Traci Des Jardins Opening Second Presidio Restaurant

It's only been three days since Traci des Jardins' new Presidio restaurant, The Commissary, opened its doors, but the nationally renowned chef (who's also behind Jardiniére, Public House, and Mijita) is already signing on for a sequel. As Inside Scoop reports, The Presidio Trust has given Des Jardins the keys to the restaurant space at the historic Presidio Officers' Club, where she'll open Arguello, a new Mexican restaurant and bar.

Just as The Commissary pays tribute to the Presidio's Spanish history, Arguello, named for the first Mexican governor of California who led the Presidio after independence from Spain, will pay tribute to its Mexican heritage. The plan is for the project to sprawl across 118 seats, including a 22-seat bar and 44-seat protected, heated patio. It'll offer a more upscale, sit-down conception of Mexican than Des Jardins' fast-casual Mijita outposts (though lunch is intended to be more accessible, to encourage tourist visits). The intent is to wedge the price point and the cuisine somewhere between Mijita and Jardiniére, with seasonally rotating, produce-inspired dishes that offer a modern take. Like The Commissary, it'll have a full bar, so expect to enjoy a margarita or two on that patio.

The Officers' Club, the site of the original Spanish colonization in 1776, is one of San Francisco's most historic spaces (and allegedly one of its most haunted; an episode of Ghost Hunters was shot there). It's getting an overall revamp into a "multifaceted cultural destination," with exhibitions, interactive galleries, archaeological digs, and event spaces, all of them free and open to the public. The plan is for both it and Arguello to open sometime this fall.

· Presidio Officers' Club getting new Traci Des Jardins restaurant [Inside Scoop]
· Traci Des Jardins' The Commissary Arrives in the Presidio [~ ESF ~]
· Traci Des Jardins Launching New Presidio Restaurant [~ ESF ~]