Is it zeitgeist or mere coincidence that two of the city’s most highly anticipated new restaurants are riffing on the word 'urban'? Perhaps Urban Tavern and Urbino, the establishments in question, want diners to know that they're not out in the 'burbs... and daydream about being in Europe while they're at it.
First up is Urban Tavern, the forthcoming gastropub in the Hilton San Francisco. It was conceived and designed by Bistro Don Giovanni’s founder Donna Scala, but will be overseen by tireless restaurateur Laurent Manrique, the culinary director of Aqua who also reopened the Fifth Floor earlier this year. Debuting on Friday, Urban Tavern is being billed as a “timeless, uncomplicated homage to the European tavern in a downtown setting” and will have a Mediterranean focus (333 O’Farrell St.).
Urbino, which won't open until 2009, is the third in the trifecta of regional Italian eateries from the folks behind A 16 and SPQR. To be located in Espirit Park in the Dogpatch district in 2009, the restaurant gets its name – and culinary inspiration – from the hilltop town in the Le Marche area located in the center of The Boot near the Adriatic Coast. It will also feature an adjacent rosticceria and retail shop of imported gourmet goods (900 Minnesota St.).
– Meesha Halm