Pat Kuleto

DESIGNER + OWNER

“Savoring a perfect meal should be more than a little like falling in love.”

— Pat Kuleto

With a career spanning more than 40 years, Pat Kuleto has revolutionized the field of design and established himself as one of the world's most visionary restaurateurs. Innovative and unique, Pat's name exploded onto the scene in 1985 with the creation of San Francisco's beloved Fog City Diner (his 110th design) and almost single-handedly established restaurant design as a specialty in its own right. Since then Pat has helped craft over 170 restaurants including Atlanta's Buckhead Diner, Chicago's Papagus and San Francisco's world-renowned Postrio.

Pat Kuleto then established himself as a leading restaurateur through his pioneering collaborations with some of the country's most acclaimed chefs, including Nancy Oakes, Mark Franz, Todd Humphries and Traci Des Jardins. Blessed with an all-encompassing sense of design that goes beyond the details and directly to the essence of a project, Pat's breathtaking restaurant creations have consistently transformed the Bay Area's world-class culinary landscape, seamlessly blending the most inspired elements of food, wine and design.

Over the years, Pat Kuleto's name has become synonymous with excellence. A leader in the hospitality field, in 1999 Pat won Bon Appetit's Food and Entertaining Award for Best Designer and was honored the following year by Time magazine as one of the "Top 100 Innovators" in its 2000 Millennium issue. For the man who claims he was born with a building permit, not a birth certificate, the expectations for every new project run high. The driving force and culinary entrepreneur behind several of the Bay Area's most revered dining destinations, some of Pat most cherished creations include:

BOULEVARD

Pat opened Boulevard in San Francisco with chef Nancy Oakes in 1993. With its intimate Belle Epoque aesthetic and remarkable Oak's inspired cuisine, Boulevard has become an American classic. Selected as the Bay Area's favorite restaurant by the Zagat Survey for an incredible seven straight years, Boulevard raises the already high bar in a city famed for its restaurants.

FARALLON

Continuing to co-create some of the Bay Area's most beloved and visually captivating restaurants, Pat and chef Mark Franz, of Stars restaurant fame, opened Farallon near San Francisco's Union Square. Drawing on their mutual love of the ocean, Pat designed a whimsical and seductive undersea fantasy to match Franz's inspired "Coastal Cuisine."

JARDINIÈRE

In the same year he opened Farallon, Pat collaborated with chef Traci Des Jardins, known for her work at Rubicon, to open Jardinière. Housed in a landmark building in San Francisco's Civic Center neighborhood, Jardinière showcased sophisticated, award-winning French-California cuisine served in a celebratory Kuleto-designed environment that is dramatic and sexy, yet warm and inviting.

KULETO ESTATE FAMILY WINERY

Champion of the life well lived, Pat established Kuleto Estate on a 761-acre property located in the mountains that form the Hennessey Basin overlooking the Napa Valley. Marrying the eye of a master designer and the heart of a vintner, Pat has sculpted a world-class winery and an idyllic Tuscan-style home amongst the surrounding ranch and vineyards. Crafting an acclaimed portfolio of robust mountain-grown wines including opulent Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel, Syrah, Pinot Noir, Sangiovese and Chardonnay, Pat's sumptuous and structured wines pair effortlessly with good food and great company.

WATERBAR & EPIC STEAK

After a seven-year, San Francisco-wide search for his next restaurant venue, Pat found just what he was looking for in Rincon Park, an incredible site offering breathtaking waterfront locations for not one, but two restaurants. Opening in 2008, these two restaurants offer a playful land-and-sea culinary yin and yang. Working with beloved Bay Area chefs Jan Birnbaum, Parke Ulrich and Mark Franz, Pat has created two stunning venues, "Epic Steak" and "Waterbar."

Reflecting on the current scope of his passions and talents, Kuleto observes, "As a restaurateur, vintner and gardener, I've grown from the medium of design to embrace the wonderful world of food and wine. In that milieu, I do what I love, and I create environments that excite me. I don't believe people fall in love with formulas, they fall in love with inspiration and originality. Savoring a perfect meal should be more than a little like falling in love."