Fall Preview of San Francisco Restaurant Scene

For those who are waiting with baited breathe for the fall to arrive in San Francisco, fear not, it’s coming. And along with the potentially better-weathered days there are also a fine group of new restaurants and bars to look forward to.

Some of the upcoming locations come from established chefs who have been under the radar for the past few years and some come from first-time restaurateurs who are hoping to get their feet wet in a city that has more restaurants per capita than anywhere else in the U.S. Regardless of who is opening the restaurants, take a look at what is in store for the San Francisco dining scene.

State Bird Provisions: Nicole Krasinski and Stuart Brioza are former Rubicon chefs who have spent the past few years starting their family and building their private catering company. Out of the catering company came their specialty: dim-sum-style hors d’oeuvres parties where a variety of unique bits and small dishes are passed around. These parties sparked the idea for the concept for their new restaurant, State Bird Provisions, which is slated to open in November at 1529 Fillmore Street.

Park Tavern: One of the most anticipated openings of the year is Park Tavern coming from chef-partner Jennifer Puccio and owner Anna Weinberg. The restaurant will be located in a high North Beach space on Washington Square Park and was formally known as Moose’s then briefly Joey & Eddie’s. The location has been undergoing a major makeover to brighten and urbanize the space with white tile floors, black subway tiles on the walls and big wagon-wheel chandeliers. The kitchen will be larger allowing Puccio to expand on her seafood dishes and the rest of the menu will reflect Puccio’s California-French cuisine. The restaurant is expected to open its doors on September 1.

Central Kitchen/Salumeria: One of the biggest openings in the Mission, Central Kitchen and adjacent Salumeria come to San Fransico courtesy of David White, David Steele and chef Thomas McNaughton, of Flour+Water fame. Central Kitchen will be a unique, mutable, ever-changing concept with themed dinners centered around a farmer, animal, winemaker, guest chef or whatever McNaughton thinks of on any given day. Salumeria will be a more Old-World-style deli.

Keiko à Nob Hill:

Former owners of El Paseo in Mill Valley, Seigo Takei and wife Keiko Takahashi, will be opening this restaurant at 1250 Jones Street. The opening date is still unknown but Chef Takahashi is expected to do something similar to what she was doing at El Paseo when she earned a Michelin star: a perfect blend of French and Japanese kaiseki styles in a semi-formal setting.

Umami Burger:

A L.A. import is expected to hit San Francisco in September when Umami Burger, which GQ named Burger of the Year in 2010, opens on 2184 Union Street. Owner Adam Fleischman announced his expansion plans in early 2011 and the first San Fran location will be in Cow Hollow but more are planned for the Mission and Oakland areas.

AQ: First-time restaurateur, Matt Semmelhack, is hitting the ground running releasing menu and building a full-fledged website nearly two months prior to the anticipated opening. Semmelhack has teamed with former La Folie chef de cuisine Mark Liberman to bring their version of seasonal, “affordable fine dining” to SoMa. The interior will feature high ceilings and a lot of exposed brick. AQ is expected to open by late October.

Source and Photos: Grub Street San Francisco