Crystal Jade Sets November Opening at Embarcadero Center

The first-ever U.S. outpost of international megachain Crystal Jade, which has more than 100 locations across Singapore, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, South Korea, and pretty much every other Asian country, is finally ready to pop. After 18 months of zipped lips and an acquisition by luxury group LVMH that further delayed matters, the restaurant, to be called Crystal Jade Jiang Nan, has announced an opening date of November 18 at Four Embarcadero Center.

Crystal Jade took an enormous space for their American debut, with a whopping 16,000 square feet indoors and 4,000 square feet outdoors, and they've apparently spared no expense, hiring Ken Fulk (The Cavalier, The Battery) to oversee a $14 million renovation. The culinary focus will be Cantonese food, with xiao long bao, seafood chowder, wood-oven-roasted duck, and other favorites; the restaurant boasts that it will have "35 culinary professionals" overseeing the kitchen.

The 200-seat dining room will feature river-washed stone floors, English Regency furniture, and chinoiserie wallpaper, while the Liu Ling bar (named for a Chinese poet who wrote a famous ode to wine) will have full liquor, mahogany walls and a silk canopy meant to evoke a ship. Singapore To-Go, a casual takeaway counter, will offer quick options for local office types at lunchtime. And, of course, they'll have plenty of private-event and banquet spaces. We'll have a full gallery of the project, plus more menu info, on opening day.