By Virginia Miller
San Francisco has no shortage of waterfront restaurants, but Alora’s menu is a game-changer. Here we have modern Mediterranean fare open six days a week, mixing in quality cocktails and wine. Alora fits the bill with surprising affordability compared to the average downtown newcomer; It’s only been around since late January this year.
Among a number of mezze (shared small plates), only a duck liver mousse exceeds $20, while larger plates hover between $25 to $39, with only two beef dishes priced higher. There are set dinner menus at $75, $95, and $145, but a la carte dishes, a long bar, and Mediterranean-influenced cocktails make Alora just as appealing for a bite and a drink as for a full meal.
Alora was recently opened by Anu and Vikram Bhambari, known for their longstanding modern Indian restaurants — ROOH — and new Indian hotspots in the East Bay, Pippal, and San Jose, Fitfoor. Clearly, Alora is a departure from their hip Indian restaurants, though it’s inspired by the couple’s travels from the Middle East to Italy and Spain. They hand-selected chef Ryan McIlwraith to lead Alora’s kitchen. McIlwraith previously helped make Bellota one of San Francisco’s greatest Spanish restaurants and has also cooked at Bottega Napa Valley and Coqueta.
The lofty 2,500-square-foot dining room and bar don’t overlook the water, but the back patio does from the restaurant’s Pier 3, bay-side setting. Jellyfish inspired the chandeliers, while metal fixtures echo rippling water. The lengthy, pink marble bar flanks one side of the dining room, which seats around 50 people, making the space feel just big enough, buzzy at some hours, and a chill respite during others.
But let’s talk food. I’ve always been a dips kind of girl, and Middle Eastern spreads are the ultimate. While hummus is the most ubiquitous and beloved, muhammara — a Syrian dip of walnuts, pomegranate molasses, and red peppers — has long been my favorite Mediterranean spread. Alora does both right, amping up their hummus with herbed tahini, urfa pepper, and green zhoug, a spicy Yemenite sauce loaded with cilantro, parsley, mint, and garlic.
The muhammara is enhanced with fresh pomegranate seeds and feta. Both are scooped up with house sourdough pita, gaining extra protein from einkorn grain. Additionally, ultra-fresh local veggies make a lovely crudité platter dipped into espelette chile miso dip using local Shared Cultures miso.
Mezze plates hold a number of highlights, too, like mushroom herb-stuffed dolmas, contrasted brightly with pickled chanterelles, the pop of smoked trout roe, and a lemon Greek avgolemono sauce. It’s hard to say no to a decadent buñuelo, or salt cod fritter, layered with confit garlic aioli, jamon Iberico, and Hackleback caviar over smoked crème fraîche. The menu’s “Land” section offers two worthwhile veggie dishes, generously portioned, like a carrot fattoush “salad” of poached and roasted carrots, farro grain, arugula, blood oranges, pomegranate seeds, and fried pita triangles.
With no fewer than five options, pastas are a big focus here, calling on the chef’s Bottega days. Hand-rolled pici noodles in tomato butter sauce and olive oil with burrata and basil is a pure crowd-pleaser. But it’s hard to top the 100-layer ’nduja lasagna, which deserves to be the house signature dish. Spicy, spreadable Calabrian chile pork sausage — aka ‘nduja — ensures the tomato bolognese and béchamel sauce shine. A little sear imparts blissfully crispy edges to the soft pasta.
The menu continues with crudo and eggplant Milanese to adobo chicken and beef dishes. But over two visits, the lasagna and dips were tops, with extra kudos to salads and veggie options. Saving just a little room for desserts from chef de cuisine and breadmaker Kaili Hill, a not-too-sweet, burnt Basque cheesecake with burnt honey and carrot marmalade was my preference over the pistachio-and-rose-laced chocolate cake.
Alora’s cocktails do not match the best in a city that pioneered cocktails in the world — both in the 1800s and the last 30 years’ renaissance — but they are good and feature welcome rare spirits like Greek mastiha and Moroccan mahia, distilled from anise seed and figs.
Drinks were created by Dacha Kitchen and Bar’s Katya Skye. Parole Che Durano is a standout silky clarified cocktail of mezcal, Luxardo Maraschino, local Brucato Chaparral Amaro, and clarified lime. So is An Olive’s Dream, a frothy combination of gin, Madeira, Brucato Orchard Amaro, lemon, olive oil, sage, and a whisper of absinthe. The wine list runs from California to Italy, France, Germany, Spain, and Georgia, with a welcome twenty by-the-glass options.
There is an ease to Alora that is easy to bypass. It’s not the most cutting-edge or exciting newer spot like Aphotic or the now a couple of years old Osito. Nor is it a comfy neighborhood hole-in-the-wall. But it manages that nice in-between that is hard to do right: upscale touches but relaxed, quality ingredients, reasonably priced. Alora moves from lunch into cocktail hour into dinner flow on the busy Embarcadero with a little something for everyone.
// The Embarcadero, Pier 3, Suite 108; https://visitalora.com
Virginia Miller is a San Francisco-based food & drink writer.
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