Celebrity chef, frequent Today Show guest, and Sonoma-based hotelier Charlie Palmer confirmed rumors today with the announcement of his first hotel and restaurant in San Francisco proper. Palmer, celebrated for making Healdsburg hip again with the Hotel Healdsburg/Dry Creek Kitchen combo, will be revamping the 100-year-old Crescent Hotel just North of Union Square as a "chef-driven" boutique hotel.
What makes a hotel "chef-driven", exactly? Well, the food, obviously. Also: a press release to the foodie set promises an "unparalleled dining experience" and "a fresh approach to hospitality comprised of a cohesive, gracious and welcoming experience that permeates every moment of the stay." So, something like staying in a hotel staffed by attentive waiters, we imagine. Palmer's team told Inside Scoop the new hotel will be a departure from Palmer's other concepts around the country, although hopefully not the part where they win all those magazine accolades.
As for the Burritt Room, currently housed in the Crescent Hotel, the barely eighteen-month-old cocktail lounge will probably disappear to make way for whatever Palmer and company decide to put in. So now would be a good time to sample the Black Rose before their cocktail list disappears.
UPDATE: The president of the development group working with Palmer on the new project wrote in to update Inside Scoop: The plan is to "retain the historic nature of the Burritt Room" and put the new restaurant in to the dining room space behind the bar. The hotel will remain open and renovations start next year.
