This is Hangover Observations, where we share our thoughts on last night, the night that was.
We had the good fortune to attend a sneak preview of 1300, the upscale soul food behemoth opening this Thursday. Here are some early thoughts on the first splash in the community extravaganza that is the Fillmore Heritage redevelopment project.
1) 1300 is huge: a 136-seat main dining room with band playing, a bar area, a separate lounge area, and a glass-encased, 25-seat private dining room. The acoustics were surprisingly quite nice, with the live jazz band comfortably reverberating throughout the space. Only cause for concern: as with all big spaces, if it's not crowded, it will look empty.
2) A good chunk of the Fillmore Heritage project's $74 mill was put into the design elements. We can't even imagine what Yoshi's will look like (more on that later in the week).
3) They were not kidding when they said they were reclaiming San Francisco's jazz history. It's like Charlie Parker's photo album exploded into the lounge are (note: not necessarily a bad thing).
4) It's got to be an encouraging sign when uninvited passers-by are trying to get a look inside.
5) Speaking of the exterior, the phrase "a plywooded Parthenon" came to mind.
· 1300 [Official Site]
· Fillmore Heritage [Official Site]
