Lemon Spaghetti with sourdough focaccia, as served at Bosco, a new Italian restaurant, opening early September in SoMa.
Jana Ašenbrennerová/Jana Ašenbrennerová/For the S.F. Chronicle
Kaili Hill and Ryan McIlwraith, executive chefs, pose for a portrait at Bosco, a new Italian restaurant in SoMa.
Jana Ašenbrennerová/Jana Ašenbrennerová/For the S.F. Chronicle
A vast new Italian restaurant is opening in San Francisco, taking over one of the more prominent vacancies in the city.
Bosco will soon transform the space where the acclaimed Spanish restaurant Bellota prepared paella for nearly a decade. The latest restaurant from the hospitality heavyweights at the Absinthe Group will feature pastas and wood-fired dishes that take inspiration from Northern Italy, but incorporate cues from the Bay Area and beyond.
Opening day is Sept. 10.
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Leading the kitchen are two notable Absinthe Group chefs, Kaili Hill and Ryan McIlwraith. The duo met working at the group’s now-closed Spanish restaurant Barcino, and went on to work side-by-side to open the casual Hayes Valley restaurant Arbor. Most recently they worked on starting pan-Mediterranean restaurant Alora on the Embarcadero, owned by the couple behind modern Indian restaurant Rooh.
While the duo spent time traveling through cities like Bologna and Parma to inform their menu, Northern California’s seasonality and the chefs’ individual tastes also show up in the dishes.
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“It’s not classic Italian. It feels San Francisco to us,” McIlwraith said.
Kaili Hill and Ryan McIlwraith, executive chefs, work together in Bosco, a new Italian restaurant, opening in the former Bellota Space.
Jana Ašenbrennerová/Jana Ašenbrennerová/For the S.F. Chronicle
The chefs say they tested over 50 fresh pasta recipes in developing the menu before arriving at six or seven offerings.
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The opening menu will include a lemon spaghetti in a sungold tomato sauce. The semolina for the noodles is mixed with lemon oils and zest, while the bright yellow sauce is made with butter, shallots, vegetable stock and late summer tomatoes.
Filled pastas, such as chicken tortellini, are made with a dough mix of eggs and ultra-fine flour. Diners can order their tortellini in a broth or in a Parmesan cream enlivened with chives, preparations the chefs sampled while travelling. “The simplicity and elegance really spoke to us,” Hill said.
New York steaks with roasted cabbage and lamb shoulder with polenta are among the individual entrees. Shareable wood-fired meat options include a grilled half chicken served with salsa verde and pork ribs with a miso glaze.
The restaurant that previously occupied the space, Bellota, also operated by the Absinthe Group, closed last summer, with the restaurateurs citing a slow recovery from the pandemic and a lack of foot traffic in the area.
“It’s exciting and a relief to get our Brannan space open again,” Absinthe Group founder Bill Russell-Shapiro wrote in a statement to the Chronicle.
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Lots of work had to be done to bring the new restaurant to life. New cooking stations had to be installed for the pasta-intensive menu. Mixing and proofing equipment also went in for Hill to prepare and bake her focaccia and other items. Offerings include a sourdough focaccia, using a starter she has been nurturing for years. The baked loaf is topped with a mix of oil and herbs like rosemary, thyme and parsley. Tigelle, similar to English muffins and common in the Emilia-Romagna region, will be served in plates with salume, pickled vegetables and spreads.
Daily salumi, a dish offered on the menu at Bosco, a new Italian restaurant, opening early September in SoMa.
Jana Ašenbrennerová/Jana Ašenbrennerová/For the S.F. Chronicle
The pass, where food makes its way from the kitchen to the dining room, also had to be reoriented to deliver pasta from the kitchen to tables faster. McIlwraith explained that in the previous buildout, expediting paella was not as time sensitive because the hot metal pans kept the flavorful seafood rice from getting cold.
“It costs a lot of money to do something that you would think is so simple, but we had to do it to make sure food gets out hot,” he said.
Named after the Italian word for “forest” or “woods,” the revamped interior by Helland Architecture includes custom lighting fixtures that mimic dappled light coming through a tree canopy. Deep sylvan green and earthy hues appear in several design elements and in seating. The core layout for Bellota, which accommodates 230 seats, was not altered. A bar area can accommodate 24 seats and a kitchen counter has room for 13 seated diners.
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McIlwraith, Bellota’s first executive chef, said he’s happy to be back. Despite spending years away at other restaurants and the recent renovations, he still feels an uncanny familiarity with the location. “I designed that kitchen and it’s something I was able to dream and build,” he said. “It just fits like a glove.”
Bosco. 888 Brannan St., San Francisco. boscosf.com
Dining and Cooking