Baker & Banker

Husband and wife team Lori Baker and Jeff Banker opened the doors to their restaurant on December 1, 2009. Located in an old apothecary in the residential Pacific Heights neighborhood, Baker and Banker serves up a convivial ambiance for its fresh farm-to-table New American cuisine. Caramel colored walls and leather banquettes summon diners to relax and savor multifaceted dishes from Chef Jeff Banker. Pastry Chef Lori Baker turns out hand crafted breads and sophisticated versions of classic American desserts. Between 16 and 20 wines are available by the glass, and the list favors food-friendly naturally produced wines from sustainably grown grapes.

Baker & Banker is a collective culinary idea, some 12 years in the making. Like most culinary couples, Pastry Chef Lori Baker, & Chef Jeffrey Banker had dreamed of owning & running a restaurant for about as long as they had been together.

Early in their marriage, Jeffrey was a line cook at the Meetinghouse, an earlier incarnation of their current space. It was over the course of Lori’s many visits to the space that the two both fell in love with the building. Eventually (and in the subsequent decade or so that followed) they would refer to the space simply as “our restaurant”.

The pair came dangerously close to settling on a handful of other spaces, but thankfully fate intervened at the nick of time, and the two learned of the availability of “their restaurant”, at 1701 Octavia.

The Food:
Combining their love of serious food & warm hospitality, they have opted to serve upscale dishes at reasonable prices, in an easy & comfortable setting. Sourcing virtually every ingredient direct from local farmers, and drawing significant inspiration from countless years of combined local kitchen experience, the food is perhaps best described as a small expression of the San Francisco food scene from which it was conceived. It is strictly market-driven and varied in cultural influences.

The Chefs:
Lori Baker, a graduate of Johnson and Wales, has been pastry chef at EOS, Home, Slow Club, Gordon’s House of Fine Eats and Bizou and pastry assistant at Postrio, Bix and Fifth Floor under Laurent Gras. She also did stages at Hotel Metropole in Brussels, Belgium and L’Angolo Dolce in Lucca, Italy. She was most recently a professor of pastry at The California Culinary Academy.

Jeff Banker is a chef by training whose early stints include Patina in Los Angeles and Postrio in San Francisco. He was more recently Sous Chef at Acme Chophouse and Bix, Executive Chef for three years at Home Restaurant, Guest Chef at the popular Mission Street Food, and he also staged at (Michelin three-star) Lucas Carton in Paris while attending Le Cordon Bleu on a scholarship awarded by the IACP.

Both have also filled in at their friends’ restaurants Nopa & Delfina.

Sous Chef, Emily Hansen is a graduate of the French Culinary Institute in Manhattan, NY. She has worked with Mario Batali at Del Posto, Daniel Humm at Eleven Madison Park, and comes to Baker & Banker from Restaurant Gary Danko.

The Wine:
Wine Director Collin Casey spent his teenage years in Oregon, beginning his Sommelier path with a modest wine collection at the age of 19. Working his way through years of winery, then retail wine positions, Collin was eventually given the title of Assistant Wine Director at Portland’s Andina under Director Ken Collura. Collura, who had overseen the world’s largest wine list at Bern’s Steak House in Tampa, FL, shared his encyclopedic knowledge with the younger man, & taught him the trade as he would come to understand it. In San Francisco, Casey was Sommelier at La Mar under the wine direction of Master Sommelier Emmanuel Kemiji.

Casey’s initial list holds about 100 labels, including a rotating cast of between 16 & 20 wines by the glass. The list is a reflection of his commitment to menu-oriented, terroir-driven, naturally produced wines, from small houses. Virtually all of the current vintage wines are made from sustainably grown grapes. Older vintages from some famous houses also make a noteworthy appearance.

The Space:
Designer Michael Brennan evokes the spirit of the site’s original apothecary with charcoal black edged in tarnished gold leaf on the molding and woodwork. Light caramel walls add a glowing warmth. A whimsical yet functional ceiling pipe system reminiscent of gaslights is the grid for contemporary light fixtures fitted with Edison bulbs. Chalkboards on the walls announce wines by the glass, beers, cheeses, and specials. Banquettes upholstered in espresso leather and walnut hued butcher-block tables add to the warm, casual ambience. The room also features a four-seat bar, reserved strictly for walk-in guests, and a back bar with woodwork from the 40’s.