Mint Plaza
photo: Kevin Bond
The appetizers and wine were flowing on November 17th when Mayor Gavin Newsom made his speech to inaugurate SoMa’s new Mint Plaza. But despite much fanfare, the $3 million makeover has hardly been the scene of a feeding frenzy. That’s because none of the well-publicized restaurant-tenants have opened. As the San Francisco Chronicle reported on December 11th, “Mint Plaza's mostly empty except for plastic orange chairs,” adding, “It's too early to say if this is a beachhead of cool or a case of dashed hopes.”
So exactly what is happening with the much-ballyhooed Mint Plaza restaurants? Details keep shifting as fast as a kid’s game of Telephone and it’s been anyone’s guess when things will actually open. We think the folks at Blue Bottle Café sum up the situation best on their website: “Sometime between Thanksgiving 2007 and the closing ceremonies of the Beijing Olympic Games, we will be opening our first cafe.” Seriously though, as of this week, a spokesperson for the company confirmed that the latest projected date for the cult-favorite coffee’s first sit-down cafe is the end of January 2008.
We also caught up with the Maktub Group, which has two of the restaurant leases: 414 Jessie St. and 54 Mint St. First on the horizon will definitely be Chez Papa Resto (414 Jessie St), a larger, more modern offshoot of the Chez Papa on Potrero Hill. The group has snagged David Bazirgan, their previous chef who ran Baraka and several of their other ventures, to oversee the menu at Chez Papa Resto (the latter word being French slang for “restaurant”), which will be a slightly more fine-dining take on French cuisine. The design of the new venue will also depart from the original on the Hill – they’re describing the 52-seat venue as “sexy” with oversized banquettes, black bamboo floors and hanging chandeliers, plus patio seating. If the construction gods are smiling, Chez Papa Resto will open mid-January, offering lunch, midday cafe service, dinner and weekend brunch.
As for the other Maktub Group–leased space (54 Mint St), which we previously reported as being the future home of Sushi Groove South, it will decidedly not be a Japanese restaurant. Instead, look for Trattoria Dolce Vita, a “smart-looking, Tuscan-inspired trattoria with all the San Francisco trimmings.” This bi-level restaurant will be an intimate venue, with a downstairs wine lounge that will double as a private dining room. Opening date for the trattoria is much further off – they’re predicting June 1st.
There’s one more restaurant space in the new complex that’s still up for grabs. But despite a multitude of rumored tenants, no one has signed the lease yet. Inquiring minds will have to stay tuned.
– Meesha Halm