Bon Appétit Management Company

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Oyster Point’s maze of office buildings and high rises jut out to the San Francisco Bay, with San Bruno Mountain looming large in the distance.  

This busy neighborhood has been transformed in the last decade, now boasting some of the world’s most innovative pharmaceutical and technology companies, as well as the real estate firms that create spaces for employees to work, play, and of course, eat.  

In partnership with Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Bon Appétit recently opened The Lighthouse, a café and events space which joins Foundry & Lux and The Anecdote, two other Bon Appétit public restaurants in the Oyster Point area.  

The Lighthouse lives up to its name, boasting big floor-to-ceiling windows that spill light out of the LEED-certified building onto a landscaped garden path and across an adjacent boulevard. The wide brim roof extends out to willow trees which ensconce the restaurant and help to make guests feel removed from the tall office buildings and South San Francisco hubbub around them. Inside, a pre-function space, presentation room, meeting rooms, and a beautifully appointed private dining room are available for events and conferences.

The team, led by Resident District Manager Stacy Peoples, has gone beyond sourcing and cooking colloquial farm-to-table cuisine to make sustainability a true part of the café’s identity. Solar panels on the building’s roof power an all-electric kitchen that features induction burners and combi ovens – not a gas-powered appliance in sight! Executive Chef Justin Houck sources 50% of the restaurant’s ingredients from within 150 miles of Oyster Point, with only a smattering of products coming from outside of California. And the team has taken great strides to reduce the amount of waste generated by the restaurant, composting food waste, recycling cooking oils, and eliminating single-use disposable items including plastic bottles, cutlery, and napkins.  

On the menu, carbon intensive meats like beef and pork are nowhere to be found. Instead, Justin has leveraged his experiences working in corporate catering and for celebrity chef Jose Andres at Oyamel Cocina Mexicana to craft seasonal, eclectic rotating menus that lean heavily on fresh vegetables and fruits. Thanks to these influences, the New American menu occasionally features items that display a Mexican flair, like a little gem and chayote salad, or a roasted Salinas cauliflower dish that was a big hit on the restaurant’s Spring menu.  

As the seasons change, honey from the café’s on-site hives makes appearances on the main menu and during catered events. A hyper-local drink list rounds out the lineup, featuring California wines, as well as suds from Morgan Territory Brewing and Moonlight Brewing Company.  

Currently operating with summer hours from 8am – 3pm on Mondays and Fridays, and 8am – 5pm from Tuesday through Thursday, The Lighthouse aptly serves as a culinary beacon for local employees and the general public alike in Oyster Point.