Crystal Jade Jiang Nan, the splashy, $14 million Cantonese restaurant that opened in the Financial District four years ago, is closing this Saturday, June 30.
It was the first US outpost from the Singapore-based restaurant group Crystal Jade Culinary Concept, which is owned by L Capital Asia (a branch of Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton), and it opened in 2014 with a bang, in a 20,000-square-foot space. The restaurant featured a 200-seat dining room, bar and lounge, 4,000-square-foot terrace, multiple private dining rooms, and luxurious interior design from Ken Fulk. The menu included extravagant options like whole roasted pig, live lobster and crabs, whole peking ducks, and more.
Unfortunately, things got off to a rocky start, with critics panning the food, service, and astronomical prices. According to the restaurant, however, those opening pains were cleared up, and the decision to close the restaurant is unrelated (despite a three-star average out of 730 Yelp reviews): The lease has been sold to another (unnamed) restaurant group, after it approached Crystal Jade with a deal.
A representative from the restaurant tells the SF Chronicle that selling the lease makes way for expansion plans on the East and West coasts, and that opening another SF restaurant isn’t off the table.
In the meantime, restaurant’s last night of service is June 30, though it will be available for private dinners through July as the sale is completed. Stay tuned for what very specific and huge restaurant might move into the Four Embarcadero building.