candybar has capitalized on a nice niche and created a very substantial buzz for itself in the early going. Preliminary reports still have the crew working out some kinks, but on the whole, everyone seems to be rooting for this one to do well. Be advised that sweets aren't the only offering, with a full wine list and savory menu also available. Between them, the pair of sweet and savory chefs boast experience from Coi, Boulevard and the French Laundry, so this little NoPa joint might be onto something.
Even though Uva Enoteca isn't scheduled to open for another few weeks, the interior is pretty much ready to go. As the brainchild of Batali vet Boris Nemchenok and Ben Hetzel (Dining Room at the Ritz), the casual Italian eatery/wine bar will feature an all-day menu of panini and antipasti, along with a wine list that will eventually surpass 200. Last we checked, the entire place is still behind psychedelic plywood, but for your visual enjoyment, The Yin managed to get inside for a little preview. Uva Enoteca's 49-seat space comes in several parts, all showcased above. Upon entering from Haight Street, it's easy to see how the place was inspired by 'inoteca; there's a small lounge area with banquette seating and several two-tops. Moving deeper into the room, you pass a marble bar en route to the brick-walled dining room in the rear. For a compare/contrast, check out the December photos to behold the three-month evolution of a restaurant space.
Uva Enoteca Wine Bars, Batali Vets, Brick in the Wall
568 Haight Street, Lower Haight; (415) 829-2024 Opening in April; website
This is the Rrazz Room, the rejuvenated cabaret club that has found its way to the lobby level of the Hotel Nikko. With the same team running the show, the Rrazz Room can be considered the reincarnation of the late Plush Room. For the last several months, the Rrazz Room has been in temporary quarters, but last week, the place opened up in its new, $1 million digs, with plenty of press from the local papers, so we had to see what the fuss was about. A 15-year lease in hand, the idea is that the Rrazz Room will challenge Yoshi's for live lounge music supremacy, but compared to the $10 million, 800-seat Yoshi's, the 190-seat Rrazz Room is just on a different scale. Sure, it has a bit of a conference-room look going, but like most good cabaret lounges, it's an intimate venue, and for some reason, it reminds us of the hotel bar in Lost in Translation.
It's no secret that San Francisco hearts its quaint neighborhood restaurants and the latest entrant on the bandwagon is L'Ardoise, Thierry Clement's ascestic French bistro in Duboce Triangle. Chef/owner Clement, who did time at Fringale, has turned the awkward Los Flamingos into a restaurant that should play well with the tree-lined, mostly residential street. Those who remember Los Flamingos will remember a long space on the bottom floor of a Victorian; L'Ardoise scatters approximately 40 seats amongst design elements like wood banquettes, baguette baskets, chalkboards and antique light fixtures. The place has apparently been packed since opening some weeks ago and the feeling we've gleaned from the buzz thus far is this: Duboce needs—and wants—a restaurant to work on that corner, so it's Clement's game to lose.
The regal socialite you see showcased above is the newest, flashiest addition to the Nob Hill scene, Le Club. The '70s nightspot has been reborn in its old space in the swanky apartment building at 1250 Jones that went on to house the likes of Charles Nob Hill and C&L Steakhouse. Todd Traina and Gina Milano's reservations-only restaurant/bar consists of four small rooms: the main bar area, a dining room, a lounge room and a (purple) billiards room. Daily Candy described the design as "your long-lost rich aunt's living room" and with all the marble, onyx, and velvet around, that description isn't far off at all. The kitchen completes the picture, matching the upscale classicism of the design by putting out items like fondue, caviar and lobster. Hate it or love it, Le Club is a place that knows exactly what it wants to be. We even spied mirrors on the ceiling and pink champagne on ice.
Opening a restaurant is, to the say the least, not easy by any means. This simple fact is further complicated when your new restaurant happens to be in the outer residential reaches of the city; such is the case with Tiziano, the new Italian restaurant in the Outer Richmond. Owned by the folks behind Breezy's and Hayes & Kebab (probably not a great sign either), Tiziano has done its best to transform the space that has seen several restaurants shuffle in and out lately, most recently the short-lived Karamanduka. The 50-seat restaurant now has a rustic Mediterranean vibe, thanks to a new paint job, ascetic tables, and of course, barrels. The menu favors Tuscany but strays elsewhere, but since opening three weeks ago, precious little has been mentioned about Tiziano on the various online sites, which isn't exactly encouraging in the grand scheme of things.
