Upscale Korean steakhouse ABsteak opened in San Francisco’s Union Square last week with flash and panache, along with plenty of fire, but no smoke, well, thanks to its custom grill-tops that vacuum it all away.

It’s the 28th restaurant worldwide for Seoul-born Chef Akira Back, and only his second one in California (the first being in Los Angeles). In the next two years, he plans to open another 10 around the globe.

Quite the accomplishment for Black who was once a professional snowboarder.

I had a chance to check out the glitzy 6,500-square foot subterranean restaurant, when I was invited in as a guest earlier this week.

Take the stairs or elevator down one level to find the entrance to the restaurant that’s filled with intriguing details. Look up to find a dramatic ceiling with curving and angular steel supports that change as you walk from the bar-lounge, past the showstopping 200-bottle circular glass wine display and into the dining room. Viewed together, they are supposed to evoke the bones, blood vessels and vertebrae inside a cow.

Read more