One of New York's most famous restaurants, Tavern on the Green, is now getting a new branch all the way across the country. Tavern on the Green will be opening a massive 40,000-square-foot restaurant at San Francisco's Metreon. The restaurant will be on the the top floor, with an outdoor terrace overlooking Yerba Buena Gardens. The restaurant will have the same luxurious style that makes Tavern on the Green a popular tourist destination in New York with chandeliers, murals and art.
The new Tavern on the Green will focus on catering and special events. Brian Young, the former chef de cuisine of the three-star Michelin restaurant Le Bernardin and executive chef at Citarella the Restaurant, has been hired as executive chef. The restaurant is expected to open during summer 2009 and will focus on contemporary American with an emphasis on local ingredients and wine selections. The restaurant is closely identified with New York and with more formal fine dining than casual California is often used to, it will be interesting to see how they adapt the concept to the West Coast crowd.
If you've been waiting to get a taste of the much revered wine from Burgundy but through lack of opportunity or funding you have missed out, do not delay your registration for Le Paulée Grand Burgundy tasting taking place in San Francisco on March 1st. Although $300 to attend, the long list of current releases available that day will treat your passion for wine to an event it will never forget. If you have a penchant for vintage Burgundy, than by all means, sign up for the Gala Dinner following the evening tasting, but it will cost you more. Typically an event for New Yorkers, west coast oenophiles will be delighted by the return of the Burgundies and a most memorable event for its second year.
I don't describe too many homes as romantic but looking at the pictures for this one, that's the word that first sprung to mind. Now this could be because I have certain romantic associations with Nob Hill in San Francisco (and specifically with the Nob Hill Inn) but I think it's the house. This stately home was built in 1915 in the flourishy Beaux Arts style. It has four bedrooms and has a beautifully extravagant redesign by interior designer Paul Wiseman that relies on a palette of creams and whites with rich golden tones. The home has private offices, a wine cellar and a "pentroom" on the roof terrace that offers beautiful San Francisco views. It is listed at $7.9 million.
Celebrity chef Tyler Florence is opening his first restaurant. San Francisco boutique hotel company Personality Hotels has signed a deal with the Food Network chef to open a restaurant in Hotel Vertigo (currently the York Hotel). The 97-room York Hotel is currently undergoing a $5 million renovation and will be renamed Hotel Vertigo this summer, after Alfred Hitchcock's 1958 classic thriller staring James Stewart and Kim Novak (Novak's character lived in the York Hotel during the last half of the film). Florence's restaurant will also open this summer.
This stately home in the Pacific Heights area of San Francisco hit the market earlier this month. The Neo-Classic mansion sits high on a hill and was designed by Houghton Sawyer in 1912 for sugar baron Adolph Spreckels and his wife Alma, as their first residence. The five-bedroom mansion has Bay views and has been retrofitted for seismic integrity. The pictures reveal that in many areas the original wood work and beautiful moldings have been retained. As faithful readers know, I love a good library and this one is a beauty with a fireplace and plenty of shelves. The kitchen seems less than inspired, it looks like it belongs in some other home, certainly not a home worth this much money. And, while I'm finding fault, I can't understand why someone would take a home like this and then install little round ceiling lights. I like light as much as the next person but in a home with good bones like this, modern round lights set flush into the ceiling are an abomination. This home is listed at $25 million. Zillow's zestimate is screamingly off here, they've got it at close to $4 million.
The Mission Armory in San Francisco has become quite a racy place. The San Francisco Chronicle reports that porn producer Peter Acworth, who bought the 93-year-old Mission Armory and turned it into a porn video studio, has now approached the city Planning Department with an idea to create "kinky condos." The condos would be wired with webcams so that people could peep in for a fee. So far Acworth hasn't confirmed that he is using the property for anything but a film studio and that the proposal is just one that he is considering.
At first this one didn't do it for me, too much white and beige, especially for San Francisco, which often lends itself to the quirky and colorful. Not a bad place but not one that inspired home lust. But then I saw that penthouse room. This is the place to be, a large expanse of open space that would be ideal for parties. The home, on Russian Hill, has decent views from the lower levels but it is the top floor that truly dazzles, with views that include the Golden Gate bridge, the Palace of Fine Arts and the bay. The home is designed with staff quarters/office space on the bottom level, dining room, living room and kitchen on the main level, two bedrooms and a sunroom on the third level. The next level given over to the master suite and a master study. The master level has built-in library shelving and the master bedroom is also media-ready with a pull-down screen. The spa-like master bath, includes marble stonework, a two-person shower, bidet and a Jacuzzi tub with a view. This home is listed at $5.85 million.
