San Francisco has always been a magnet for pioneers—from Gold Rush fortune seekers to free-loving hippes to farm-to-table foodies, from gay-rights activists to tech geniuses. There’s a progressive, entrepreneurial spirit here that’s infectious. “If you’re interested in ideas and innovations, San Francisco is the Renaissance Florence of our time,” says hometown booster Trevor Traina, founder of IfOnly, which sells rare experiences to benefit charities.
The legendarily scenic city is now in the midst of what many are calling a new Gold Rush, and hopefuls from around the world are arriving here looking to strike it rich with a start-up or a hot venture-capital fund. Meanwhile, those who have already hit it big are bringing ideas, energy, and financial resources to the cultural landscape, helping to ignite dynamic new projects in art, design, and architecture.
“San Francisco has some really amazing contemporary architecture now,” Traina says, citing the Renzo Piano–designed California Academy of Sciences and Herzog & de Meuron’s de Young art museum, both built in the past decade. And when it debuts in 2017, the Salesforce Tower, by Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects, will be the tallest building on the West Coast. Next up, however, is the much-anticipated spring 2016 reopening of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, featuring a ten-story, 235,000-square-foot addition by the architecture firm Snøhetta. The renovation will more than double the amount of space to display art, including the newly loaned 1,100-piece collection of Gap cofounders Doris Fisher and her late husband, Donald. “SFMOMA is doing two things simultaneously,” says AD100 designer Steven Volpe, who co-owns Hedge Gallery in North Beach. “It’s adding a very serious piece of architecture to the city as well as positioning itself as an important institution.”
San Francisco’s increasingly sophisticated contemporary art scene now boasts a true destination fair, FOG Design+Art, held in January at the Fort Mason Center—drawing influential residents like designer Yves Béhar, philanthropist Vanessa Getty, and film producer Todd Traina (Trevor’s brother). Major galleries from other cities are eagerly signing up to exhibit. “Given the prominence of the Bay Area tech community, the desire to participate is extraordinary,” says Jessica Silverman, a top local gallerist who is on the fair’s dealer committee. “It’s attracting great collectors and curators.”
SoMa, the area south of Market Street—the formerly industrial neighborhood where SFMOMA and its compatriot, the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, are situated—is a big tech hub, with Uber, Square, Pinterest, and others headquartered there. Many of the firms’ employees live nearby and frequent hot spots like Hotel Zetta’s the Cavalier, a gastropub designed by decorator Ken Fulk, with a private backroom called Marianne’s (after 1960s icon Marianne Faithfull).
But start-up strongholds aren’t the only places to feel the impact of the city’s changing profile. Jackson Square, a treelined neighborhood near the Financial District, was one of the few areas left intact after the 1906 earthquake. Until recently, its blocks were populated mainly by appointment-only antiques shops. But hip retailers like Isabel Marant are moving in alongside stalwarts such as Trevor Traina’s favorite shop, William Stout Architectural Books.Adding further luster to the area are the chic adjoining restaurantsCotogna and Quince—both owned by Lindsay and Michael Tusk—which offer fresh seasonal takes on Italian and California cuisines, respectively.
Also in Jackson Square is the Battery, a private club where Fulk serves as creative director. San Francisco’s answer to Soho House, the Battery is wildly popular with the tech and finance crowds and comprises restaurants, a bar, and a hotel (nonmembers can easily book a room and have full access). “Any time friends come to visit, they want to stay there,” says art adviser Sabrina Buell. “The rooms are the most stylish in the city.” And nearby are two prized institutions, the bookstore City Lights and the storied bar Tosca Cafe, which makes a mean Negroni. Tosca was recently taken over by celebrated chef April Bloomfield, who added a modern Italian menu featuring inventive pastas and plenty of pork-fat-fried potatoes.
There’s also good reason to head to the gritty but gentrifying Tenderloin district. Not only has Silverman’s Jessica Silverman Galleryset up shop there, but eminent chefs Daniel Patterson and Roy Choi are moving in, too, launching a healthy fast-food restaurant called Locol. Several blocks away, on Post Street, interior designer Jay Jeffers has his studio and refined retail space,Cavalier, while event planner Stanlee Gatti is building a gourmet food market and the owners of the New American standout Spruce are opening an atmospheric boîte.
Indeed, the number of first-rate restaurants in San Francisco is borderline daunting. “When you come here, the question is, Where are we going to eat?” says Anthony Meier, whose Pacific Heights gallery, Anthony Meier Fine Arts, is a must-stop for visiting collectors. At the top of his list is Melissa Perello’s Octavia, which is making its mark with dishes like chilled squid-ink noodles with bottarga, lemon oil, and fennel.
Foodies unanimously praise the Progress, an innovative family-style restaurant by husband-and-wife team Stuart Brioza and Nicole Krasinksi, who also own the acclaimed State Bird Provisions. And the 40-seat Mission-district upstart __Lazy Bearis earning raves for fare like country ham in charred onion broth and rhubarb with chamomile and pink peppercorns, though instead of making reservations, guests buy advance tickets online for a place at the communal tables. Just a brief stroll away isBar Tartine,__whose creative chefs forage, ferment, and dehydrate any ingredient not nailed down. “They do Eastern European–inspired food in the most insanely creative and unexpected ways,” Buell says. And Bar Tartine’s sister business, Tartine Bakery, still draws crowds for its fragrant morning buns.
Nor is the city short on excellent design stores, among them Heath Ceramics’ shop/warehouse/factory on 18th Street. Three other stellar examples can be found in the Pacific Heights neighborhood, along a lovely stretch of Sacramento Street, a four-block walk from the Presidio. At Hudson Grace, the emphasis is on casual California living, with handsome earthenware, rustic serving boards, and gourmet treats. March sells everything from Aga ranges to Billy Cotton flatware to John Pawson ceramics. “It’s great for hand-thrown pottery, must-have textiles, and all the gadgets you never knew you needed,” Fulk says. Next door is the West Coast outpost of the Manhattan design shop the Future Perfect, offering cutting-edge furniture and lighting from designers like Autoban, Piet Hein Eek, and Lindsey Adelman. A few streets away is the old-school Hotel Drisco, where interior designer Ann Getty sends friends for the night if her guest rooms are full.
And these days, that’s the case more often than not, as travelers want to experience for themselves how this treasured American city is growing in influence. “Like London or Hong Kong, but at a fraction of their size, San Francisco is one of those international cities with a real reputation and desirability. That,” Traina says, “is what makes it so interesting.”
