In May, Sanctuary on Camelback Mountain added a retreat designed to promote wellness and reflection. The 3,500-square-foot Spa House is sleek and spacious, with a full kitchen, dining room, living room, in-house treatment room, wrap-around patio, and private outdoor pool. The house sleeps eight guests, and four neighboring Terrace Suites add room for eight more. Spa House can hold indoor cocktail receptions for 30 guests or use the lawn for events of as many as 80. A spa concierge is available to arrange experiences such as meditative coloring books or bedtime aromatherapy massages.
James Beard-nominated chef Gio Osso opened Nico Heirloom Kitchen in May in Gilbert. The 3,217-square-foot restaurant can accommodate 130 seated guests, and planners can use two 50-inch televisions for audiovisual presentations. Design touches such as an open kitchen and a patio herb garden create a comfortable yet upscale atmosphere. The cuisine ranges from light fare to a 50-ounce prime tomahawk rib eye, all focusing on Italian family recipes and made with local ingredients.
Blending the atmosphere of a rustic farmhouse with nautical design elements, the Herb Box opened its third location in April. The 3,100-square-foot restaurant in midtown Phoenix has a modern, airy feel, with high ceilings, exposed wood beams, chandeliers, and whitewashed walls. Three spaces are available for events: The main dining room seats 90, the patio seats 56, and a private dining area seats eight. An in-house sound system and an HDMI-equipped television are available for events. The menu offers a fresh take on American cuisine, including a number of gluten-free, vegetarian, and vegan items.
Nook Kitchen opened its second location in April in downtown Phoenix. Serving American cuisine with Italian influences, the 2,100-square-foot restaurant seats 115 guests in the swanky dining room and 33 on the patio. The venue is attached to the 170-room Hilton Garden Inn, but thoughtful touches like a bar with built-in charging stations and a nine-foot illuminated wine tower make Nook a destination in its own right.
Thirsty Lion, a mini-chain of upscale gastropubs, opened its eighth location in May in Gilbert's SanTan Village. The 7,500-square-foot space includes two patios that can be used for private events; each can seat about 50 people.
With the opening of Sel in April, Scottsdale has a new fine dining destination that focuses on simple, global cuisine. Seasonal artisan cocktails complement elegant dishes. The restaurant includes 1,500 square feet of indoor space and 1,500 square feet of outdoor space, each of which can seat about 50 guests. For events, there is an in-house speaker system, which can be heard both inside and outside.
Celebrated burger chain Shake Shack opened a location in Fashion Square in late February. The casual 3,3000-square-foot eatery features custom architecture, a community-oriented design, and wood reclaimed from a former local tobacco farm. Meeting planners can reserve the dog-friendly 1,500-square-foot patio, which has 53 seats and includes a fire pit and a foosball table.
Holiday Inn Suites Phoenix Airport North opened Burger Theory, a new dining outlet, in March. Patrons can enjoy more than 30 varieties of craft beer alongside a custom burger menu that includes more than 4,000 combinations. Burger Theory seats 100 guests in an open layout. Between the hotel and the restaurant, the venue offers a total of 11,000 square feet of flexible meeting space. A third-party audiovisual team can be brought in as needed.
In April, Aloft Scottsdale opened in Scottsdale's Entertainment District. This hip and casual hotel from Starwood houses 126 guest rooms, all of which include amenities such as keyless entry controlled by smartphones, access to the onsite fitness center, and free high-speed Wi-Fi. Meeting planners can reserve the Tactic Room, a 426-square-foot space that can seat 40 people theater style, as well as the 1,300-square-foot W XYZ Bar & Lounge, a trendy onsite outlet with a patio and views of Camelback Mountain.
Old Town Scottsdale welcomed Social Tap American Eatery in April. Measuring 6,000 square feet, Social Tap can seat 250 guests or accommodate 350 cocktail-style. Indoor and covered outdoor seating is available, along with craft beer and spirits and American and Mexican cuisine. Audiovisual equipment includes a microphone, DVD player, AppleTV, music plugins, and 30 television screens.
Opened in June to much public attention is Skyspace from U.S. Bank Tower owner OUE. The space on the building’s 70th floor offers 360-degree views from California’s tallest open-air observation deck, nearly 1,000 feet above Downtown Los Angeles. For events, the 3,500-square-foot private space and bar holds 300 for receptions. The space also connects to the new Skyslide attraction, an all-glass slide from the 70th floor down to the 69th—along the outside of the building. On the 69th floor, there are also two outdoor observation decks facing northwest and southeast, totaling 2,500 square feet.
