Mili, a luxurious new wine bar, is opening in downtown SF
A new wine bar is opening Wednesday in downtown San Francisco, hoping to lure business office employees for content hour treats and glasses of substantial-close French wine.
Mili, which indicates “meeting” in Sanskrit, is located on the ground stage of the Mira Developing, a twisted-searching, 39-story rental tower close to the Embarcadero. Its wine assortment leans towards the vintage, with plenty of pours accessible from areas like France’s Burgundy and Bordeaux, moreover Napa Valley. (Wines selection from $12.50-$90 for each glass.) A small meals menu involves objects like caviar, charcuterie boards and pate en croute.
Opening a wine bar was not normally in the strategies for owner Shubhra Sarkar. A longtime Silicon Valley engineer, she manufactured a career transform in 2020 the moment the pandemic hit. She enrolled in a master of good arts software for portray. And she made the decision to lastly act on her enthusiasm for wine, which she and her partner experienced developed throughout their substantial travels close to the world.
“We’ve been to 50+ international locations,” Sarkar claimed. (They ticked off their seventh continent, Antarctica, in December.) “We’ve been experiencing amassing all forms of wines from the different destinations we visit.” She had especially memorable encounters in Santorini, Greece and Casablanca, Chile.
Mili will provide treats like caviar, pate en croute and charcuterie.
Provided by MiliConsidering the fact that Sarkar had by no means operate a bar or restaurant prior to, she employed people today with practical experience, which includes standard manager John Jasso, who formerly worked at high-quality-dining favorites Gary Danko and the Progress, and consulting sommelier Renee-Nicole Kubin, formerly of well known bistros Nopa and Routier.
Structure-clever, Sarkar was aiming for a space that feels “friendly but chic,” she stated. She brought on nearby architecture agency Studio BBA to style and design the space, which was brand name-new construction and does not consist of a full kitchen. It features zinc countertops, fashionable chairs from Mission District furniture maker Fyrn and dishes from Oakland ceramicist Sarah Kersten.
Downtown San Francisco has been famously sluggish to rebound considering the fact that pandemic constraints eased, with many place of work properties nonetheless sitting vacant. But Sarkar, whose apartment is positioned very near to Mili, explained that this particular part of downtown — the East Reduce — would seem to be coming alive once more. “We are opposite the Gap headquarters, and we have all the condominiums near by,” she mentioned. “We want to cater to men and women who want a little something casual, probably not a complete meal, but just a area to have a drink.”
The vibe may perhaps be relaxed, but some of the rates are not. A lot of of the opening list’s wines by the glass, all obtainable in 5- or 2- ounce pours, are splurges. Prestigious white Burgundy from appellations like Chablis and Chassagne-Montrachet will go for $75 and $68, respectively, for every 5-ounce pour, when a glass of Vine Hill Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley — built by Francoise Peschon, a onetime Chronicle Winemaker of the Year — is $90 for 5 ounces.
Shubhra Sarkar, a longtime Silicon Valley engineer, is the proprietor of new San Francisco wine bar Mili.
Courtesy Anirban SenguptaOther glasses are far more in line with common San Francisco pricing these days, like a $15 glass of Assyrtiko, the crisp, Sauvignon Blanc-esque white wine from Greece, and a $14 red mix from Portugal.
Sarkar hopes that Mili will dwell up to the spirit of its title: a put for assembly and socializing. “It’s easy to say, it speaks to our roots — since we are from India — and it just appeared like a fantastic title for a collecting area,” she mentioned.
Mili. Opening Wednesday. 4:30-10 p.m. Monday-Friday and noon-10 p.m. Saturday. 110 Folsom St., San Francisco. miliwinebar.com
Esther Mobley is The San Francisco Chronicle’s senior wine critic. E mail: [email protected]