Jardinière, a Pioneer of High-End Dining and Design in San Francisco, Will Close

That really is a very tone deaf headline. Hopefully an apology will be forthcoming.

Shame on the Times. Below the headline is the following “ The chef Traci Des Jardins says she’s ‘tired of fine dining’ and wants to focus on Mexican food.“ The implication being that Mexican food excludes fine dining.

Brave chef. She resisted change, until change has become irresistible.

So many terrific memories at this gorgeous bar. Thank you and best of luck with the future endeavors!

"The chef Traci Des Jardins says she’s ‘tired of fine dining’ and wants to focus on Mexican food." Now there's a quote that's just begging to be walked back.

Not surprised. I've lived a block away for 5 years and ate there twice and was underwhelmed both times. Awesome building though. Now just too much competition in the neighborhood so expectations are high.

Jardiniere was a destination of a kind for those of us that don't live in an urban area and visited San Francisco for our annual or semi-annual dose of big city. As such, we never felt that the fine-dining concept was old, rather it was one of the dining experiences available to us as visitors and we loved it. We will miss it but will recall it with fondness and an appreciation of its life well lived! Thank you Ms. Des Jardins, and to your team. Good luck with your future choices.

Yea, caviar, aged beef, duck liver, short ribs. Not my cup of tea. I prefer sustainable cooking. Cut out more animal meat. Not sustainable.

A good time to say ‘good bye’ to fine dining. It’s exhausting for the chef and staff. Such a wise move to move on. Congrats on the difficult decision and best of luck in the new venture(s).

We seem to be watching -- participating in -- evolution. Terra in St. Helena, Alex Restaurant in Rutherford, and now Jardiniere and other distinguished restaurants in the Bay Area go extinct. So do many not so elite but very good restaurants. There are too many to name. These are losses. It's a tough business. And financials aside, chef burnout must also be a factor. But there are not only many, many survivors, there are net gains as well. Domenique Crenn (Atelier Crenn) and Ron Siegel (Madcap), for example, thrill us with their innovations and skills. Cala and Plaj, each just a stone's throw from Jardiniere, bring other culinary worlds to our tables. Like evolution, the turnover is a process, and while we lose, we also gain. I choose to respect and savor the survivors, but also celebrate the new. I cheer any skilled and imaginative chef who dares to challenge my palate and offer me a new and different dining experience. On the whole, the dining scene in the Bay Area -- fine and otherwise -- is improved by the evolution that occurs.

She probably could have sparked a resurgence by remodeling the dark, oppressive interior. I thought the interior was bad from get-go and I rarely went there because of it. To me, the food was good, sometimes great, never thrilling. I sometimes went and sat in the bar with friends after a performance, but we usually chose the late-night vitality of Zuni Cafe, a few blocks away. Jardiniere always made me feel like I was in a scene from "Blue Velvet."

I ran a "fine dining" restaurant in Santa Barbara in the '90s, and felt it was a tired a concept even back then.

"I’m tired of fine dining." I've ALWAYS been tired of fine dining. Unfortunately, just about everything in SF is 'fine dining' of one sort or another. The City now seems to be 3/4 boutique and 1/4 homeless.

Jardiniere was wonderful in its heyday, but based on my last dinner there, I'm not at all surprised to hear that it's not thriving. Jardiniere is no longer what San Francisco fine dining is all about.

We were there at the opening, and have been consistent customers ever since. Traci is right ... time and things change and its not a bad idea to move on. But oh the memories! The very first dinner we had there our waiter apologized for the slowness of our halibut to appear. He explained that Traci had checked it as it came out of the kitchen, and was not satisfied with it. We often stop by at the bar for a glass of wine and a nosh as we wait for the crowd from the opera to disperse before we retrieve our car from the garage. BUT if you haven't visited Traci's other restaurants in the Ferry Building, the ballpark, and at the Presidio. Do it. She's still the master!

A place that made any occasion a special one. The interior is remarkable; I suspect there's not much hope of preserving it for whatever goes into the space. If you've never been there, search for "Jardiniere sf interior" for some images.

Friday night, 7:30PM, at the Jardinière bar, a very cold martini in hand, Ahhhhhhh... the weekend is here!

I hope they reopen soon.

I loved the Monday night three course menu at Jardiniere. I will be sad to see Jardiniere go. I am tired of fine dining too. It's become cost prohibitive. I'm excited to see what happens next for Ms. Des Jardins.

For those of us not in the restaurant business, can you define what "technique-driven" means?

Jardiniere was awesome and, in its heyday, one of the few restaurants to serve 150+ guests between 5 and 7:30 p.m. with such consistency in their amazing dishes. Not to mention to do another 75 or more again at 11:30 after the opera let out. Will be missed.

My favorite Jardinière story was after the actual meal. I was waiting outside the door while my friends used the lavatories prior to walking across the street to symphony hall. A man was demanding that the valet immediately retrieve his car. The valet, wearing a hoodie was extremely apologetic for the delay. The man became increasingly angry, profanely demanding WHERE IS MY CAR as the valet scurried about. Another valet dashed up and looked at the first valet with puzzlement. At which point the first valet took of his hoodie. It was Robin Williams. The angry man's wife burst out laughing but her husband was so worked up all he could do was stand there and splutter. Robin gave the wife a hug and strolled off into the night. RIP Jardinière and Mr. Williams.