Jardinière Bar / Lounge / Restaurant

Hayes Valley, San Francisco –

The brainchild of renowned chef Traci Des Jardins, Jardinière has been a jewel of San Francisco’s fine drinking and dining scene since 1997. Considering the venue’s location near City Hall and the Performing Arts District, it’s no surprise that representatives of the upper echelons of government and tuxedo-clad symphony lovers alike make frequent stops.

The ground floor’s pièce de résistance is a massive bar topped with glistening marble and set beneath the twinkling lights of a golden dome – a design meant to evoke bubbles in an inverted champagne glass.

A lounge area around the bar caters to an early evening crowd of moneyed young professionals and older powerbrokers, who settle in on soft purple chairs for a round of top-shelf spirits and a bit of duck liver mousse.

Although the lounge menu is limited compared to the delicacies proffered in the main dining area upstairs, a no reservations policy makes it easy for anyone to drop in for a quick taste or a long night pouring over the massive wine list. And if the chairs and couches are full, social butterflies and swanky couples cozy in around bar tables, staring up at the dome, at each other, or at the invariably dapper crowd.

In French, jardinière is a culinary term used to describe a dish cooked with a mix of vegetables, but in San Francisco, Jardinière is the perfect mix of opulence and urban class – and probably vegetables too.