Explore the Designs for Birdsong, a Portal to the Pacific Northwest in the Old AQ Space

Eagerly-awaited SoMa restaurant Birdsong from former Atelier Crenn chef de cuisine Chris Bleidorn will start channeling the Pacific Northwest early next year. Though Birdsong was among Eater SF’s most highly-anticipated openings this fall, with delays, that anticipation has been extended into the winter. For now, renderings from architecture and interior design firm Studio SAINT provide a sneak peek: Take a look.

The new restaurant, which will offer a 12-course tasting menu or items from an la carte menu, is headed to 1085 Mission Street in Soma. That location was formerly occupied by AQ, a critical darling upon its 2012 opening that closed in 2015 as diners lost interest and costs rose.

The redesigned space plays into Bleidorn’s vision of a restaurant inspired by the Pacific Northwest. The chef, who also brings experience from the kitchens at Benu, Alinea, and Saison, will play off ingredients like cold water shellfish, wild game, mushrooms, and berries.

Studio SAINT

Studio SAINT

To fuel open-fire preparations, Alec Bauer from Kitchen Restaurant + Bar Special has designed a custom suite of ovens for Birdsong. The whole kitchen is wide open, with the chefs counter facing in.

Downstairs are two private dining rooms for groups of 14 or 30. One dining room peers into the wine cellar, with its bottles from European wine regions plus Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia. That room also offers a view into a glass-enclosed meat hanger, so get ready to cut into dry-aged meats — using custom-redwood handled knives from Oregon’s Wildlife cutlery, of course.

Even the prominently displayed cast-iron pans in the kitchen will come from the PNW, courtesy of Seattle’s Blu Skillet Ironware. That said, the wood filling the dining room (like Douglas Fir floors) will arrive from Northern California, and San Francisco furniture designer Jeremiah Collection will do carpentry and wood finishes in the space.

Studio SAINT

• Former AQ Space Will Become Birdsong, a Celebration of the Pacific Northwest [ESF]