Smoky finish
Bourbon Steak, Tahoe/Truckee real estate listings, best caviar delivery, Charlie's, MORE
RESTAURANTS • First Word
Steakhouse 2.0
The Skinny: Prolific restaurateur Michael Mina has reopened a fancier version of his long-shuttered steakhouse Bourbon Steak at the Westin St. Francis following a multi-million-dollar renovation that brought a bustling new central bar.
The Vibe: After years of doldrums around Union Square, the lavishness and energy you feel walking in off Powell Street into the new, European-inspired bar area is downright shocking. Gone is the hotel’s former entry lobby (hotel guests now enter off Geary Street) and in its place is a square bar in a glittering room newly bedecked with stained-glass and faux antique, spherical crystal chandeliers. Tourists and locals belly up for classic cocktails and fries three ways, while up a few steps to the left is the sumptuously redecorated restaurant space once home to Restaurant Michael Mina (and decades ago, The Compass Rose).
The Food: If you’ve been to a Michael Mina restaurant, you’re familiar with his greatest hits — see the Caviar “Twinkee,” the Crab Cake “Pop Tart” — which make appearances here. The over-the-top mood continues with showy seafood platters, osetra caviar service, and sashimi and tartares galore. You’ll see carts whisk by with salt-baked wagyu tomahawk steaks lit on fire, and Mina’s signature lobster pot pies served in copper sauce pots with puff pastry caps doled out tableside. And the steaks are no joke: luscious wagyu New York strips and ribeyes, served with buttery whipped potatoes, black truffle mac and cheese, creamed spinach, and/or a host of other classic sides and sauces. Ending the meal are beignets, served with proper boozy butterscotch.
The Drink: A list of signature cocktails take their names and inspiration from Mina Group ventures past and present, including the Clock Bar 2018, made with rye, green Chartreuse, ginger, sassafras, and bitters; and the Ornos 2022, made with gin, Kleos Mastiha, ana spice, and lime. The wine selection shares an ethos with the maximalist food menu, with a lengthy list of thousand-dollar bottles or $200 bottles, including Napa Cabernets from Heitz and Stag’s Leap, and a range of Champagne and Bordeaux.
The Verdict: Once again, there’s a reason to go to Union Square for a celebration meal or dressed-up business dinner. After a nine-year absence, the reborn Bourbon Steak takes its former format and dials the theater and glamour up to 11. –Jay Barmann
→ Bourbon Steak (Union Square) • 335 Powell St • Mon-Thu & Sun 5-9p, Fri-Sat 5-10p • Reserve.
REAL ESTATE • First Mover
Three properties that came to market in the Tahoe/Truckee area in the last 30 days.
→ 12349 Skislope Way (Tahoe Donner) • 4BR/4.2BA, 4437 SF • Ask: $2.128M • 2010 build on oversize lot w/ Generac generator • Days on market: 6 • Agent: Sarah Cain, Home and Slate.
→ 3060 Highlands Dr (Tahoe City, above) • 5BR/5BA, 3687 SF • Ask: $2.3M • ski-out 1973 build w/ outdoor kitchen • Days on market: 21 • Agent: Kate Wilkins, Compass.
→ 10645 Carson Range Rd (Schaffer’s Mill) • 5BR/6.1BA, 3795 SF • Ask: $4.554M • fully furnished w/ pet shower and garage sauna • Days on market: 10 • Agent: Julie Brock, Schaffer’s Mill Real Estate.
REAL ESTATE LINKS: 4BR/2.1BA Presidio Heights house moves at 50% above ask • Market Street’s Odd Fellows Temple changes hands for $6.75M • Lone Star Funds to buy downtown’s WeWork building.
FOUND GIFT GUIDE • The Nines
Caviar, delivered
The Nines are FOUND’s distilled lists of the best in the Bay Area and surrounds. Additions or subtractions? Hit reply or found@itsfoundsf.com. For the full archives, click here.
The Caviar Co (above), Bay Area brand making caviar feel hip and accessible, $$$
Imperia, Los Angeles-based purveyor delivering smooth, rich Siberian and ossetra caviar, $$$
Regiis Ovis, founded by Thomas-Keller, $$$
Marky’s, NYC-based, America’s only seller of ultra-premium banned Beluga, $$$
Tsar Nicoulai, incredible farmed American caviar served by three Michelin starred chefs, $$$
Bester, slightly more affordable option, $$
Petrossian, legacy Parisian caviar house famous for its high quality, wide selection, $$$
Kaviari, boutique Parisian producer celebrated for ultra-fresh, small-batch tins with modern, design-driven packaging, $$$
Caviar Russe, Michelin-starred NYC restaurant + caviar brand known for pristine, delicately cured eggs, $$$
CULTURE & LEISURE • Halls, Decked
Jorma Kaukonen’s 85th Birthday • The Masonic (Nob Hill) • Fri @ 7p • Floor, $393 per
A Drag Queen Christmas • Orpheum Theater (Mid-Market) • Sat @ 8p • M18, $99 per
Santa Skivvies Run 2025 • The Lookout (Castro) • Sun @ 11a • $40 per
CULTURE & LEISURE LINKS: Neon returns to the Vogue Theater • Bite-sized Nutcracker returns at Fort Mason’s Cowell Theater • Moth Belly Gallery flips into monthlong church.
GETAWAYS • Napa
Dinner bell
When former French Laundry executive sous chef Elliott Bell opened Charlie’s in 2023, the hope was that the local volunteer firefighter’s solo debut would revitalize St. Helena’s flagging scene. Two years later, that hope’s been fulfilled: The restaurant at the site of the former Cindy’s Backstreet Kitchen is a rousing success.
In the front, there’s a sunlight-filled white-walled room with a bustling (but not too loud) wood-paneled, U-shaped bar and a few tables that often seat a mix of dates, younger locals out for fun, and small tourist groups. Pass the bar and kitchen to enter the dining room, where brunch, lunch, and dinner are served.
Bell’s goal is to keep this a neighborhood place, which means a seasonal, comfortable menu of homey favorites. Start with a shrimp cocktail, each bite tender and pristine, with cocktail sauce made from preserved aji dulce peppers from Charlie’s garden at Spring Mountain Vineyard.
The restaurant’s other signature dish is fried chicken, made with a mix of Southern and Korean-style frying methods. It’s nothing short of phenomenal. Also recommended: pretzel-wrapped kielbasa slices, “Hawaiian” rolls brushed with pineapple pork fat, and the Campfire pie for dessert, the latter a holdover from the Cindy’s menu.
This is St. Helena so, of course the wine program is strong. The cocktails are a mix of creative originals and excellent riffs of the old standards, led by the Spring Mountain Citrus Martini, made with a pair of vermouths. –Trevor Felch
→ Charlie’s (St. Helena) • 1327 Railroad Ave • Mon 1130a-9p, Thu-Fri 1130a-11p, Sat 1030a-11p, Sun 1030a-9p • Reserve.
GETAWAYS LINKS: SFO Terminal 1 dining, ranked • Google Maps tweak boosts Valley Ford tourism • On the market: an off-grid compound in Joshua Tree • The new Kauai bakery shaking up the local pie wars • Are airport lounges merely ‘better than nothing’?
LOST & FOUND • Behind the paywall
→ A handful of favorite Bay Area restaurants from new subscribers: Esnaf (San Carlos) • Gioia (Hayes Valley) • House of Nanking (North Beach) • Itria (Mission) • Seven Hills (Russian Hill).