Fine dining restaurant Luce at InterContinental SF Hotel in downtown San Francisco announces its official reopening with new Executive Chef Rogelio Garcia on Friday, October 8, 2021. Chef Garcia joins the Luce team following Executive Chef positions at 1 Michelin-starred Spruce (SF), Angèle (Napa), and Traci Des Jardins’ The Commissary (SF), as well as being Chef de Partie at 3-star Thomas Keller’s The French Laundry (Yountville). Chef brings a refined technique to his tasting menu that’s at once opulent, inventive, and comforting to the palate. Luce presents an idiosyncratic wine program carrying the prestige of the “Best of Award of Excellence” from Wine Spectator magazine.
Luce garnered international acclaim upon receiving 1-star from the Michelin Guide with Chef Dominique Crenn (2010) at the helm of the kitchen; one of the world’s premier women chefs. Under the stewardship of Chef Daniel Corey, Luce maintained its Michelin star for 10 consecutive years until its 2019 closure due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Chef Garcia takes the reins after curating singular menus at San Francisco Bay Area’s finest restaurants; as well as an appearance on Bravo’s Top Chef.
Born in Mexico City and raised in Los Angeles and Napa by a single mother, Chef Garcia rose to acclaim on an untraditional path to becoming one of San Francisco’s rising star chefs. With no formal training, Chef Garcia entered the restaurant industry at age 16 and has risen the ranks on his pursuit of culinary distinction. He first moonlighted as a dishwasher at a Yountville hotel restaurant during his high school years. While raising two sons who were both born before Garcia turned 20, he remained steadfast in his determination to reach his greatest dreams.
Over two decades, Garcia cooked and staged at Hurley’s (Napa), Angèle (Napa), Redd (Yountville), Calistoga Ranch, and Michael Minna (SF) before landing a cooking position at Cyrus (Healdsburg), then The French Laundry. Today, Chef Garcia designs an elegant tasting menu at one of the city’s foremost downtown restaurants.
Luce (meaning “light” in Italian) reopens as the modern American cuisine mecca it’s garnered an indelible reputation for by serving exquisite dishes with seasonality and sustainability at the heart of their identity. Chef Garcia crafts dishes with great intention to the delight of diners, and to celebrate the bounty of local ingredients procured from select purveyors. Over the years, Garcia has developed close partnerships with farmers at the CUESA’s Ferry Plaza Farmers Market including: Tenbrink Farms, K and J Orchard, Dirty Girl Produce, Zuckerman Farms, Tsar Nicolai Caviar, Rue @ Forsman Ranch, Chefs Warehouse, Ports Seafood, Hook to Fork, The Joint Seafood, and Flannery Beef. Ingredients sourced directly from these purveyors are exclusively featured on Luce’s opening 8-course tasting menu.
The Chefs Tasting Menu at Luce opens with Castelvetrano Sourdough and Milk Bread (Vermont Cultured Butter) and ventures next to French Perlita Caviar (Lime Crème Fraiche, Corn). Entrée dishes include Early Girl Tomato Gazpacho (Sun Gold Tomato, Lemon Olive Oil, Alaskan King Crab), Blue Fin Tuna (Galia Melons, Avocado), Japanese Oak Grilled Hawaiian Kampachi (Sacramento Calrose Rice, Golden Chanterelles), Wild Alaskan Halibut (Eggplant, Jimmy Nardelo, Sauce Vin Blanc), Pistachio Crusted Duck (Turnips, Mission Figs, Gizzard Port Reduction: pictured above), and Japanese Oak Grilled Australian Wagyu (Tuscan Kale, Australian Black Truffle, Oxtail Raviolon). Desserts include Tenbrink Farms Stoneftuit (Pavlova, Crème Fraiche), and Warm Dark Chocolate Torte (Caramel).
Luce welcomes diners Thursdays through Sundays for seating between 5:30pm – 9pm. The 8-course tasting menu is $145 (vegetarian menu is available upon request), and a 4-course menu is $95.
