More on Le Bordeaux, North Beach's New French Thing

Lots more has trickled in about Le Bordeaux, the new French restaurant gearing up to open next month(ish) in North Beach. The owner is 28-year-old Sylvain Castet, who ran a restaurant in Bordeaux, France for six years. He and his girlfriend Famy decided to sell the business, see the world and open a new restaurant in San Francisco. So here they are next to Don Pistos on Union St., working their way through our lovely restaurant permitting and licensing systems.

Castet says the dining format will center around an unlimited French buffet. Diners will pay a set price, then dig into a selection of traditional French dishes. Things like poached eggs cooked in crème de brie and beef cut to-order will be made with a combination of local products and French imports. Castet is leveraging his established relationships in France to bring in foie, cheeses, and over 100 wines from all over France to be stored in his expansive wine cave. They are tossing around the idea of a prix fixe menu. And there will definitely be Bourgogne fondue, bits of raw beef served family style and cooked in oil at the table. French bread, pastries, macarons, etc. will be made in house.

The dining area will encompass two connected rooms, holding a total of 56 seats and a working fireplace. For the design, they're going for something "between rustic and modern" with lots of wood. So why San Francisco? Castet has friend here, who tell him the food sensibility is a lot like that in France. So far, he says, he's fallen in love with the city.

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