Common Ground: Prana

December 2007 | Healthy Living :: Tastebuds

Prana

San Francisco’s first intergalactic eco-archeological dining experiment

By Andy Isaacson

By design, entering Prana is ritualistic. SOMA’s grittiness falls away the moment you step through the restaurant’s massive doors and into the dimly-lit reception chamber — lined with wooden slats and inset with a pair of watchful stone statuettes. Beyond, lies the main dining room — a cavernous and decidedly modernist sanctuary flanked by two sleek bars, white tables, white chairs, white booths and two-story high square white columns, a smattering of random archeological artifacts and a conspicuous amount of empty space.

This ancient-future aesthetic (are we in a spaceship or a shrine?) makes sense once you learn that you’ve also entered Temple, the nightclub that is Prana’s weekend after-hours alter-ego. Together, the two form the highly conceptual backbone of what owner Paul Hemming refers to as an “eco-conscious, edutainment zenter”: a creative one-stop shop for mind, body and soul.

The “eco-consciousness” is executed largely behind the scenes. Seventy percent of the Temple complex’s waste is recycled or composted. Petroleum disposables are eschewed for bio-plastics. The LED lights, which bathe the white walls and floor in orange and pink, will soon be powered by photovoltaic cells and, eventually, a rooftop wind turbine. Vertical gardens of native plants will festoon the façade, and a piezoelectric dance floor may someday harnesses dancers’ energy and convert it into electricity. “Edutainment” refers partly to the collective of music studios in the building and “zenter” to a holistic health center that will occupy the third floor.

Multi-usage of the space is a sensible concept, but also a fraught one, since the stark minimalism that goes over well when the nightclub is packed feels somewhat imposing when you’re the only patrons in the room, as I and my companion were on a Tuesday night during Prana’s opening month. Dining in an empty Kubrick set was rather eerie.

The food, however, stole our attention. Chef Jim Jardin’s mostly organic fare, which he says reflects the cuisines of countries “with strong spiritual backgrounds” (read: Asia), arrived artfully arranged on white plates much like the archaeological treasures that decorated the surrounding room. Armed with Prana’s signature cocktails, we proceeded to excavate.

For starters, a medley of chutneys — chipotle, tamarind and mint — accompanied by house-baked flatbread and crispy wontons, resembled a tricolor traffic light directing us towards a selection of starters. These included fried ahi tuna lumpia rolls served with a sweet acai-garlic sauce, and crab pakora fritters, drizzled with a smoked chile aioli and accompanied by a green papaya slaw. (Both were cooked in oil that is eventually donated to gotgrease.org for biodiesel fuel preparation.) Sautéed ginger-garlic prawns were arranged like fallen dominoes against a nest of green tea soba noodles. Duck came “two ways,” but you could have it both: as a breast with heavy cacao curry, or Peking-style confit of duck leg. The meat on the braised short ribs, meanwhile, fell nicely off the bone.

The dessert menu is entitled “Nirvana” — which after a coconut bread pudding and chocolate-ginger truffle torte — felt nearly apropos.

Prana, 540 Howard Street (at First), San Francisco. 415.978.9942. pranasf.com. Open Tues-Sat. 5:30pm to 10pm.

Photos by Andy Isaacson

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