If you've created one of the most successful clothing companies in the world what do you do for a follow-up project? How about giving your hometown a huge art museum. Donald Fisher, the founder of the Gap has revealed the plans for the contemporary art museum he wants to build in San Francisco's Presidio. Fisher's ambitious plan calls for a two-story, 100,000-square-foot modern structure on the crest of the Parade Ground of the former military base that in 1994 became a national park. The design is composed of white masonry interspersed with glass that will allow people outside to view some of the art within. Fisher is one of the top collectors of contemporary art and the museum would house his collection.
As the San Francisco Chronicle reports, this is not the only proposal for the Presidio. A rival museum plans comes from the Presidio Historical Association which has proposed a 48,000-square-foot "History Center of the Golden Gate." Their building idea is quite different, a more traditional structure that will explore the culture of the American West. The Presidio Historical Association asserts that their structure fits the surroundings and is the proper choice for the already historic Presidio whereas a contemporary art museum could go anywhere.
Fisher's proposal also would add exhibit space on the Parade Ground, and restore one of the neighboring structures to offer educational space, a bookstore, art studios and office space for the main museum. Fisher really wants this spot, he has also offered to give an additional $10 million toward helping to landscape the area. The Presidio Trust directors are expected to choose one of the proposal at the start of next year.
Yesterday's home had an artsy look but today's home in San Francisco takes the idea even further with a two-story working artists studio and a 50'x 125' plus mezzanine working artists studio space with separate entrance and industrial roll up door all in this cool building that has the look of an airport hangar. There is also a home here with three bedrooms a gourmet kitchen, large living room, an office with a private studio and fountain, two sun decks and an enclosed interior patio. The home is over 15,000 square feet and is listed at $6.9 million.
Our reader Kate tipped me off to this home which might just be the clutter capital of San Francisco. I know a little something about clutter, having helped my mother throw the estate sale of a lifetime after the sale of her house but this one, this one just amazes me. The listing deals with the situation in classic realtorspeak saying "an opportunity awaits" and "bring some tlc and your interior design skills." The thing is, they are right. There is a beautiful five-bedroom home here, it's just buried in stuff, in pictures and street signs and really bad wallpaper. We are talking theme bathrooms here people (frogs in one, sunflowers in another). There are things to love about this home which was built in 1921, it has nice fireplaces, a lovely stained glass skylight and good bones. And it is in the charming Sea Cliff neighborhood in San Francisco. It is listed at $3.6 million which is probably a bit optimistic. It will take a special spirit to walk into this house and see the potential.
The tallest residential tower in the West, One Rincon Hill is causing a bit of controversy in San Francisco. The San Francisco Chronicle covers the local controversy reporting that some find it beautiful while others think is is an "architectural atrocity." Whether you like it or hate it the 62-story tower is hard to miss. The first tower is the larger of two planned for the site. Like the Infinity, another residential complex in the area, One Rincon has a glass surface that offers residents plenty of views of the city. Amenities for the building include a garden deck with a pool, fitness center, business center and a hospitality center. The building also has a City Car Share with 4 car pod spots so residents can have a rental car whenever they need one. There is also a 24-hour doorman and concierge service. The first tower has 377 condominiums and 14 townhouses which range in price from $500,000 to over $2 million. So far just six condo units and two townhouses remain up for sale.
We picked this link up thanks to a tip directing us to the Socket Site conversation regarding this San Francisco listing. This 1880s home has been turned into a really unique modern dwelling. The decor in this house is very House & Garden, cheery, with touches of the artistic and whimsical. The home has three bedrooms, a living room that opens to a small garden and patio, a dining room, library, family room and an office. There is also a separate one-bedroom apartment and a garage. This home is listed at $3.699 million. The folks at Curbed SF reveal that the current owner paid $3.5 million over a year ago. The renovation here is absolutely gorgeous but the size of the home and the jumble of rooms may put some buyers off. After the jump, color glorious color.
I've covered a lot of organic wines in the past, now residents of San Francisco can get all their "green" wines in one place. Yield Wine Bar is perhaps the first exclusively green wine bar. The wine list has 60 wines and a light menu that features organic and sustainable foods. Not all of the wines are certifiably organic or biodynamic but they are all environmentally friendly, made by wineries that are committed to the practice of organic, biodynamic or sustainable agriculture.
The Infinity, a luxury condo complex in San Francisco, is gearing up for occupancy next year. The complex, composed of two glass towers in the South of Market district, has views of the Bay Bridge and the San Francisco skyline. The modern exterior calls for a modern interior and so Dwell magazine has invited readers to submit design proposals for the chance to design for one of the three main floor plans for the complex. The design budget for each unit is $75,000 and all furnishings must be good to go by November 30. Amenities in the complex include a 5,000-square-foot fitness center with saunas, a lap pool, screening room, club lounge, and business center. There are a few units left and prices seem to hover in the $1 million range with some a bit lower (SocketSite has been obsessively following the doings at Infinity and has lots of great information).
