In a cuisine-rich city as vibrant and eclectic as San Francisco, it’s not often that a restaurant surprises. With so many culinary gems scattered throughout the city, it feels like a rarity to encounter something truly novel. But Café Sebastian manages to deliver unexpected and delightful flavors that elevate even the most familiar dishes. The menu is a reminder that dining in this city can still be an adventure.
Located within the historic and recently renovated Transamerica Redwood Park at the iconic Transamerica Pyramid Center, Café Sebastian is the brainchild of Chef Bradley Kilgore who relocated from Miami last year to open the eatery named for his son. Kilgore also leads the Park’s two other restaurant concepts: MadLab Gelato & Kakigori, and the soon-to-open Japanese/Italian-influenced ama. He also provides catering for the Pyramid’s commercial tenants.
“I’m truly honored and excited to be working in San Francisco.”
Chef Bradley Kilgore
When developing his vision for Café Sebastian, Kilgore wanted to create a versatile space—one that could serve multiple purposes throughout the day. Whether for grabbing a coffee and breakfast pastry on the way to the office, enjoying lunch with colleagues, or meeting friends for dinner, the neighborhood bistro is designed to accommodate it all. Designed by Kevin Klein Design, the space boasts surround windows, high ceilings, and elegantly sleek decor. “The design is meant to convey a straddling of traditional with contemporary, and the convergence of delicate and hard-wearing materials with one another,” says Klein. “Softer features like tubular tufted leather banquettes, round edged walnut tabletops, and carefully curated landscaping elements are contrasted elegantly with hard-combed plaster walls, geometrically oriented French Vanilla marble tiles, and vertically stacked beveled mirror in order to create a feeling of warmth and comfort that also exudes refinement and permanence.”
Café Sebastian’s menu highlights include delicious house made pastries at breakfast time for which Kilgore’s talented baker wife Soraya plays a role: seasonal Babka such as cocoa, apple sage and jamon y queso; cinnamon rolls; banana bread, and an amazing selection of cookies. The lunch menu features original sandwiches such as the Sirloin French Dip with horseradish-boursin, peperonata, sundried oregano, and hot jus, or the Organic Egg Salad with Japanese mayo, cornichon, and shallot on milk bread.
The dinner menu is divvied into Chilled Starters, Warm Starters, Mains and “Just Because.” Standouts include the delish and novel mousse-like Tuna Tartare served with lacy bread crips, and the Nduja Stuffed Medjool Dates in a pepita butter pool. An amazing Chicken Liver Parfait features a delectable sweetness that allows it to double as a dessert item. It’s served with triangles of French toast drizzled with warm, rosemary-scented maple syrup. For mains, I tried the delicate Crab Cake Meuniere featuring Blue and Dungeness crab, lemon, parsley, and capers in a brown butter sauce. And the Short Rib Bourguignon featured a distinctive preparation that included coconut sour cream, toasted shallot, and butterball potatoes.
Save room for one—or both—of the two featured desserts: Pistachio Gelato with salted pistachio praline and Amarena cherry marmalade, and the Fudge Brownie A La Mode with peanut butter dulce de leche, vanilla bean ice gelato and sea salt. Yum.
Café Sebastian’s beverage list, compiled by Kilgore, features Mr. Espresso coffee and espresso drinks as well as organic tea and cold pressed juices in the mornings (carrot, apple ginger, and market greens), and a wine list that features a selection of domestic and international labels, many of which are available in half bottles; prices start at $16 for wines by the glass and $50 for bottles.
Café Sebastian’s home turf, the Transamerica Pyramid Center, recently reopened following a $1 billion dollar investment by SHVO and Deutsche Finance. World-renowned architect Lord Norman Foster and his global design firm Foster + Partners remastered the iconic Transamerica Pyramid, long a symbol of architectural ingenuity, and two adjacent buildings at Two and Three Transamerica, adding a hospitality aesthetic that welcomes tenants and guests with luxurious private amenities and expanded public spaces.
“As a chef, San Francisco has always been on my radar, though I hadn’t yet had the opportunity to work here,” says Kilgore. “I first met Michael Shvo several years ago when we collaborated in Miami. He reached out with the opportunity, and it was an easy decision for me. I’m truly honored and excited to be working in San Francisco. This is a tremendous opportunity to expand my culinary expertise while creating something innovative in such an iconic city.”
Café Sebastian isn’t just another meal; it’s a rediscovery of what makes San Francisco’s food scene so dynamic and full of surprises.
Café Sebastian, Three Transamerica in the Transamerica Redwood Park, San Francisco
Photos by Gamma Nine Photography courtesy of Café Sebastian