Union Square Hotel Drops Drake Name as Bay Area Restaurant Scene Welcomes Reinventions
The former Sir Francis Drake Hotel has become the Beacon Grand, and several other Bay Area eateries have reopened or debuted in recent days.
By Mei Ling ·
A well-known Union Square hotel has begun the new year under a new identity. The Sir Francis Drake Hotel, which opened nearly a century ago and kept its reputation as a glamorous gathering place for the city's upper crust even through Prohibition, has rebranded as the Beacon Grand.
The change ends the property's tribute to Francis Drake, the 16th-century English explorer who was also one of England's first slave traders. In place of the old name, the hotel has introduced a farm-to-table lobby restaurant called the Beacon Lounge, at 450 Powell St.
The lounge draws its produce from the nearby Ferry Plaza Farmers Market and leans toward modern Californian cooking. Starters include cauliflower cheese toast, while fresh-caught salmon is among the main courses.
Managing director Sebastien Pfeiffer said the team was "thrilled about our first few months of operations at the Beacon Lounge," adding that the historic lobby is now being used by both locals and hotel guests. According to Pfeiffer, business has grown steadily and "exceeded our expectations during the Festive Season."
Elsewhere in the Bay Area, other restaurants have also been reinventing themselves. In the Mission, Luna at 694 Valencia St. marked the new moon last weekend by relaunching as LUNA Bar & Restaurant. The dining room is now more casual and crimson-hued, and chef Michelle Matthews has rewritten the menu around shareable small plates such as koji double-fried chicken and vegan cauliflower steaks. The bar has been enlarged, oysters cost $1.50 each during happy hour, and it now closes at midnight on Fridays and Saturdays.
In Lower Pacific Heights, chef Mike Lanham has turned his cult-favorite pop-up into a permanent restaurant, Anomaly SF, at 2600 Sutter St. As Eater reported, Lanham started his solo venture after a serious spinal injury led him to rethink his goals. The pop-up was at one point powered by a single toaster oven. The new restaurant serves an eleven-course seasonal tasting menu, the first of which is titled "Home for the First Time." It reworks comfort foods, including a seaweed dashi potato foam enriched with egg yolk, and a sweet potato dessert resembling a crème brûlée that nods to Lanham's Georgia upbringing.
Across the bay in Oakland's Pill Hill neighborhood, a new cafe honors Ethiopia's traditional coffee ritual. Ethiopia is widely considered the birthplace of coffee, and in Ethiopia and Eritrea the ritual is led by the family matriarch, who burns incense and roasts raw beans over a fire before pouring the coffee from a long-necked clay pot called a jebena. The cafe takes its name from that vessel and serves traditional Ethiopian coffee along with espresso, smoothies, breakfast and lunch.
Finally, a new bakery at 690 Indiana St., on the edge of Dogpatch, is drawing attention for its elaborately decorated cakes, which come in both savory and seasonal varieties. For Lunar New Year, it is offering a black sesame and red bean layer cake meant to help the Year of the Rabbit begin on a sweet note.
Source: The San Francisco Standard
