Natural Wine Bar With Supper Club Roots Pops Up in the Tenderloin

Stag Dining started off organizing one of San Francisco’s earliest underground dining series, and now it has emerged with a brick-and-mortar venue and weekly wine bar in the Tenderloin.

The creators of the Clandestine Supper Club opened Cerf Club (925 O’Farrell Street) in November as a base for catering, private events, and Stag’s own collaborations with chefs and winemakers. Since then, Cerf Club has hosted a handful of public events, but tonight, it kicks off the first in a weekly opportunity for folks to check out what Stag is all about: Après, a wine bar popping up every Friday from 4 to 10 p.m.

At Après, Stag chefs Jordan Grosser and Ted Fleury will prepare a rotating menu of savory and sweet snacks like crispy Brussels sprouts with ginger-scallion oil, shichimi, and blood orange; grilled mussels on toast with roasted garlic-miso aioli; and warm chocolate chip cookies with salt. (See tonight’s menu below.) Eric Quilty is behind the barrel-aged low-ABV cocktails, with sake, beer, and wine also available.

The beverage highlight, however, is likely the natural wines from Cerf Club’s own label, which reflect Californian terroir with influences from the Rhône and Provence regions of France. Those house wines are produced in partnership with winemakers like Chris Christensen of Bodkin, Alex Pomerantz of Subject to Change, and Jordan Kivelstadt of Kivelstadt Cellars.

It all goes down in Cerf Club’s 1,650-square-foot, open, and airy space. It boasts a neutral color palette, a custom-built bar by industry vet Ethan Terry, distinctive wood art by Nolan Restivo of Portland’s Juncture Woodworks, and wares from Heath Ceramics. Expect to see more events — guest chef dinners, cookbook parties, and so forth — to crop up beyond Après.

David Dines

David Dines

David Dines

David Dines

• Cerf Club [Official]