The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art’s highly anticipated $305 million expansion opened to the public in May, nearly tripling the museum’s gallery space. The 10-story expansion was designed by architecture firm Snøhetta, and inspired in part by the waters and fog of the San Francisco Bay. The expansion includes 170,000 square feet of new and renovated indoor and outdoor galleries tailored to the collection, enabling S.F.M.O.M.A. to display more of its holdings of modern and contemporary artworks. The redesigned S.F.M.O.M.A. also debuted its new restaurant, In Situ, in June. Helmed by Brandon Rodgers and Corey Lee, In Situ serves dishes from acclaimed chefs across the world, such as Rene Redzepi of Copenhagen’s Noma and Alice Waters of Berkeley’s Chez Panisse. The sleek restaurant—decorated with a wood canopy, a mural, and colorful art—seats 60 in the dining room, while the lounge accommodates 70 people in communal seating. In Situ doesn't have a private room, but the restaurant can arrange reservations for large groups of as many as 22 guests or full buyouts.
Napa Valley Marriott Hotel and Spa recently underwent a $12 million renovation, unveiling new guest rooms and a resort-style pool and courtyard in June. The hotel offers more than 22,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor event space, including two ballrooms, two outdoor courtyards, and 12 meeting rooms with flexible layouts. The entire pool and courtyard area is available for private events for groups of as many as 300 guests. By fall, all of the hotel’s interior meeting space will be outfitted with new carpeting, LED lighting, and the latest in digital reader board software with informative monitors.
The Marker San Francisco joined Joie de Vivre Hotels in June, and that same month, the hotel opened a new 112-seat Italian restaurant called Tratto. The restaurant includes a private dining room that seats as many as 26. The Marker also debuted a meeting space and ballroom called the Bellevue Room in January. Designed by Ken Fulk, the Bellevue Room’s floor-to-ceiling windows offer views of the Theatre District, while decor accents include focal points such as striking chandeliers. The Bellevue Room can host as many as 350 people standing or as many as 200 seated.
Horsefeather opened in June in San Francisco’s NoPa neighborhood. The cocktail bar and New American restaurant is headed by Justin Lew, Ian Scalzo, and chef Ryan Chinchilla. There’s an atrium-style patio that’s heated and enclosed in the winter and open in the summer, while decor includes oak wood paneling and banquette seating. The venue, which can seat 49 people, is open daily for dinner, and serves lunch on weekends.
Hotel Grace is Pineapple Hospitality’s very first hotel to open in San Francisco. Debuting in June in downtown San Francisco, the 93-room hotel was designed by Glenn Texeira and San Francisco-based architecture firm Stanton Architecture in keeping with the building’s 103-year-old history. Hotel Grace offers a 5,000-square-foot lobby, including a lounge area and bar space that can host as many as 130 for receptions. At the back of the lobby sits the hotel’s Gathering Room, which seats as many as 12 guests.
Eastern Mediterranean-inspired bistro Tawla, which is open daily for dinner, launched in June in the Mission District. The restaurant has colorful design accents, such as turquoise walls and tiles, pendant lights, and an art installation made of Turkish coffee cups. Another design detail is a living wall in which greenery climbs latticework with an arabesque design reminiscent of patterns found in the Eastern Mediterranean. The restaurant and patio seat 66, and Tawla’s private dining room seats 12.
Spin, a ping-pong-theme chain co-founded by Susan Sarandon, opened an outpost in San Francisco’s SoMa neighborhood in May. The 12,000-square-foot social club includes murals and art from the likes of Shepard Fairey alongside 19 ping pong tables. Spin serves food and drinks, and is available for private events. The space can host as many as 500 guests for reception-style events or 350 seated guests.
For views of AT&T Park, San Francisco Bay, and the Bay Bridge, a private dining room is available on the second story of Atwater Tavern.The 10,000-square-foot restaurant, which is open daily for dinner, launched in May on the waterfront, and its space called the Crow’s Nest seats 30 or holds as many as 45 for a standing cocktail party. The adjacent outdoor deck, the Perch, is available for rental in conjunction with the Crow's Nest.
In May, Absinthe Group debuted the Spanish restaurant Bellota in the SoMa neighborhood. The 5,300-square-foot restaurant, which is open for dinner every day except Sunday, includes a 30-seat full bar and lounge and a 140-seat dining room. Bellota’s semiprivate area is available for events, and can host as many as 32 seated guests or 45 for a standing reception.
