It’s easy to praise the natural beauty of California. After all, there is so much of it. There are also a lot of great things to say about our cities as well—especially if you are a food lover. Over the last few decades, the Bay Area, and San Francisco in particular, have become a Mecca for foodies. Here on the edge of the Pacific, flavors from around the world have found a home alongside California’s bountiful array of fresh local produce, livestock and seafood. As someone who has been a part of the area’s vibrant restaurant scene for years, it has been exciting to watch San Francisco emerge as unquestionably one of the world’s great cities for dining out.
There are a lot of factors that have played a part in San Francisco’s rise as a culinary destination—including the reputation of its inhabitants for being creative and at times a little rebellious. That creativity and disregard for the status quo have inspired new approaches—both in sourcing the foods we eat, and how we prepare those foods. Maybe it’s no surprise that the roots of our uniquely Californian approach to cuisine began in the Nixon-era 1970s. As a movement towards health and consciousness evolved, pioneers like chef Alice Waters started looking beyond the pre-packaged, processed food choices. Instead they began partnering with local farmers and gardeners to create amazing, fresh fare. For my part, I was striving to do something similar with restaurant design, as I embraced the idea that architecture should be appropriate to the dining scene.
Like all great experiments, there were some overindulgent moments along the way in the evolution of the San Francisco dining scene when both the food and design became almost too creative. But as a group, we learned and evolved, and in time we found our own strong, distinctive voice as a culinary region.
This past January, I opened two new restaurants in San Francisco, EPIC Roasthouse and Waterbar. For me, these restaurants represent a culmination of sorts—bringing together everything I’ve learned over the years. Throughout the course of my career, I have designed and built 190 restaurants. Of those, about 75 have been steakhouses. With EPIC Roasthouse, my goal was to create a whole new class of steakhouse, taking the entire concept to a new level in architecture, food and service. Waterbar does the same thing with the seafood concept. With Jan Birnbaum and Mark Franz as partners, EPIC and Waterbar both have renowned celebrity chefs at the helm. Masters of their craft, Jan and Mark have created menus exceeding my wildest expectations.
In their own way, these restaurants are also quite unprecedented—being the first privately owned buildings to break ground on the San Francisco waterfront in almost 100 years. In the City by the Bay, the waterfront is sacred, so I was honored that San Francisco trusted me (and my vision) enough to allow this dream to become a reality. If a good view makes amazing food taste even better—and trust me it does—then our diners will be dazzled.