It looks like Food Network personality and recent San Francisco transplant Tyler Florence is putting down roots in the Bay Area. Around May, People’s "Sexiest Chef Alive” winner plans to open Tyler Florence Mill Valley, a lifestyle-kitchen store, in Marin. He’s also on board to open his first-ever restaurant, Bar Florence, a Californian eatery, on the former site of the Empire Plush Room (940 Sutter St.). It will debut this summer after Nob Hill's York Hotel completes its transformation into Hotel Vertigo, named for the movie Vertigo because that's where Kim Novak's character stayed.
Will Florence fly by the Bay? Many beloved area chefs, such as Ron Siegel and Traci Des Jardins, have gone on to become TV personalities, but it remains to be seen whether it can be successfully done in reverse.