A Glamorous Restaurant and Social Club Lights Up a San Francisco Landmark

It’s virtually impossible to picture San Francisco’s skyline without the Transamerica Pyramid. Since its completion in 1972, the angular 48-story tower evolved from its polarizing beginnings to become a revered fixture of the Bay Area’s culture and history. On the heels of a billion-dollar revitalization undertaken by New York developer Michael Shvo and architecture firm Foster + Partners, the world’s tallest pyramidal structure continues to usher in an exciting next era with ama by Brad Kilgore. Nestled in the heart of Jackson Square within the tree-lined Transamerica Redwood Park, the glamorous new restaurant combines Italian and Japanese influences under one decadent roof. 

“What excites me most is that ama is meant to be both craft and culinary-driven, and culturally immersive,” explains Kilgore, the Miami-based chef, restaurateur, and cookbook author who is also the owner and culinary director of Kilgore Hospitality Group. “It’s a place where handmade pasta meets Japanese umami, where the design tells as much of a story as the food.” With its wagyu-laced meatballs and selection of sashimi appetizers, Chef Kilgore’s menu is a mouth-watering marriage of Italian and Japanese fare. And it’s all in the name: “Ama” references the Japanese word for female pearl divers and the Italian expression for love and devotion. 

Chef Kilgore tapped the esteemed Los Angeles designer Kevin Klein to conjure dazzling interiors that blend his culinary references with dashes of retro nostalgia. “The Transamerica Pyramid is too iconic of a building not to give credence to first,” explains Klein, whose masterful touch has elevated sumptuous residences and boutique hotels across California, including last year’s renovation of the storied Hollywood Roosevelt. “It’s a critical anchor point, so the question was how to pay homage to the structure but re-conceptualize it in a contemporary way.” The secret, he says, lies in the unexpected.

Welcoming guests to ama is the Copper Room, which derives its name from a bar top wrapped in an unsealed copper. “It has a natural patina, so it’ll start to take on its own life form over time,” Klein shares. “There’s something cool about having water rings on a bartop. You’re letting someone know this super precious piece doesn’t need to be taken so seriously.” 

Bar aside, the moody jewel box is an amalgamation of influences. The reddish, decidedly Italian palette is tempered by a Japanese mural divided into a triptych as well as textured hints of Shou Sugi Ban wood. “It’s a very literal transference of the exterior into the interior,” Klein continues. “It almost feels like you’re in a smoky, redwood lair.” The 24-seat Copper Room offers the sultry intimacy of a speakeasy, but those craving additional space can venture down a small corridor and into the restaurant’s Social Club, where guests are immediately confronted by a large, Turrell-inspired oculus affixed to the ceiling—a “wow” moment that brightens a windowless room and acts as a focal point, Klein says. “It has a play on a new-age disco ball.”

Those who manage to secure a spot at one of the curved sofas below will enjoy prime views of the oculus. Some may even notice the restaurant’s popcorn ceiling finish, nodding to the Transamerica Pyramid’s midcentury roots. “Obviously, no asbestos,” Klein quips. “The reuse of a material that’s inherently cheap, but done in a very intentional way, naturally elevates it.” Rounding out the room is a smattering of tables as well as a DJ booth and row of vintage pinball machines from the 1970s: indulgent, but still sophisticated. Klein expects that exact mystique will leave guests eager to return. “I don’t think the space is a one-trick pony,” he says. “There’s an opportunity to experience something different—day to day or night to night.”

But for Chef Kilgore, ama is more than a splashy opening. As the latest addition to the Transamerica Pyramid Center’s facelift, he views the restaurant as another chapter of the landmark’s layered history and rightful place in San Francisco culture. “It’s about being part of the story of downtown’s revitalization,” Chef Kilgore says. “My hope is that ama feels not just like a restaurant, but a new cultural heartbeat and destination for this part of the city.”