Tiziano Rustic Items, Restaurant Exile
1801 Clement Street, at 19th Ave; (415) 422-0502 Open daily for lunch and dinner
This pretty little gal is Sangha, the Glen Park brainchild of Ric Lopez. As you can tell from the photos, Sangha has evolved from its December soft opening days in more ways than one. Not only has the menu expanded significantly, but the once-minimalist space has recently been decked out with some impressive artwork—note the sculpture by the door; very Richard Serra-esque. With the space evolving into a mini-art gallery of sorts and the menu boldly doing the Japanese-Latin fusion thing (risky business in a town like San Francisco), Lopez clearly has an artistic vision for the restaurant and Glen Park, both of which can be admired, though whether it will catch on in the hamlet of Glen Park remains to be seen.
You need not look any further than the catwalk at Orson to realize that the third restaurant from Elizabeth Falkner is, in many ways, the culmination of an awful lot of creativity. Falkner, in conjunction with Sabrina Riddle, opened the new SoMa hotspot this week, and given the impressive warehouse chic space, we decided—with the help of photog Jennifer Yin—to bust out all the stops and roll out a mega-gallery edition of Eater Inside. The two-story, 10,000 square-foot space was designed entirely by Falkner and Riddle, with the focal point probably being the 30-seat oval marble bar. Dining areas and lounges are scattered throughout, so instead of rattling on about Orson, we'll let the photos do the talking. Enjoy.
Here we have a little preview of Luce and Bar888, the restaurant and bar tandem opening tomorrow in the (also new) InterContinental Hotel. Located in 130-seat, blue glass-walled space directly on the corner of Fifth and Howard, the main dining room of Luce is divided into three distinct areas, with grappa specialist Bar888 in the adjacent space, deeper inside the hotel. At Luce, the spacious, subdued vibe is somewhat reminiscent of typical hotel dining, especially when you note the booths in the back, but the decor does add a touch of unique sophistication. The real test for executive chef Dominique Crenn and her team, of course, will be luring the locals to Luce. Bar888 seems to have carved out a nice niche with its grappa angle, but we'll be curious to see if Crenn—who, we're told, is definitely skilled— can create a buzz that reaches beyond the hotel guests.
Further reading on Luce can be here and here; Thrillist has the deets on Bar888.
Luce and Bar888 Hotel Dining, Crenn, Light Balls
888 Howard Street, SoMa; (415) 616-6566 Open daily; website
The Hotel Palomar's Fifth Floor reopened last week after a month-long closure. Though the remodel, headed by Laurent Manrique, encompassed nearly all facets of the Michelin-starred restaurant, calling it a dramatic change would probably be an overstatement. Designed by the Puccini Group alongside Manrique and Manrique pal Jean Pierre Xiradakis, the 66-seat dining room itself has a few new touches—hardwood floors, red chandeliers, blue curtains (very French)—and the casual cafe/lounge area is off to the side. On the food side of things, Manrique kept the menu very fancy, with a traditional Gascon bent. Jennie Lorenzo is the chef de cuisine and Emily Wines—recent recipient of lofty master sommelier status—is the wine honcho. The restaurant is open Monday through Saturday for dinner, but the adjacent cafe is open daily for breakfast and dinner.
Fifth Floor Laurent Manrique, Remodels, Wine Masters
12 Fourth Street, SoMa; (415) 348-1555 Restaurant Open Mon-Sat for Dinner; website
Even though the impressive space and design of Coffee Bar may suggest otherwise, there's little denying that deservedly so or not, in the spectrum of recently-opened gourmet coffee cafes, Coffee Bar is playing the role of David to Blue Bottle Cafe's Goliath. Though there are surely myriad differences between the two, the pair is nonetheless leading the charge of the gourmet coffee cafe. Coffee Bar, the NEMIZ project from Luigi Di Ruocco of Mr. Espresso and Jason Michael Paul, is the product of a build-out from a former loading dock and the space's industrial lineage is clear. Most design amenities have been custom-made, including the large backlit photo and nearly all the wood furniture. Upstairs (pictured, above) is the main seating area and downstairs is the barista station, offering single-origin coffees, beer, wine, cafe fare, a special evening menu and the like:
Coffee Bar NEMIZ, Luigi!, Biblical Metaphors
1890 Bryant Street, The Mission Open Mon-Sat 7am to 10 pm; website
Not too many venues can lay claim to being an upscale burger lounge, but that's pretty much exactly what Horizon is. Housed on the stripclub-laden stretch of Broadway, just off Columbus, Horizon is the brainchild of consulting chef Ola Fendert (Oola, Local) and exec chef Ivan Tam. Though a build-your-own burger menu is the main focus, other offerings are available as well. The flashy 130-seat space is divided in two: a dining area and a lounge area, with the bar enveloping both. As the Broadway evening hours progress (open until 2am), the lounge side of Horizon begins to dominate the space, and you begin to see what Fendert and co. had/have in mind when it comes to making the place work in that "illustrious" area.
