These new spots or new menus cover the gamut, from Filipino-Mexican to Peruvian. Alongside my full restaurant reviews this month, these eight (and a bonus 9th bar) are well worth visiting. Last month’s standouts are here (as always, I’ve personally vetted, visited or ordered from each place reviewed): Read more →
Opened October 2021 by Finn Stern and Stella Dennig, as Oakland’s Daytrip approaches one and a half years of age, it has become clear it’s one of the city’s best restaurants now. It was named one of Bon Appetit’s top 10 new restaurants in America in 2022 and is one of the tougher reservations in OAK. Read more →
These newcomers or new menus cover the gamut, from heartwarming Jamaican food to another worthy Italian seafood haven in North Beach. Alongside this month’s full restaurant reviews, these five are also worth visiting. Read more →
Since first visiting Michelin-starred, intimate fine dining gem Sons and Daughters (S&D) when it opened in 2010, I named it one of the top 10 new restaurants of the year. Visiting the tasting menu-only restaurant from owner and lauded chef Teague Moriarty a few times over the decade, my experiences were always rewarding in this cozy Nob Hill spot a short walk from Union Square. But I hadn’t been back in a good five years.
January 2023 ushers in a whole new era for S&D as Moriarty announced new executive chef Harrison Cheney, who came on board October 2022. For the first time, Moriarty has stepped away from the kitchen completely, though remaining at the helm of the restaurant. I was immediately excited when I heard Cheney came from years at my favorite restaurant in Sweden, two Michelin-starred Gastrologik in Stockholm, as well as The Ledbury and The Square in London and San Francisco’s three Michelin Quince. Read more →
There are longtimers, then there are longtimers. This week I talk about two. One is a 15-year-old fine dining restaurant at the InterContinental SF hotel with a new Greek chef who has cooked at some of the world’s most celebrated restaurants from London to Lima. The other is a local SF legend in the upscale mid-range zone celebrating its 30th anniversary… no small feat in any era for a restaurant. My reasons to revisit both:
—New Chef Who Cooked at Central & The Fat Duck: LUCE
—Eating Through the Decades at ONE MARKET Read more →
These newcomers or new menus cover the gamut, from elevated German beer hall fare to Sichuan Chinese. Alongside this month’s full restaurant reviews, these six are also worth visiting, with last month’s standouts here (as always, I’ve personally vetted, visited or ordered from each place reviewed): Read more →
I’ve been dining at Joe’s sister, Original Joe’s Westlake, under prior owners for the last two decades. Bruno Scatena opened Joe’s of Westlake in 1956, which was eventually run by his daughter, Melinda Scatena, who worked there since she was 14 years old, selling it as she ran into health problems. My husband, Dan “The Renaissance Man,” and I adored it in those years and it was perpetually packed as if it were the hottest new restaurant. Read more →
These newcomers or new menus cover the gamut, from a nature-rich tribute to California’s majestic trees in edible form, to healthy, chic, nuanced at-home delivery food. Read more →
Opened by Stuart Brioza and Nicole Krasinski of Michelin-starred State Bird Provisions and The Progress in October 2020 on Lower Fillmore Street, The Anchovy Bar was a brave entrant in a brutal year. It was easily among my top few new restaurants of that year — and my top two next to Belinda Leong, Michel Suas and John Paul Carmona’s Routier… Having dined since Anchovy Bar opened, both my late 2022 and my January 2023 visit have been the best yet. Read more →
I’ve called Tony Gemignani’s pizzas best anywhere since Tony’s Pizza Napoletana debuted in 2009, alongside Capo’s, which he opened November 2012, just now passing it’s 10th anniversary. Both are in North Beach a few blocks from each other, with Capo’s the Chicago pizza-focused joint, adding on Detroit-style pizzas when they reopened Summer 2020 after a pandemic shut down. Why Capo’s is still the best in Chicago and Detroit-style pizza… Read more →