Leo's Luxury Oyster
Tired of the trend of modern San Francisco bars taking themselves too seriously, she’s opted to swing the pendulum in the other direction by channeling the glamour and grandeur of the 1950s for an immersive cocktail and dining experience.
Weinberg attributes the inspiration for the seafood bar and restaurant — which is named after her and husband, and Big Night co-owner, James Nicholas‘ young son, Leo — to a particular episode from the first season of “Mad Men,” where Don Draper and Roger Sterling spend hours in a restaurant, unapologetically downing martinis and slurping oysters.
Photo credit: Aubrie Pick
However, while located in the Financial District, the bar/restaurant is more than a dimly-lit, leather-boothed watering hole designed for executives.
Weinberg says that the space, which is designed by Jon de La Cruz and Ken Fulk, draws its aesthetic from the Park Avenue apartments from the era (think Draper’s swinging Manhattan abode in later seasons of the TV series) with their gorgeous balconies; as well as the period sun rooms and atriums, where people would sip their early evening cocktails. For an extra dash of whimsy, there’s also a little tropical flare by way of Palm Beach thrown into the mix. To add to the overall vibe, Weinberg and Big Night creative director Jake Mogelson have scoured the internet shopping for vintage glassware, decor and other baubles.
As with her other restaurants, Weinberg says the team wanted to create a jewel box-like space that features different spaces within spaces. When you first walk through the door, there’s the lush, fern and plant-filled atrium with its wicker furniture and tropical motif cushions. This feeds into the main dining room space with its leather banquettes and warm mahogany panels. The main focus of the dining room is the long onyx-topped bar, which in the evenings is lit from below and casts a sultry glow on the space and its patrons.
Photo credit: Aubrie Pick
The restaurant’s final two components — a luxe Champagne lounge and enclosed fern-filled courtyard patio tucked away in the very back of the space — are set to open by March at the latest.
In the wrong hands, it’s the kind of bar that could veer into tiki-kitsch territory, but here, it somehow makes sense, and it’s easy to see how it could offer diners a pleasurable labyrinth in which to drink, dine and while away an afternoon.
As far as the food, Big Night’s executive chef Jennifer Puccio, is reinterpreting classic seafood dishes, including crab, shrimp and lobster Louies ($20-$28), lobster rolls ($32) and baked oysters ($5-$6).
Photo credit: Aubrie Pick
General manager Henry French (formerly of Blue Ribbon Brasserie in New York) also oversees the raw bar, working directly with oyster farmers like Washington’s Hama Hama Oyster Company and other seafood purveyors, including Water2Table.
Executive pastry chef Emily Luchetti handles the dessert offerings, which — playing off the 1950s tropical motif — includes a luscious roasted pineapple ice cream sundae with coconut and pistachios ($7) and a Passion fruit creamsicle float ($7).
Rather than having one particular bar manager to create the bar program, the cocktail menu is a creative collaboration by all of Big Night’s bar managers. As with the desserts, the drinks menu offers re-imagined takes of 1950s classics like the mai tai ($14), the grasshopper ($12) and, in a cheeky nod to those three martini lunches of times gone by and named after Nicholas’ grandfather, who worked nearby in the Russ Building for 30 years, a classic martini with a side of pickles called Mr. Nicholas’ Liquid Lunch ($16).
Hours will initially be from 3-10 p.m. Monday-Wednesday; and until 11 p.m. Thursday-Saturday. Look for weekday lunch service to launch in about a month.
Here are the opening menus:
Leo’s Oyster Bar, 568 Sacramento St., S.F. (415) 872-9982. leossf.com
