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My wife made me aware that I was giving time that should have been for our family to organizations, meetings, dinners and so-called strategy sessions. How did you get started in the restaurant business?īill: I was an urban planner very heavily involved in politics, and intending a career in that. The pop-up restaurant scene reflects that, and is a cool addition to the basics of full-service restaurants. People want fair prices and they also often want experiences that are lively and fun. That's a constant good pressure on those of us in the business. Nobody has to go back where they don't feel welcome or didn't have a really good meal. When it comes to restaurants, San Franciscans have the best of it all - endless choices and high quality. We're serving Cajun-style food from a young Bayou chef, Justin Simoneaux, who came over from Moss Room at the Academy of Science with his General Manager, Zach Pacheco. So, what's new in the restaurant business?īill: We've just opened a new restaurant, Boxing Room, on Grove Street in San Francisco's Hayes Valley. We sat down with Bill and his Director of All Operations, Eric Vreede, at Comstock recently. Comstock was recently featured in GQ Magazine as #9 of the 25 Best Cocktail Bars in America, and in Esquire on its list of the country's best bars. In 2010, Russell-Shapiro and two of Absinthe's near-legendary bartenders, Jeff Hollinger and Jonny Raglin, restored the last of the Barbary Coast saloons in San Francisco's historic North Beach district and re-opened it as Comstock Saloon. In addition to Absinthe, which recently made the San Francisco Chronicle's list of Top 100 Bay Area Restaurants, Russell-Shapiro's Absinthe Group also owns the adjacent Absinthe Private Dining for meetings and parties, Arlequin Wine Merchant, and Arlequin Café & Food to Go, which benefits from the same chef as Absinthe, Adam Keough, but offers his more casual fare at lower prices. As proprietor of the acclaimed French Brasserie-style restaurant Absinthe, in San Francisco's Hayes Valley, Bill Russell-Shapiro is well-known for his success as a restaurateur.