Horizon Fancy Burgers, Ola Fendert, Late Nights
498 Broadway, North Beach; (415) 576-1118 Open nightly 5pm-2am; website
When Moose's reopened at the beginning of December after a quick sabbatical, it revealed plenty of changes. Seemingly overnight, Moose's switched from one of the myriad classic white tablecloth (read: boring) North Beach restaurants to a modernized version of itself in its attempt to appeal to new, broader demographic. The complete redesign, headed by Michael Brennan (Circa, Cortez), really seizes on several—ok, most—of the "hot" industry concepts du jour: a 20-seat communal table, lounge area, half-bottle wine offerings and a sustainable menu by new chef Travis Flood that features 2007 trends pork belly and short ribs.
Please do feel free to share your thoughts on the new Moose's. Did the redesign do Moose's well? Did it need to be changed? Are you glad to see a restaurant break away from its stasis or do you wish they would have ignored the list of trends?
Leading the Dogpatch's charge to become the next hot neighborhood is Serpentine, the first offshoot of Mariposa Street's popular Slow Club. Serpentine's likeness to its parent is evident throughout, from the industrial interior to the no-reservations policy to Chris Kronner's menu (right down to the Prather Ranch burger). Of course, these similarities provoke yet another similarity to Slow Club: immense popularity, which means that for time being, you'll have to saddle up to the Serpentine bar (or Yield's across the street) while you wait for your non-reserved table. Questions to consider: what will be Serpentine's role in the evolution of the Dogpatch? Will it become a neighborhood favorite (say, like Slow Club) or a city-wide hot spot (a la SPQR)? Will the Serpentine brass cave and start taking reservations? And will they ever turn on the heat?
As you can tell by the above exterior shot, things aren't quite complete at Kabuki Kitchen on the corner of Post and Fillmore, but rest assured the mega-project is close to completion and still slated to debut Friday. Surely you remember all the details, but if not, here they are: there will be three separate dining/drinking venues within the remodeled movie theater, all under the control of Boulevard vet Vincent Schofield. The top floor of the new cinema will house a casual bistro eatery. On the second floor, there will be a self-contained bar, and pictured above is the adjacent, street-level restaurant. Of the three, the restaurant has the most ways to go in this final week, but lucky for you, while exploring the new theater, the kids over at Curbed also took a look inside the (quite picturesque) bistro and bar areas. Their mass of findings follows:
Kabuki Kitchen Movie Food, Sneak Peeks, Bamboo Things
1865 Post, The Fillmore; (415) 409-6878 Opens Friday the 14th; website
The rise of the izakaya seems to be in full force and will only strengthen with the arrival of O Izakaya Lounge. We were fortunate enough to take a peek inside yesterday and the place looks just about ready to get off the ground as early as next Monday (stay tuned for updates). Set in the ground floor of the Hotel Kabuki, there's a heavy emphasis on Japanese baseball, as evidenced by the custom-made decorations adorning the walls and windows of the place, not to mention nine (?) flat-screen televisions that will broadcast sporting events from across the Pacific. Some sushi dishes will be present on the menu but it will center around the traditional izakaya fare. Baseball + alcohol + gourmet pub grub - douchey sports bar = happiness.
O Izakaya Lounge Trend Watch, Japanese Baseball, Sneak Peeks
1625 Post Street, Japantown; (415) 922-3200 Opening Early November
A recurring feature, Eater Inside showcases the interior space of high-profile, recently-opened restaurants. James Newman, 10/25/07
Sitting right on Market, Frisee is a curious case in more ways than one. It's a project from the brother tandem of Brett and Nathan Niebergall, and the very hip place could even be classified on looks alone as semi-upscale. But it's a quick-service salad-centric restaurant. Not unlike at Squat & Gobble, customers order at the counter and then a wait person delivers the food. Prices are high for salads and the like, yet the quality of ingredients is more than evident. The decor—modern art adorns the upstairs walls and furniture is very Design Within Reach—is flashy for a salad restaurant, and given the Castro's plethora of neighborhood cafes, we can't help but wonder if/how Frisee will evolve into something more (or less, for that matter). Granted, it's doing quite well since opening last week—good-sized crowds have been reported daily—but it's straddling the line between trendy restaurant with tons of potential and salad cafe with tons of potential. Can it be both?
