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SAN FRANCISCO -- Thirty-seven years after director Alfred Hitchcock made the word vertigo part of the cinematic vernacular, a restaurant team here is working to etch that word into the minds of the dining public as well.
Hitchcock's "Vertigo" -- a mystery-thriller in which actor Jimmy Stewart's character suffered momentary dizziness, or vertigo, when looking down from great heights opened in 1958 and featured as backdrops numerous San Francisco landmarks, including the Golden Gate Bridge and Ernie's restaurant. The latest vertigo with a capital V, Vertigo Restaurant & Bar, debuted last month in the financial district and has enjoyed head-spinning traffic from the start.
Vertigo is situated at the base of the pyramid-shaped Transamerica Building, and its design incorporates the unique surroundings for good effect while accommodating 30 people in the bar, 150 in the split-level dining room and another 45 in a sunken private-party room.
A glass ceiling at one end of the 7,800-square-foot space helps the restaurant live up to its name by offering a breath-stopping, nearly disorienting view up the side of the 48-story Transamerica structure. Plans to add exterior lighting to the Pyramid in the future should enhance the scene at night dramatically, managing partner Nancy J. Mootz said.
Mootz and Doug Washington created and manage the business, which is owned by Mootz & Co., Transamerica Insurance Corp. of California and Blackman Flynn Investment Co....