SOMA—The second half of February will see the new InterContinental San Francisco opening at 888 Howard Street; with its arrival will come a new restaurant within called Luce. Headed by chef Dominique Crenn (most recently of Abode in Los Angeles), Luce will be a "casual-elegant Californian-Italian brasserie." Since leaving Abode back in October, Crenn spent some weeks in Tuscany, studying the cuisine and the wine. The dining room will seat 130, plus a private dining room, bar and lounge. As required by San Francisco law, the fare will emphasize the farm-to-table connection, and she's already gotten friendly with several local farmers. Wine will also be a concentration at Luce. Elsewhere in the InterContinental will be a bar called Bar 888, where Crenn says there will be a focus on grappa, a full cocktail menu, among others. [EaterWire]
SOMA—The Laurent Manrique era is ready to dawn on the Fifth Floor, with the restaurant slated to close for a month: "Fifth Floor is getting ready to close for renovations on January 21st. The eatery is slated to reopen on February 18th with a completely new concept under the auspices of consulting chef Laurent Manrique (Aqua) and his culinary team." [ZagatBuzz]
