ZAGATBUZZ
San Francisco Edition

November 29, 2007

Trend Watch: Condo Cuisine

High-rise dining is on the rise in San Francisco as a flurry of heavy-hitting restaurateurs race to open signature eateries in a spate of yet-to-be-built luxury condominiums.

After months of rumors, it looks like Zagat topper Gary Danko has heeded the siren call and will open a more relaxed restaurant - his second, just blocks away from his eponymous flagship - in the forthcoming Fairmont Heritage Place in the newly refurbished Ghirardelli Square (along with other new entrants like Cellar 360). The yet-to-be-named, 150-seat brasserie and cafe will serve à la carte fare, complemented by an all-day American bar menu conceived as "a cross between a diner and seafood bar." There will also be outdoor dining on the Fountain Plaza level of the Square. If anyone can lure hungry San Francisco residents to the traditionally tourist-ridden neighborhood it's Danko, who's bravely accepted "the challenge of designing a bar and restaurant with simple good food and wine, in a place where locals may typically have not visited in years."

Over at the 22-story Soma Grand (1160 Mission St), the forthcoming luxury condo complex run by Joie de Vivre Hospitality, Charles Phan of The Slanted Door and Out the Door has signed on to open a 125-seat restaurant serving both building residents and the public. As of now the cuisine of the new venue, slated for next year, is undisclosed but Phan has said it will be a departure from his other Vietnamese juggernauts.

Meanwhile, tireless restaurateur Michael Mina (who has prospective projects in places as far flung as Costa Rica) and his longtime wine director Rajat Parr have announced intentions to open RN74, a casual, moderately priced French-American restaurant and wine bar named after the main thoroughfare in Burgundy. It's set to debut in the still-under-construction 60-story Millennium Tower (301 Mission St.), which isn't supposed to be finished until spring 2009. In the meantime, they've tapped AvroKO, the design team responsible for the seasonally changing Park Avenue Winter in NYC, to dream up the interior.

- Meesha Halm