January 17, 2022 By Chelsea Davis Forbes
In the Spring of 2020 celebrity chef Tyler Florence set out to open a high-end steakhouse at Chase Center’s Thrive City. Though it took a lot longer to open its doors than intended, the 7,000 square foot steakhouse was unveiled to the public at the very end of 2021. Miller & Lux is bringing upscale dining to Thrive City, the area surrounding the Warrior’s Chase Center, and with it the best dry aged steaks in the city.
Designed by Ken Fulk of AD 100, the man behind other San Francisco establishments such as Boulevard, Miller & Lux is swanky to say the least. Luxurious touches like large, circular tan leather booths; brass railings; impressive light fixtures; large windows facing out towards the bay; and a golden glow of luxury make dining here quite an experience from the moment you enter.
“We wanted to bring back a sense of glamour to San Francisco,” explains chef and owner of Miller & Lux, Tyler Florence. “When you walk in to a great restaurant it needs to check three boxes for me. The ambiance needs to be spectacular; the service needs to be top notch; and the food needs to be amazing.”
The menu offers an incredible, top notch selection of dry aged steaks ranging from the 15 day dry aged 10 oz. filet mignon to the 45 day dry aged black angus 52 oz. porterhouse. The raw bar has a selection of the freshest seafood available, including the Plateau De Mer which is an impressive tower of Humboldt Bay Oysters from the restaurants in-house estuary; scallop crudo; Louisiana shrimp cocktail; and bluefin tuna tartare.
The restaurant has roaming Champagne and dessert carts that keeps diners wide-eyed and excited throughout the dining experience. The restaurant also has what could be the best salad in America, the Miller & Lux caesar for two, which is prepared table-side with hand harvested romaine, Spanish anchovies, sourdough croutons and Meyer Lemon.
We chatted with celebrity chef, television personality and chef and owner of Miller & Lux, Tyler Florence, on the restaurant inspiration, the upscale menu, pandemic pivots and more. Here’s what he had to say.
What is the inspiration for Miller and Lux?
I’m a huge fan of the steakhouse genre; I’ve loved it my entire life. When I grew up in upstate South Carolina, there was a restaurant that was the nicest restaurant in our town called The Peddler Steakhouse. And it was in this old castle, the kind of restaurant for special occasions. So I grew up with this high bar of a steakhouse being the restaurant that you always wanted to go to for your special event.
I love the ceremony of it all. The restaurant would bring a tray out with your choice of Porterhouse or NY Strip or filet… it always felt super impressive. We were trying to figure out what would be the best opportunity here in San Francisco, three years ago when the Warriors invited us to be a part of the arena. I thought steak would be a great concept for it.
Who are Henry Miller and Charles Lux and how did you find out about them? What’s the story?
Between 1860 and the 1906 earthquake, where the arena sits right now, used to be the largest meatpacking district in the West Coast of the United States. And it was called Butchers Town. And this one company had the largest footprint in town, it was called Miller and Lux. Henry Miller and Charles Lux came from Germany and they initially came here because of the Gold Rush. It’s where all the money was at the time and they wanted to be a part of it all.
They opened this butcher shop in Butcher’s Town and by the time the retired, they had gotten in to real estate, cattle ranching… etc. They had more cattle than anybody in America. They became known as the Cattle Kings of California. The storyline was unique, interesting and so fantastic. And the fact that it was right where the arena stands now, it made sense to name the restaurant after them. It’s a real unique California story.
What sets your steakhouse apart from others?
After 2008/ 2009, almost for a decade, the idea of taking table cloths off the tables and casualizing everything became the trend. But then you start to miss the sense of luxury. I wanted to bring that sense of glamour back to the beginning and end of the service experience.
So we custom cut our tables, they’re all padded, we have high count table clothes… when you’re dining here you feel like you’re in a luxurious setting. All the table clothes are ironed before every sitting. The service staff is the absolute best, I like to say I found a bunch of hospitality assassins. They really love what they do — we hired the best. The management team is incredible. I really love everybody.
We wanted to build this from the ground up. We have a spectacular wine list; a great dry aging system; the food is recognizable, but also the best in category, best in class. It’s approachable and incredibly delicious, and well presented. The staff plays a huge role in that.
How has this restaurant opening been different from others? Has Covid affected the opening process at all?
It was really hard. Really tough and drawn out. We were put on ice for about nine months while everyone was trying to figure out what 2020 was going to look like. Then 2020 turned in to 2021. Then we decided, collectively with the Warriors, that we were going to time the opening with the new season, with the opening of the new restaurant. Then we opened up simultaneously.
It was incredibly difficult. The Warriors lost an entire season, we lost our season — a year’s worth of momentum. We had to go to hibernation, then pick everything back up a year later. And so it was tough. Our budget was burning and we had to make a move when we did. We found the cleanest little window to open and we took advantage of it.
Right now we’re trying our hardest to just to overcome these curveballs that just keep popping up out of nowhere. Omicron did a number on our reservations for the first part of the year. But it looks like they’re bouncing back as quickly as they dipped.
What are your favorite things on the menu?
We’re a beef house, so I think our meat is spectacular. It’s all California beef. We’re working with few ranches around Shasta. Their grass fed then grain finished off for their last 100 days. Then we put a 45 dry age on top of that, to develop what I call the salami aroma. That charcuterie aroma of a really good dry age. The flavor is so incredibly delicious with all the steaks.
Our shellfish is amazing. We have an in-house estuary which is fun. No one in America has our tank system. The water is salinated and ph-balanced to the ocean, it’s also climate controlled to 37 degrees. It’s super fresh. The oysters still think they’re alive, in their natural environment. The storage system hold about 100 oysters at a time. It pulses water that’s identical to that of the ocean on top of the oysters. So when you crack open one of our oysters, it’s as if you’ve just pulled it fresh from the ocean.
Our Plateau De Mer is really spectacular on a lot of different levels. You get to taste a little bit of everything. Our tuna tartare is imported from Hawaii, it’s a blue fin tuna hand chopped and tossed with a light dashi; our shrimp comes fro Louisiana, it’s blanched to a perfect 100 degrees so it’s super succulent; our scallop crudo is light and fresh; and it comes with a dozen of our Humboldt Bay oysters.
Our desserts are top notch, I love our dessert program. And you can’t forget about our table-side caesar salad. That’s so simple but totally flipped on its head in so many special ways. We wanted to put our flag in the ground for what we think is the best salad in America.