Americano Restaurant at the Hotel Vitale...

John and I have spent the last two Friday evenings at the Americano Restaurant at the Hotel Vitale on the Embarcadero in San Francisco. It is the newest boutique hotels in the city. After seeing the crowds of hip 3o somethings here on Friday night, this has become the new hot spot for the after work crowd. Our first visit to the Americano was with John's coworkers for an afterwork happy hour. We sat our on their large patio area facing the Ferry Building. Our second visit a week later was an invitation from our good friend Mike. Mike had rented a room at the hotel and invited a small group of friends to join him for cocktails. We hung out on the terrace on the 5th Floor. We had to share the space with the Dwell magazine staff who were having a private party at the same time (below).

After cocktails, we had dinner at the Americano. The decor is very warm and and modern with lots of glass, stone, and wood. The ceilings have paintings of people in various vinettes of repose. The food was great. We started off with a walnut, pear, and blue cheese salad. For an entree, I had the mushroom tagliolini pasta, and John had the braised lamb shank with a wild mushroom sauce. I can't take credit for all of these pictures, but I wanted to add them to give an idea of the atmosphere inside the restaurant.


Entrance to the Americano (above).

The circular Americano Lounge with views of the Bay Bridge (above).


Private dining room (above).