Bon Appetit’s new Anecdote restaurant serves major multi-tenant life science campus

Serving as culinary anchor for South San Francisco’s billion-dollar Kilroy Oyster Point (KOP) project is Anecdote, a new two-story, 5,700-sq.ft. waterfront restaurant boasting a full-service dining room and a mezzanine-level cocktail bar offering with breathtaking views of San Francisco Bay. Designed to serve as an amenity for the surrounding 50-acre sustainable KOP waterfront revitalization development that is one of the largest planned life science campuses in the U.S., Anecdote is the product of a partnership between Bon Appétit Management Co. and real estate developer Kilroy Realty Corp. and the latest iteration of a Bon Appetit initiative to serve multi-tenant corporate sites with dining venues that operate as combination corporate cafes and public restaurants.

Anecdote is part of a planned commercial hub at KOP that will also include an abundance of outdoor amenities, new ferry terminals for waterway access on the Bay, a boutique hotel, parks that appeal to tenants and locals alike and connection to the San Francisco Bay Trail, a planned 500-mile walking and cycling path around the entire San Francisco Bay running through all nine Bay Area counties, 47 cities, and seven toll bridges.

Led by Bon Appétit Culinary Director Robbie Lewis (Chez Panisse, Boulevard, Rubicon, 42 Degrees, The Village Pub, Jardinière) and mixologist/bar consultant Enrique Sanchez (Bacar, Lulu Restaurant, Range, Tres Agaves, Beretta, La Mar Cebichería, Frescas Restaurants), Anecdote invites guests to linger over eclectic fare in its airy dining room or steal away for happy hour upstairs in the mezzanine-level “bar a” cocktail bar with its menu of small bites and breathtaking views of the bay.

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Reflecting the ongoing sustainability focus of both Bon Appetit and Kilroy, Anecdote’s everything-from-scratch kitchen prioritizes environmental impact, local producers and traceable sourcing, turning out such diverse lunch offerings as Cajun salmon tacos, a blackened wild salmon sandwich, cocina milonga empanadas and an Anecdote panzanella salad. Breakfast specialties range from the smoked Passmore Ranch rainbow trout bagel, an egg and Niman Ranch bacon hand pie, the Anecdote breakfast sandwich with scrambled cage-free eggs and an assortment of pastries from Panorama Bakery.

The concept debuted with weekday breakfast and lunch service alongside a Thursday evening Happy Hour but plans to expand its hours and operation with the future development of the Kilroy Oyster Point campus, which is currently 100% leased in phase one and has broken ground on phase two.

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Designed by Seattle-based SkB Architects, the restaurant's waterfront footprint and geographical context informed the design direction and works of art. SkB channeled the ease of coastal lifestyle and sourced materials from local area purveyors. Elements such as rope detailing at various scales, buoy-inspired fixtures, and brass hardware are carefully layered to create an airy, laid-back environment. Kilroy's art consultancy partner, DPA Fine Art Consulting, commissioned the restaurant’s impressive art program featuring site-specific works by renowned artists such as Molly Hatch, Emma Larson, Andrea Chung, and Moss & Lam. With a capacity for approximately 200 guests, a deliberate mix of seating offers casual dining, private dining, bar and open kitchen seating.