Husband and wife team Jeffrey Banker and Lori Baker just closed escrow on the old Quince space yesterday, but they’ve been planning the restaurant they would open together for a long time. Grub Street first noticed that they were interested in the space back in August, and Banker said they’ve been working on opening a restaurant for a couple years now. The team worked together at Home, where he was a chef and she was a pastry chef. For the last couple of years, she’s been teaching at the California Culinary Academy while he worked as a private chef, staging at Delfina and Nopa along the way. Aiming to open in mid-November, They’re calling the neighborhood bakery and eatery Baker and Banker, after themselves. We caught up with Jeff Banker to ask about plans for the new restaurant and the food, and he gave us a full run-down on the opening menu.
So what’s the concept, in 30 seconds?
[It’s] new American; we’re doing everything in-house from bread to sausage; husband and wife team. We’ll be neighborhood-oriented and farm-driven. Part of the reason I picked the Quince space is that I know a lot of the suppliers I want to use already have it on their route. It makes it easier to continue getting those products… [The bakery] is going to be more of a takeout component where people can do a few sandwiches during the day — Breads, a couple baked goods, cakes, stuff like that… For a long time the space was an apothecary, then it was converted to a restaurant to serve the people around there.
What kinds of changes are you going to make to the actual space? How will it feel different from Quince?
[We’re] really taking it from being so formal. We’ll use hardwood tables as opposed to tablecloths. We’ll soften the colors. Michael Brennan is doing the interior. The idea is to make it feel timeless.
So what will the menu look like?
The idea for the menu is going to be a rotating menu, with five to six appetizers and six to seven entrees. It’s going to change a lot depending on what’s in season. An example of some opening items in November would be:
Appetizers:
-Cauliflower soup with apple chutney, garam masala oil, and toasted almonds,
-House-smoked trout with shaved fennel and apple, horseradish vinaigrette, beet chips
-Full-belly lettuces, fuju persimmons, local chevre, pomegranate molasses vinaigrette
-A duck-liver pate in a jar—my mom’s recipe—with grilled homemade fig bread, shallot jam and cornichons
-Then we want to do a musquee du provence pumpkin ravioli with candied chestnuts, brown butter, and sava
-A sliced veal carpaccio sweetbread “croutons” caper, aioli, and organic watercress.
Entrees:
-Black bass with chorizo, cockles, boulibase broth and rouille
-Seared Liberty duck breast with duck leg bastilla, Swiss chard, and star anise
-Hangar steak with bone marrow herb butter, marinated fried fingerlings and melted Bloomsdale spinach
-Roasted half Fulton Valley chicken with white beans, rapini, and rosemary jus
-Roasted pork tenderloin with cashew mango salad and Thai sauce
Desserts:
-Pumpkin cobbler with cinnamon brittle ice cream
-Braeburn apple crisp cheesecake with balsamic caramel
-White chocolate cranberry pecan pie with cranberry swirl ice cream
-Banana pudding, house-made vanilla wafers, toasted meringue
-Vanilla poached pear sorbet with lavender shortbread.
Earlier: Home Team Taking Over Quince Space [Grub Street SF]
