Haute Cuisine, Haute Scene | January 17, 2018

New Castro Restaurant Botellón Opens With Flashy Party

Haute Cuisine, Haute Scene | January 17, 2018

By Katie Sweeney

If you follow San Francisco’s local luminaries on Instagram, chances are you had a little FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) last night. Everyone who is anyone was in one place: the opening of a new restaurant called Botellón. Located on Market Street in the Castro district, Botellón is inspired by the Spanish street parties its named after. For decades Spanish youngsters have gathered outside on a specific street—with plastic baggies filled with ice, whiskey, coke, and plastic glasses—to enjoy drinks with friends until the wee hours of the morning. This is known as botellón and the vibe is what the restaurant hopes to mimic.

Andale Management Group, which is known for the Andalé Mexican Family Kitchen and Russian Hill’s Mezcalito, have tapped executive chefs Nicholas Andoe and Matthew D’Ambrosi to oversee the kitchen. Although the name is Spanish, Botellón isn’t a traditional Spanish eatery. Instead its a fusion of California and Mediterranean flavors in the form of small sharable plates (chorizo oil cornbread with smoked cheddar and pork lardo; broccoli rabe with olive tapenade), salads (baby kale with quinoa; beets with burrata), large plates (crab ravioli with fried capers; mahi mahi with tabouli salad), and stone hearth pizzas (wild mushroom; winter vegetables).

Photo Credit: Devlin Shand for Drew Altizer Photography

The beverage program, from Jesse Ostroski and Saul Ranella, features hand-crafted specialty cocktails with house-made seasonal syrups and infused spirits. The Sherry Cherry and the Green Fairy features St. George Absinthe, Pedro Ximenez Sherry, black cherry juice, and lemon. Wood, tile, laser cut screens, custom-designed bold graphics and murals from artists David Flores and Caroline Zarraga are dotted throughout the space, which was designed by Architecture + Light.

Rudy Ortiz, Anne Ward, Lindsay Stevens and Hooman Khalili

Photo Credit: Devlin Shand for Drew Altizer Photography

At the opening event, Botellón was so packed that it was hard to make your way through the stylish crowd. Guests nibbled on passed slices of pizza while taking in the dimly-lit space. Radio personalities Hooman Khalili and Rudy Ortiz drank ruby red grapefruit cocktails. Jeweler Rada Katz posed for Insta Stories with her publicist pals Heidi Petit and Lindsay Stevens. Sonya Molodetskaya, looking gorgeous in a shaggy yellow-green fur coat, chatted with her gal pals Sobia Shaikh and Farah Makras.