This week’s big-time opening goes down tomorrow when Hubert Keller opens the San Francisco location of Burger Bar inside Macy’s. After two years in the making, Keller is understandably excited about the opening. “It’s like being pregnant and finally going into labor, and I guess tomorrow we’re going to have that baby,” he told Grub Street on the phone today. The menu will be the same as those in Vegas and St. Louis, but they’ve added a build-your-own milkshake station, with custom shakes for kids and adults (those have booze in them). There’s also a unique glassed-in cutting room so customers can see the meat go from rounds to burgers, and a sixth-floor view of Union Square.
The chef, Jeffrey Kania, comes from the Burger Bar in St. Louis, but the rest of the staff is local. General Manager Danielle Kuzinich left her post as beverage director at the Grand Cafe to work for Keller and took bartender Nick Varsick with her. He’ll be heading the bar at Burger Bar and designing cocktails. While a DJ named Frenchy La Freak is scheduled to work tonight’s opening party, Keller said “Depending on how the party will go, I might jump behind the tables.”