The Alexander's Steakhouse group’s newest concept Afici swears it’s “not an offshoot of Alexander’s Steakhouse,” but instead a fine dining destination for pasta, housemade charcuterie, and “whole-animal utilization.”
When we first heard that the Alexander’s Steakhouse team was opening a new fine dining concept in SoMa, it was in mid-August when Hoodline reported that the spot would be called Afici and move into the former ALX Gastropub spot at Folsom near Third Street. According to a job listing Hoodline found, Afici said its fare would offer “full animal butchery, in-house charcuterie, and boast a fresh pasta program.” Hoodline added that Afici was expected to open “sometime this summer.”
Well, Wednesday was technically the last day of summer, but they’re pretty close. In a Wednesday Instagram post, Afici declared that “Opening day is September 24th,” which is this coming Saturday. And Eater SF got a sneak preview of Afici and sampled the $125 prix fixe.
“First course options range from carne crudo, made from thin sheets of beef contorted into blush-colored roses, to a summery tomato and peach salad. The second course, meanwhile, is all pasta,” according to Eater SF. “There’s a corn-filled pasta (in this case, hat-shaped cappellacci), plus spaghetti topped with a golden pillow of sea urchin.” The site adds that the dishes’ other components include "sweet gypsy pepper and soft squares of bottarga."
The restaurant's prix fixe currently includes entree options of squab, chicken roulade, or matsutake mushrooms, but diners can opt for a $85 Wagyu supplement instead, which is a dish of two Wagyu cuts, strip and brisket.
“It’s not an offshoot of Alexander’s Steakhouse,” executive chef Eric Upper (from New York’s Italienne) tells Eater SF. Afici’s reservations site describes Upper as “As an aficionado of handmade pastas, whole-animal utilization and housemade charcuterie,” all of which are on the Afici menu. As Eater SF noted, “wagyu beef tongue, for example, appears on two dishes.”
There is a full bar and a wine station (per Eater SF, “more than 80 selections by the bottle or 15-20 options by the glass”), and a “roving bar cart” that acts as a mobile cocktail station. The reservations site for Afici is live, and while their opening is Saturday, we did see reservations slots available for Friday, September 23 at this new American fine dining spot at 680 Folsom Street.
Related: SF's Seven Most Expensive Steaks, Ranked [SFist]
Image: afici.sf via Instagram
