Trestle Team Trying to Take Over Civic Center With Two New 'Corridor' Concepts at 100 Van Ness

With the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, SF Jazz Center, SF Symphony and SF Opera all within a few block radius, that’s a lot of pre-theater dining potential. And Hi Neighbor Restaurant Group (Stones Throw, Trestle, Fat Angel) wants to capture it. The group is building out two distinct concepts on the ground floor at 100 Van Ness (the 14-floor high rise), both called Corridor. Catering to building residents will be Corridor Café, a quick service coffee shop with coffee from Los Angeles’ Lamill and “thoughtful” sandwiches. “We actually thought through the entire process of having a sandwich the same way someone thinks through having a fine dining dish,” partner Ryan Cole said. “One of my biggest pet peeves is when you pick up a sandwich and it’s clear the people making it don’t care because the entire thing slides out the back or it’s soggy.” Cole anticipates the over 1,000 residents of the building, plus others from nearby high rises, heading to Corridor Café for their morning coffee. “I’ve watched the residents go out and get coffee and walk back because they need somewhere to go. It seemed a natural fit,” Cole said.

Corridor, the “finer dining” restaurant, will be doing lots at once to bring in as many people as possible. Cole said they’re focusing on pre-theater, post-theater, residents and locals. “Imagine you spent $200 on symphony or opera tickets and you need a place to go that doesn’t have to be to the nines, but you’re not trying to go and slum it either,” he explained. “You’re catering it to people who have that high-end taste, but don’t have the time because they’re constrained by a show.” On the flip side, he also wants the restaurant to be ready for nights when “Taylor Swift could come to Bill Graham and you have tons of teenagers, so it’s all different types of people.” To cater to that theater crowd, the food will be more composed plates than you see at Stones Throw or Trestle, and with healthier options from chef Jason Halverson. For 100 Van Ness residents, Corridor will have house accounts and quick take-out options. “It’s room service, essentially,” Cole said. “They can just pick up something to go that’s a packaged meal for two or four people, and they can just charge it to the house account and not have to pay.”

Cole said prices at Corridor will be less expensive than Stones Throw, but they’re still working out the details. Hi Neighbor is hoping to debut the two new spots in “winter 2015,” be that December or February. Stay tuned for more details.