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 Boulevard
is located in San Francisco’s revitalized waterfront district. Opened
in September 1993, the restaurant is a collaboration between Executive
Chef Nancy Oakes and restaurateur/designer Pat Kuleto. A considerable
search took place to find the perfect building to house the restaurant
of the newly-forged partnership between self-taught chef Nancy Oakes
and self-taught restaurant designer Pat Kuleto. The search took Kuleto
to the San Francisco waterfront where Oakes’ first restaurant had
been. There, he found the run-down 1889 French-style Audiffred Building,
one of the few structures spared from the 1906 earthquake and fire.
Any concern Kuleto may have felt about his new partner’s reaction
to the historic landmark disappeared the moment Oakes saw the Audiffred
Building. “She walked right up to the building and hugged it,” laughs
Kuleto, and so, in 1993, the two opened Boulevard, the 145-seat restaurant
they created on the foundation that diners need to be comforted by
their surroundings as well as by their food. Situated at the foot
of San Francisco’s Mission Street at the corner of Steuart, just across
from the Ferry Plaza, the Audiffred Building revealed plenty of stories
in its long history. A favorite is the one about the former Bulkhead
Coffee Parlor’s saloonkeeper. He held off firemen ready to dynamite
the  Audiffred
to halt the spread of fire in the 1906 earthquake aftermath. In order
to save the building, he promised them two quarts of whiskey apiece
and a firehouse cart full of wine. The beauty of Boulevard’s three-story
historic home, built in the style of Parisian commercial buildings
of its day - with its mansard roof, brick exterior and perfect scale
- was magnified by the completion in October 1996 of the San Francisco
waterfront revival project. This included removing the freeway overpass,
which allowed unobstructed views of the Bay Bridge and Treasure Island,
as well as renovating the nearby historic Rincon Center. Kuleto created
an entrance to the restaurant that causes guests to pause just long
enough to be transported to the Belle Époque spirit of the interior
by installing an antique wooden turn-style door he found. The long
narrow room inside allowed Kuleto to create three distinct spaces,
building on the very same intimacy Chef Oakes achieves with her food.
Adding to the grand entrance that is part of any Kuleto design is
a peacock mosaic tile design that covers the entire bar floor. Set
in the middle of the space is the exhibition kitchen with its wood-burning
oven and counter seating that allows guests to watch all of the activity
and dynamics of the restaurant. The third section, affectionately
called “the bulkhead” is elevated to take complete advantage of the
windows’ perfectly framed views of the Bay Bridge and Treasure Island.
With its hand-blown art nouveau glass light fixtures, pressed tin,
steel girders and artisan ironwork throughout, Kuleto has created
a timeless, homey interior - one that communicates the building’s
past along with the present excitement of the city. Boulevard, recently
chosen for the seventh year in a row by the Zagat Survey as the Bay
Area’s favorite restaurant, is located at One Mission Street at Steuart
in San Francisco’s waterfront district.
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