A new hotel restaurant is coming soon to the ground-floor space at the Four Seasons Embarcadero — the hotel formerly known as the Loews Regency which is not actually on the Embarcadero, but at 222 Sansome.
The restaurant is called Ofaro — the Italian word for goldsmith — and the concept appears to be Italian-meets-SF Gold Rush. The SF Business Times has the news that the 118-seat restaurant, which was most recently home to a pop-up called Turntable with guest chef Rupert Blease, will reopen "soon," with an exact date to be announced. A press release indicates "later this month."
The executive chef will be Gunnar Planter, who comes to the Four Seasons after stints in Southern California at Mar Monte’s Costa Kitchen & Bar in Santa Barbara, Ebullition Gastronomy in Carlsbad, Viewpoint Brewing Co. in Del Mar, the Inn at Rancho Santa Fe, and Mille Fleurs in Rancho Santa Fe.
The menu at Orafo will feature pasta, according to the release, "drawing inspiration from Tuscany and Calabria." Dishes will include seasonal preparations of handmade pappardelle, orecchiette, and campanelle, as well as large-format proteins including porchetta and branzino.
"Orafo presents the opportunity for me to work with the finest imported Italian products from guanciale to culatello to olive oils and in-house freshly made pastas," Planter says in a statement. "I’m excited to cook in San Francisco’s world-class culinary community for the first time and can’t wait to welcome our guests with memorable dishes that will leave them looking forward to their next visit."
The cocktail menu, along with the decor of the new restaurant, will reportedly pay homage to the Gold Rush Rra.
The Four Seasons Embarcadero occupies the top 11 floors of the former Loews Regency hotel building, and the Four Seasons brand officially moved in in the fall of 2020, as Hoodline reported.
Also in the building is a luxe view bar called The Overlook on the 40th floor, which so far has only been utilized for private events. The Business Times notes that this should be opening up to serve drinks to the public this summer.
The indoor-outdoor bar briefly opened as The Terrace Bar in the spring in 2019, while the hotel was still the Loews Regency, dubbing itself the highest outdoor bar in the city.
Photo courtesy of the Four Seasons Embarcadero