The Rise of the Castro and Upper Market as a Dining Destination

In a city obsessed with food, the Castro has long stood a dining desert. While just a few blocks away the Valencia Corridor has bustled with hip bars and restaurants for decades, dining options in the neighborhood have historically been serviceable but hardly notable.

It's not that the Castro has ever been devoid of good places to eat. Longtime denizens think back fondly on places like 2223 Market, Home (and its more upscale predecessor JohnFrank), Mecca, Tallulah, and even back to '80s darling Ryan's Caf�. But seldom has there been more than one or two open at any given time. In the past few years, however, this has been changing, at first incrementally, and now with increased momentum.

Chefs and restaurateurs are seeing opportunity in the neighborhood, in part because of its lack of saturation. Many want to put their energy into smaller, neighborhood-focused projects, so it stands to reason they should focus on an area hungry for their offerings.

Spanish Style

Perhaps the restaurant that first put the area on the culinary map was tiny Frances (3870 17th St., www.frances-sf.com). Chef Melissa Perello made her name by garnering a Michelin star while at tony downtown Fifth Floor. Branching out on her own, she opened Frances in late 2009. "I've always been drawn to that area; the space itself drew me," says Perello. "I was looking to do something neighborhood-oriented, really approachable, and low-key."

Her star power followed her. Frances nabbed a star in early 2010, the first (and, to date, only) in the neighborhood. "We were really lucky," she said. "We got a lot of press right after we opened."

The restaurant's influence began to be felt quickly, with Starbelly (3583 16th St., www.starbellysf.com) opening a year later, and chef-owner Mat Schuster debuting Canela (2272 Market St., www.canelasf.com) in 2011, bringing Spanish cuisine to the area.

Schuster has lived around the corner with his partner, Paco Cifuentes, for some 15 years. The couple had a good relationship with the owners of Capri Restaurant, and when they vacated the space, Schuster and Cifuentes saw an opportunity.

"We explored several spots through the city, but we wanted to be in our neighborhood, in a neighborhood that we enjoyed being in ourselves," he said.

Canela's menu touches on a wide range of Spanish influences, with a slight emphasis on the south.

"Paco's mom is from C�rdoba," said Schuster. "She taught me a lot of her recipes. We've been going to Spain for the last 10 or 11 years; I always wanted to open a restaurant, so Spanish food was a natural fit. The south of Spain has a lot of influence from the Moors and Arabic culture. These are flavors I was familiar with because I'm Jewish, and a lot of those Middle Eastern flavors are in Jewish cooking."

Bringing Spanish cuisine to the neighborhood wasn't a slam dunk.

"The Castro has a strong will to support casual dining, comfort food and more quick service style," said Schuster. "We knew what the neighborhood was, what did well there, so we knew it was going to be a partial challenge to get folks to come there for dinner. Maybe they don't want to see naked people walking by or they don't want to see bar crowds. For those of us who live here, we know it doesn't matter, but for many folks even in SF it's not their idea of a typical dining destination. But it's been changing."

Bring Me the Aatxe

Indeed, it has changed enough to allow a second Spanish concept, Aatxe (2174 Market St., www.aatxesf.com), blossom in the newly renovated Swedish-American Hall under chef-owner Ryan Pollnow.

"I knew I wanted to be somewhere that was neighborhood driven, someplace outside the Financial District or other commercial neighborhoods," said Pollnow. "In scouting other neighborhoods, the Mission is almost over-saturated."

When the Swedish-American Hall's landlord, Enrique Landa, approached Ne Timeas Group to take over Cafe du Nord and the space formerly housing the cafe Cortado and an adjacent office, Pollnow's nascent business plan was a fit.

"After we toured the building, we all came away with the same reaction: Wow, this is an amazing opportunity. The apartments across the street had just filled 80% occupancy; another will have a couple hundred units. About 1200 units will go up within a few years. I wanted Aatxe to be a neighborhood restaurant. We would get into that neighborhood before it developed into a bigger residential neighborhood in San Francisco."

In fact, the upzoning and redevelopment of the flatiron corners along Market Street are a major driver for this phenomenon. Across the street from the Swedish-American Hall, in one of the new glass and steel buildings, sits the food hall The Myriad (2175 Market St., www.themyriad.com), which had its grand opening on July 16. Within, small businesses, mostly food-oriented, are framed in brightly colored steel frame kiosks.

"It's designed as an incubator," says site manager Andrew Ramsay. "It's hard to launch a food business especially in San Francisco. It's too expensive. This is an opportunity for first-time food businesses to get a start."

The Myriad will house about 15 vendors, including the anchor tenant, Mrs. Jones, an outpost of the Nob Hill restaurant Jones. Current kiosks include Hawaiian poke, French cr�pes, barbecue, coffee, a juice bar, and a fresh-baked baguette vending machine from Le Bread Xpress (www.lebreadxpress.com), the only of its kind in the U.S. A few non-food businesses, including the new location of Church Street Flowers, are included as well.

The next installment will look at the growth of the coffee scene, as well as a look at a few of the restaurants yet to come.