San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
2023’s best food (or booze) with a view
A look at the most beautiful new restaurants and bars in the Bay Area that you’ll want to visit for aesthetics alone
We go to restaurants for food, of course. But we also go for the design.
Some restaurants are so beautiful, we feel an energetic lift as soon as we walk into them. We do a double take when we see a particularly dazzling chandelier. Or we smile at whimsical wallpaper that we’d never put in our house but so appreciate over the course of a two-hour meal.
Immersive dining rooms can captivate us. They can transport us. At the end of a long day, they can be the escape we crave.
This year, these are the new restaurants, bars and cafes we’d visit for the aesthetics alone. — J.B.
Akikos
Once a small sushi counter with an adjoining dining room, the new Akikos in SoMa is luxurious, spacious and sleek. In the center is an imposing chef ’s “stage,” where the staff hands nigiri to guests. Whereas many omakase bars are L-shaped, the stunning, 24-seat wood stage has 360-degree access. The opulent design is wellmatched with a menu centered around dry-aged fish. — C.H.
430 Folsom St., San Francisco. akikosrestaurant.com
Aphotic
It's easy to feel absorbed into the gloomy world of Aphotic. The San Francisco seafood restaurant’s atmosphere really excels at its dark ocean theme with a moody black paint job and glowing wood-burning hearth in the center. In spite of the dramatic decor, the large space — once a warehouse built in the 1940s — still feels comfy. That carries over to the bar, which has notably plush chairs. — C.H.
816 Folsom St., San Francisco. aphoticrestaurant.com
Backhaus
The main aesthetic draw in bakeries is often glass cases lined with dazzling pastries. But at Backhaus’ new Burlingame location, stellar pastries have a stunning space to match. The two-story building, which once housed Burlingame’s first movie theater, is minimalist but warm. The best seat may be in the secondfloor mezzanine, which has a treehouse feel and peeks down into the bustling bakery and open kitchen. Large upstairs windows look out to the train station across the street. Downstairs, staff pull espresso shots and pour lattes from behind a charming, cross-hatched wooden window. — E.K.
261 California Drive, Burlingame. Backhausbread.com
Bar Gemini
With its booths made from slats of richly grained redwood and matching woodpaneled walls, Bar Gemini looks a little like a very chic sauna. Designer Margaret Ruiz (who also designed the lovely new San Anselmo wine bar Voyage) has an affinity for natural materials, and the bar’s copper fixtures and sculptural paper lampshades add to its sense of warmth. The atmosphere complements the bar’s focus on natural wines, with bottles lining the back bar and fridges in glowing gem tones. — C.P.
2845 18th St., San Francisco. bargeminisf.com
Che Fico Parco Menlo
Every inch of Che Fico’s new sister restaurant in Menlo Park is stunning, from the gleaming open kitchen to hand-blown glass chandeliers. There’s not a bad seat in the 7,500-squarefoot space, whether it’s in the buzzy dining room with a dramatic vaulted ceiling, under scores of plants at the horseshoe bar or outside in the expansive outdoor patio with colorful banquettes. There’s no other restaurant space quite like it on the Peninsula. — E.K.
1302 El Camino Real, Suite A, Menlo Park. cheficoparcomenlo.com
Chotto Matte
While a few rooftop restaurants have opened in San Francisco lately, none are as wild as Chotto Matte in Union Square. Before you even get in the elevator, your senses are rattled by a trippy display of lights and reflective black walls. Then you ascend, and your eyes bulge. The 14,000-square-foot restaurant feels like a flashy Miami nightclub, with pulsating music, black light art and a lush indoor garden with palm trees. Ask to sit outside if you want a little more calm — and incredible views of the city. — J.B.
50 O’Farrell St., San Francisco. chotto-matte.com/sanfrancisco
Copra
Ropes and vines descend in thickets from the high ceilings of a former bank building and into the dining room at Copra, one of the year’s most thrilling new restaurants. Lush wallpaper depicting banana plants and coconut trees (Copra means dried coconut) recall chef Srijith Gopinathan’s native Kerala, India. Macrame chandeliers, rattan chairs and floor-to-ceiling shelves filled with clay pots sound a note of West Elm chic, signaling that luxury awaits on Gopinathan’s menu of enticing South Indian food. — C.P.
1700 Fillmore St., San Francisco. coprarestaurant.com
Dawn Club
The band is playing, the cocktails are shaking and the bottles are stacked high at this stylized, Art Deco bar off Market Street. The space channels its impressive history — the original Dawn Club operated through prohibition to the 1940s. Coowner Brian Sheehy, of the prolific bar group behind Bourbon and Branch, worked with artist Ivan Lee Mora of Obsydian Studios on the striking design, as well as Andrea Gifford on the color pallete (I think they liked Baz Luhrmann’s “The Great Gatsby”). They even consulted with musicians to get the acoustics right for frequent live performances. — C.P.
10 Annie St., San Francisco. dawnclub.com
Holbrook House
This downtown San Francisco spot may be best known online as the bar with the martini light switches (flip them on and they’ll come over with a cart). But the posh design would draw Instagrammers regardless. Street lights and plants create an indoor-outdoor feel. A mix of patterns, lots of marble and jewel tones scream luxury. Slide into a tufted blue velvet booth, sip Champagne and imagine you’re part of a private club. — J.B.
1 Sansome St., San Francisco. holbrookhousesf.com
La Connessa
When you walk into La Connessa, a new Italian restaurant in San Francisco, your eyes immediately light up thanks to the vast, nearly floor-to-ceiling back-lit windows behind the bar. They emit a warming glow throughout the cozy Potrero Hill restaurant, as do enormous, circular chandeliers that appear to float above the dining room. There are chic touches throughout, including a glass-encased kitchen and a bathroom entrance lit by a neon, martini-shaped sign. — E.K.
1695 Mariposa St., San Francisco. laconnessa.com
The Caffè by Mr. Espresso
Oakland coffee roaster Mr. Espresso has been around for 45 years and finally opened its own gorgeous downtown cafe this spring. The design takes inspiration from modern Italian architecture with a square-shaped oak-wood bar. Above it is a mesmerizing art installation of light-toned wood slats that descend like tendrils. It's easily one of the coolest places to get caffeinated in the Bay Area. — C.H.
1120 Broadway, Oakland. thecaffeoak.com
Yokai
Inspired, like a slew of others, by Japanese hi-fi bars, this downtown bar and restaurant is well-designed physically and acoustically. Vintage ’70s JBL Pro Series studio speakers project vinyl jazz into the brick and steel industrial space. The overall effect will slow you down and make you pay attention to what you hear and taste. — C.P.
545 Mission St., San Francisco. yokaisf.com
Reach Elena Kadvany: elena.kadvany@sfchronicle.com; Cesar Hernandez: cesar.hernandez@sfchronicle.com; Janelle Bitker: janelle.bitker@sfchronicle.com; Caleb Pershan: caleb.pershan@sfchronicle.com