Frisee Super Salads, Mod is Hot, Indecision
2367 Market St, The Castro; (415) 558-1616 Open for lunch and dinner daily; website
A recurring feature, Eater Inside showcases the interior space of high-profile, recently-opened restaurants. James Newman, 10/23/07
From the moment you walk into the small 42-seat dining room at Fish & Farm, you notice the decor: teal walls, plush dark brown booths and "barn-chic" room accents ranging from whitewashed oars to a giant clockface. Usually such a motley of ... stuff makes for an odd design, but for the most part, Fish & Farm's teal room works. Designer Sheri Sheridan, who also did Salt House, aims to convey a sense of neighborhood, and for the locally-sourced restaurant nestled in the hotel, it does feel quite comfortable. The only odd part? The (quite drab) bar area—where you can enjoy the dinner menu in its entirety—is literally part of the hotel lobby, completely removed from the cozy dining room and its singular design.
Fish & Farm Hotel Dining, Locavores, Tealness
339 Taylor St, Union Square; (415) 474-3474 Open for dinner T-Su; website
A recurring feature, Eater Inside showcases the interior space of high-profile, recently-opened restaurants. Today, to Bernal Heights we go. James Newman, 10/17/07
Here we have Tinderbox, the 40-seat "experimental American bistro" tucked away on the edge of town in the rapidly-changing Bernal Heights neighborhood. Having just nabbed a pair of stars this week, owners/chefs Ryan Russell and Blair Warsham have to be happy with their first months of business. They are taking a lot of chances, from an ambitious menu to a space that has seen two restaurants fold in the last year or so. The aforementioned menu borders on eclectic and playful, with dishes like a rabbit hot pocket or a grilled avocado cutlet. For Bernal Heights residents, it's a fun, neighborhoody place, and for the rest of us, it's an excuse to venture into the quickly-ascending Bernal Heights. And the chocolate cake with a molten blue cheese center and pistachio ice cream is most certainly worth a try.
A recurring feature, Eater Inside showcases the interior space of high-profile, recently-opened restaurants. Christine Kesler, 10/16/07
Only in San Francisco could a celebrity chef like Australia's Luke Mangan sneak in under the radar. Mangan's first venture onto American soil, appropriately dubbed South, calls itself a modern restaurant and wine bar "showcasing the best of food and wine from Australia and New Zealand." And a showcase is really what it is; South's ModOz style bears a strong similarity to what we know as California cuisine: strong, simple flavors spurred by fresh ingredients. Since opening two weeks ago, the 50-seat eatery/drinkery has kept the desolate stretch of Townsend Street abuzz nearly every night, which, given the restaurant's pedigree, should come as no surprise. The added bonus: in a rarity for the city, parking is abundant.
A recurring feature, Eater Inside showcases the interior space of high-profile, recently-opened restaurants, or in this case, an under-the-radar Mission newbie. Christine Kesler, 9/26/07
Opening the same weekend as A16 offspring SPQR, Lolo had the fortune to debut a bit under wraps. The element of mystery surrounding the tiny Mission restaurant may have worked out well for owners Lorena Zerpuche, husband Jorge Martinez and Merdol Erkal. Curious folks (including Eater) around town soon launched into full investigation modes; in fact, Lolo has now become "that" hidden Mission gem du jour. Zerpuche and co. borrow heavily from both Mexican and Turkish cuisines, though in the end, it's a local-ingredient menu. The small interior, believe it or not, matches the cuisine: a hodgepodge of colorful elements that oddly work well in the right context. Like SPQR, no reservations are taken.
Lolo Mission Gems, Hipsters, Color Explosions
3234 22nd St, the Mission; (415) 643-5656 Open daily for dinner except Tue
A recurring feature brought to you with the help of Christine Kesler, Eater Inside showcases the interior space of high-profile, recently-opened restaurants. Christine Kesler, 9/29/07
Simply put, Spruce is all the rage. Since opening in Laurel Heights about two months ago, it's been one of tougher—if not the toughtest—tickets in town, and for good reason. In a city that rarely mixes stunning interiors with ethereal fare, Spruce is an anomaly. Exposed brick walls and lofty ceilings are accentuated by a skylight slicing through the center of the dining room. Dark walnut furniture makes for an elegant fine dining experience matched by Executive Chef Mark Sullivan's very farm-friendly New American/Californian menu. Some tips for sidestepping the madness surrounding Spruce at dinnertime: the bar serves the full menu and the dining room is now open for lunch during the week. And if you plan to brave dinner, best of luck. The next OpenTable dinner resy is for October 14th, coincidentally the same day Bauer will drop his review on the city's newest hotspot. Anyone have preliminary thoughts on the number of stars for Spruce?
Spruce A Neighborhood Myth, Anomalies, Mark Sullivan
3640 Sacramento St, Laurel Heights; (415) 931-5100 Open daily for dinner, weekdays for lunch; website