Temescal Brewing opened in Oakland in June, with a tap room and large outdoor beer garden decorated with colorful murals. The brewery does not host full buyouts, but does allow large groups to reserve as many as four tables in the beer garden, with 32 seats and total standing capacity for 50 guests. Temescal Brewing is open every day except Monday. The brewery serves free popcorn, and welcomes well-behaved dogs and children.
Tasting Room Del Mar, located in the heart of Del Mar’s bustling downtown, is a bar/restaurant that opened in June. The 2,400-square-foot-space encompasses indoor and outdoor seating, with a wraparound bar overlooking Camino Del Mar and bits of the ocean. The indoor dining area, which can seat 28 guests, is furnished with dark warm woods and a view of the kitchen. The adjoining patio can hold as many as 50 additional seated guests. Tasting Room Del Mar, which is open every day except Monday, has a menu selection of wine, beer, and American cuisine served as locally sourced small-plate selections that change with the season. The restaurant serves lunch and dinner Tuesday to Thursday and dinner Friday to Sunday.
Cucina Sorella, which opened in June in San Diego’s Kensington neighborhood, has a mix of cushy seating with a bar anchoring the center of the 3,500-square-foot space. This newest addition by Urban Kitchen Group holds 120 guests combined with additional patio seating. The restaurant, which is open every day except Monday, serves dinner and has California-inspired Italian cuisine.
The beer trend continues at Corner DraftHouse in the Bankers Hill neighborhood. Located on Laurel Street, views of Balboa Park are seen from the 3,000-square-foot gastropub with windows opening up to the street. A mix of individual tables, bar seating, and patio seating has capacity for 150 seated guests. The restaurant—which serves American cuisine—is open daily for lunch and dinner, and serves brunch on Saturday and Sunday.
Fine luxury movie-watching extended to Point Loma with the Lot Liberty Station, the second Lot location to open in the area, after the Lot in La Jolla. Open since May, the Liberty Station venue maxes out at 26,000 square feet, encompassing an American restaurant with a total of 160 seats as well as six screening rooms with a total of 400 seats. Each screening room comes equipped with state-of-the-art technology in video and sound, and has seats that can be fully reclined.
In July, the newly renovated Donut Bar in downtown San Diego unveiled a larger space and a beer menu. With room for 70 standing guests, the 1,500-square-foot donut eatery, which is open daily, now has an extended counter selling 20 local beers on tap. What remains of the previous space is an upstairs loft with casual seating and several counter-height tables overlooking the space below.
The spirit of Paris is alive and well in La Jolla with Le Petit Bistrot. Open since June, the cozy 1,700-square-foot French cafe has clean lines with understated blue and white decor and leather-clad banquets. Several patio doors open to seating overlooking downtown La Jolla. The combined seating capacity is 102 guests. Le Petit Bistrot is open daily for lunch and dinner, and serves breakfast on Saturday and Sunday.
Italian dining in Little Italy got a serious upgrade with Barbusa, which opened in July. At a sprawling 4,200 square feet, the restaurant has a mix of leather-bound banquets, private tables, and bar seating overlooking the open kitchen. Capacity for the restaurant, which is open daily for dinner, maxes at out at 130 seated diners.
In June, San Diego Marriott Marquis and Marina unveiled an expansion that includes a two-level stacked ballroom. Approximately $107 million was invested to increase the meeting and event space to 280,000 square feet, including two 36,000-square-foot ballrooms with a capacity for 3,700 guests each. The new space also has a 16-screen video wall system.
Re-opened in June after undergoing a $2.5 million renovation, the Grill at Torrey Pines now has refurbished space focusing on the patio. The new dining area of the American restaurant includes an outdoor wood-burning rotisserie and fire pits with an overhead trellis overlooking the Torrey Pines golf course. Square footage remains at 4,000 square feet, with capacity for 100 seated diners plus 20 at the bar. The restaurant is open daily for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Carmel Valley is the home to Westroot Tavern, which has been open since June. The American bar/restaurant’s 7,000 square feet includes two patios and a second-floor mezzanine. The venue’s gold highlights take advantage of the floor-to-ceiling windows. Seating for 357 includes a mix of bar-height communal tables, booths, and bar seating. Westroot Tavern is open daily for brunch, lunch, and dinner. Breakfast is served on Saturday and Sunday.
