Treasure Island’s Military-Grade, Comfort Food Restaurant Hits the Deck in October

Treasure Island, a hunk of manmade land in the middle of the Bay, holds slightly less treasure than the name implies. However, it will soon add a restaurant to the very small number of eateries it harbors: Mersea will open in late October, serving upscale comfort food from chef Parke Ulrich and co-founder/investor MeeSun Boice.

Ulrich has plenty of experience at restaurants with valuable views, having most recently leading the kitchens at Waterbar and Epic Steak on San Francisco’s Embarcadero. Those restaurants looked out at Treasure Island and the Bay Bridge; now he’ll be facing the opposite direction, with just a little less foot traffic. His menu will include some signatures, like a wagyu cheeseburger and clam chowder, alongside some Asian and Latin flavors like pozole, and togarashi popcorn.

The restaurant itself is composed of recycled shipping containers on one of the main roads that circles the little island, which clocks in at just under one square mile. Designed by a Treasure Island neighbor, Mavrik Studios, the industrial design extends to the kitchen, which is composed of three shipping containers. The kitchen itself is a Field Food Service System (FFSS), a mobile “military-grade” kitchen. It’s apparently capable of serving 1,700 meals per day in “even the harshest weather conditions,” which is probably a good idea these days. Floor-to-ceiling windows are also part of the design, which hinges on a rarefied view of San Francisco’s twinkling lights across the Bay.

Mersea

In addition to a couple wineries and Woods Island Club, the island is also home to the Treasure Island Homeless Development Initiative (TIHDI), whose goal is “to build a new San Francisco neighborhood that includes formerly homeless and low income people from the ground up and to develop an integrated and healthy community comprised of people from all socioeconomic backgrounds.” Mersea is partnering with the group to train members of that community, and ultimately hire them.

Mersea will open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner at 699 Avenue of Palms in late October; stay tuned for more.