Opening this Thursday June 23rd is the splashy new ~BLUESTEM BRASSERIE~ on Yerba Buena Lane from Adam and Stacy Jed. At a tablehopper cocktail preview a couple weeks ago, we got a sneak peek of the Lundberg Design-designed, light-filled, two-level space. It was designed to be flexible for a variety of occasions, whether you are dropping by the spacious lounge with friends or trying to snag one of the 17 armchair barstools at the glimmering bar by Concreteworks. You’ll be equally comfy having lunch with the boss, dinner with a large group in the semi-private upstairs dining room, or after-work drinks on the upstairs terrace (which is both shielded and heated—go SF).
Executive chef Sean Canavan has put together an all-day brasserie menu. Items on a preliminary menu include a variety of housemade charcuterie (rustic country pâté with pistachios, truffled chicken liver mousse, rabbit rillettes) and appetizers like a watermelon salad with mint, feta, borage blossoms, and Arbequina olives; berbere-spiced goat sausages with roasted eggplant and mint yogurt; and spinach and sheep’s milk ricotta ravioli with pine nuts, summer squash, and Parmesan broth.
A highlight of the menu is the grass-fed beef sourced from ranchers and farmers in California, Oregon, and Uruguay—cuts may include rib-eye, New York strip, skirt steak, grilled short ribs, and Wagyu bavette (flank), and a variety of side sauces, such as mint-oregano chimichurri and zinfandel-shallot marmalade. Of course there will be a burger as well—and you know they’ve been perfecting that bad boy. Other meaty picks include acorn-fed pork, slow-cooked goat with guajillo and ancho chile and Anson Mills hominy, while one of the seafood selections includes crispy steelhead trout with melted early girl tomatoes, artichokes, and tarragon pistou. Sides include corn and fava succotash, and Anson Mills cheddar grits. There will also be plats du jour, like beef short rib pot roast and mashed potatoes on Mondays, and coq au vin with buttered egg noodles on Tuesdays. The dessert menu is from consulting pastry chef James Ormsby, who will be offering “reinvented classics that play on American nostalgia,” like vanilla ice cream profiteroles with rhubarb compote, a chocolate and coconut layer cake, and a black n tan, with malted milk and chocolate panna cotta with malt meringue chocolate bark.
There will be a variety of cocktails, ranging from the spiritous to the refreshing; we enjoyed tasting them at our tablehopper naming party and preview (kindly note the cleverly named “Violet Femmes” was the winning cocktail name from our party)! No contender, there. The California-centric wine program will include 12 wines on tap, supplemented with some French bottlings. The 190-seat restaurant (yup, she’s a big girl) will be open continuously from 11am-11pm.
Lounge area photo by Angie Silvy.
