Circolo Lounge & Restaurant

Circolo has consistently received high acclaim from across the country since its opening in 2004. The Zagat Guide hailed the restaurant as 'Arguably the most ambitious dining and nightlife venue since the beginning of the dot.com era.' It was awarded the Gayot SF 'New and Notable' award shortly after it first opened and was recently included in its '10 Best SF Restaurant/Lounge Awards.'

Situated in the heart of the city's media gulch, Circolo is conveniently located near downtown San Francisco, China Basin, Bay Bridge and major access points to destinations north, south and east of the city.

Executive Chef Ben de Vries creative and refined approach to Contemporary California Cuisine is paired with a world-class selection of signature cocktails by world acclaimed Mixologist H. Joseph Ehrmann that reflects the vision and energy of one of San Francisco's foremost dining spots.

Executive Chef Ben de Vries
Renowned Executive Chef Ben de Vries delivers more than twenty years of experience in the culinary industry. De Vries attended Vermont's New England Culinary Institute. He then worked at several East Coast restaurants before moving to San Francisco. He began his West Coast career as sous chef at the popular Provencal restaurant, LuLu. He contributed to the launches of Scala's Bistro and Vertigo before becoming opening sous chef at the French-Japanese restaurant mc2. He was then recruited to take the helm at Ristorante Ecco, where his fresh take on Italian cuisine gained the respect of critics, including a three-star review from Michael Bauer at the San Francisco Chronicle. Prior to opening up his landmark restaurant luellas in 2004, de Vries was executive chef at Andalu, where he reached a creative high with a tapas concept that caught the attention of the national press, including the New York Times, Bon Appetit, Food and Wine and Gourmet.

De Vries has redefined Circolo's award-winning cuisine with his own signature style. By launching a new menu based on shared plates, Circolo is promoting an inviting ambiance for 'family style' dining.

Mixologist H. Joseph Ehrmann
H. Joseph Ehrmann, better known as H., started his career in 1986 as a cook on the beaches of New Jersey, under New Orleans' renowned chef Duke Locicero. He went on to cook, serve, manage and bartend in Boston, Orlando, Washington DC, Vail and Phoenix before completing an MBA in International Management from Thunderbird. In November 2003 H restored one of the oldest saloons in San Francisco and reopened it as Elixir.

H. and his cocktails have appeared in numerous media outlets including ABC-TV, TV20, KRON 4, Telemundo, Sirrius Radio, NPR, The Tom Leykis Show, GQ, Esquire, Martha Stewart Living, Men's Health, Food and Wine, Imbibe, Valley Lifestyles, 7x7, San Francisco Magazine, Smoke Magazine, The New York Times, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Bay Guardian, SF Weekly, Beverage Media, Benefit, Restaurant Industry News, Cheers, Food Arts, Sommelier's Journal, MSNBC.com, Tablehopper.com, CocktailTimes.com, ArdentSpirits.com and TheLiquidMuse.com. In addition, he was listed in Food and Wine's 'Top Tastes to Try in 2008', was featured in the June 2008 cover story for Nightclub and Bar Magazine, his 'Bloody Elixir' was named 'The 20 Best Cocktails in America' by 2008 GQ Magazine and Elixir was mentioned in the 2008 Esquire Magazine's 'Best Bars in America'. 2009 began with H. receiving a Cheers Magazine Rising Star Award for his innovative work in mixology and his 'commitment to the 'greening' of the cocktail and the planet, while still being on top of the importance of great taste and flavor demands by the guest'. He was a finalist for 'Operator of the Year' at the 2009 Nightclub and Bar (NCB) Magazine 5 Star Awards and Elixir was listed in the Food and Wine 2009 Cocktail Book's Top 100 Bars list. For 2010 he was named the 2010 NCB Bartender of the Year and was on the cover of the March issue and Elixir was listed in both Esquire Magazine's '2010 Best Bars in America' in the June issue and 'The Top 25 Cocktail Bars in America' in GQ Magazine's August issue.