Michael Mina’s Swanky New San Francisco Bar/Restaurant
Times may be tough, but don’t tell that to Chef-Restaurateur Michael Mina.
Barely open a month, his new RN74 wine bar/restaurant in the new Millennium Tower in San Francisco is packing in the crowds.
On a recent Tuesday night, when I was invited to check out the scene for myself, a lively after-work crowd was enjoying wine and food at the bar. You know a place has got a vibe going when celeb Chef Todd English even drops by that evening to hang out at the bar with an attractive, dark-haired woman.
Transportation is a big theme in this new $4.5 million restaurant. First, the restaurant is on the ground floor of a new condominium tower right next to the old Transbay Terminal. Second, the restaurant is named after the highway that runs through Burgundy’s Cote d’Or. Lastly, the interior evokes an old train station reinvented in a hipper, more modern way.
Wine Director Rajat Parr has longed dreamed of opening a wine bar, one that would capture the feeling of magical discovery he encountered the first time traveling through Burgundy. Antique metal lanterns hang from the ceiling near the entrance. Bathrooms have piped in French conversations.
The centerpiece is a custom-made flip board like the ones you see at train stations that tell the arrival/departure times. Only this one lists wines where only one bottle remains in stock at the restaurant. If someone buys it, the board flips to erase the wine selection. How cool is that?
Executive Chef Jason Berthold is a perfect match for Parr. Berthold, who was sous chef at the French Laundry in Yountville and helped open Per Se in New York, also makes his own wine under the Courier label. Parr, who attended the Culinary Institute of America at Hyde Park, makes wine under his Parr Selection label.
Clean, pure flavors with sometimes unexpected ingredient combinations characterize Berthold’s culinary style.
