Inside Look: Bar Agricole, San Francisco

Located in the gritty South of Market district in San Francisco, Bar Agricole boasts one of the most thoughtful and engaging design schemes in the city. Inspired by the history of the surrounding neighborhood and the sustainable roots of the food and drink menus, Aidlin Darling Design (21st Amendment Brewery, Brecon Winery) created an atmosphere that’s both welcoming, comfortable and also a tad edgy by meshing rough and urban elements with refined and down-to-earth ones.

The experience begins outside; to enter the building, guests must pass through a deep corrugated steel and glass facade, which is connected to the outdoor courtyard and biodynamic garden (featuring organic herbs for the cocktail program and kitchen). The contrast of industrial materials with the adjacent natural space is a theme that continues indoors, where a blended material palette of reclaimed steel, concrete and oak, and a color scheme that integrates warm colors with colder ones creates pockets of comfortable space within the open, airy space.

The contrast is a natural extension of how the bar operates in the urban context, providing a warm comfortable enclave in a industrial part of the city, designer David Darling says.

The bar area near the entrance and geometric banquettes in the dining room represent the main hubs of activity within the building, both marked by heavy concrete and warm, reclaimed wood. In the center of the room, the focal point is a large wooden hull made from reclaimed whiskey barrel staves that’s punctuated by spiraling glass cylinders, adding warmth and natural light to envelope guests below. Drinking a cool rhum cocktail in the sophisticated yet relaxed space is a unique experience in the cocktail world—which is why we’ll always be happy to pull up a stool at the bar.