A Fine-Dining Restaurant Alum Dishes Fanciful Seafood in Union Square | Eater SF
"Opened Tuesday, June 24, this new seafaring restaurant sits behind a literal curtain in Bar Maritime on the Palihotel's second floor; take the stairs into the hushed, wooden Bar Maritime, pause to appreciate the feel—like a ship subsumed by Monstro in Pinocchio—and wade to the back where the property's latest seafaring addition lives. The full, separate restaurant comes from much of the same team behind the new Union Square bar with the addition of chef Felix Santos, an Atelier Crenn and Sorrel alum, and aims to offer upscale seafood that remains accessible for wallet-conscious diners: most items fall under $30 and many bottles of wine are below $100, though there are still banner, pricy items for special occasions. Santos’s flavors lean Mexican—his wife, fellow chef Sofia Lechuga-Santos, is Mexican and he’s cooked throughout Mexico—and he says tostadas and tacos are the dishes he reaches for. The snacks consultant George Dingle made for the initial opening will cycle off the menu now that Santos is in the pilot seat; in their place are Tomales Bay mussels steamed then marinated in market vegetables for a few hours and fried, paired with toasted bread escabeche-style; peppers stuffed with cod and scallop, a “seafood sausage,” to invoke a rustic texture; and a bistro burger replacing steak frites (Santos says he loves burgers and is nerding out on dialing in the ratio of Painted Hills beef to proper bun size). He ties the burger work back to a year he and his wife spent in Tulum working for a boutique hotel and eating burgers by the sea: “It was wonderful. Mexican food, local produce,” Santos says, “that’s exciting for me to call back to something I’ve done in the past with a close place in my heart.” Larger dining-room dishes include grilled ikejime halibut with bay laurel bearnaise sourced from Jooharian Farms alongside white asparagus, a $125 Kraken seafood tower jeweled with Hog Island sweetwater oysters and highwater oysters, mussels escabeche, jumbo gulf shrimp, and tuna tartare, and a $140 Painted Hills cote de boeuf with McGinnis Ranch purple haze carrot, guajillo, and pepitas. Larry Piaskowy (formerly of Rich Table and True Laurel) will work the drinks in addition to Bar Maritime, and wine selections are overseen by Andrew Pettingell of Otium and Osteria Mozza. Santos was connected to the role through friends and an Atelier Crenn captain, and he’s excited to take the storied Burritt Room space into its next chapter, thrilled to take produce right from the ocean—“five orders of oysters if that happens to be what’s available that day, and serve it that same day.” “A food menu that’s thoughtful and delicious, but not prohibitive,” Santos says. “The option for value, but also the option to splurge. If I get live scallops, it’s not going to be $10 scallops.” The restaurant is open 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and 5:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday; reservations available on Resy." - Paolo Bicchieri
