On a recent September return to Nisei just past its one year mark, I found a restaurant assuredly gaining its voice, as the team is also working seamlessly with humble ease and assuredness. They also now offer a wine or sake pairing, the wine pairing containing a couple sakes in the mix. Chef David Yoshimura calls their style “California Washoku” (essentially meaning ‘harmony of food,’ it’s Japanese home cooking style balancing color and flavor… Read more →
Those of us who have been in dining, cocktails and spirits a long while know the importance of Bar Agricole since it opened in San Francisco’s SoMa district in 2011. Not only was it nominated every year since 2012 for James Beard Outstanding Bar Program in the nation — finally winning in 2019, but founder and bar vet Thad Vogler (who helped open pioneering bars like Bourbon and Branch) wrote an intriguing and definitive book on farmhouse-distilled and naturally sourced spirits, By the Smoke and the Smell: My Search for the Rare and Sublime on the Spirits Trail… Read more →
Imagine: soba noodles teeming in wagyu foam. Brown butter chawanmushi (savory Japanese custard) layered in fat-washed wagyu dashi. Or wagyu fat-laced salted chocolate chip cookies hot out of the oven.I’m in and am guessing you are, too (unless you don’t eat beef — and if you do minimally, this is the place to do so thanks to the quality and the minimalism). These are just a few of the glories I’ve eaten at Gozu in SoMa from chef Marc Zimmerman and entrepreneur Benjamin Jorgensen since it opened November 2019. Read more →
Ernest opened March 2021 in the lofty, two-tiered, industrial space that formerly housed Coffee Bar. One year into the pandemic — which means they were in planning mode well before — was one of the worst times to open a restaurant, especially an ambitious one. Next door to legendary Heath Ceramics, and in a neighborhood lined with nationally lauded restaurants and bars, Ernest entered seamlessly into that tier.
Now, a few visits later and over one year in, my review on Ernest today: Read more →
Chef Loretta Keller is a San Francisco treasure since she opened Bizou in 1993, which became the long-beloved COCO500 in 2005… I’ve dined at all her ventures multiple times over the last 21 years, so delighted I was to see her return… to open Uccello Lounge on the ground floor of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music’s (SFCM) new Bowes Center. Read more →
When Michelin-starred State Bird Provisions opened in December 2012, I reviewed it at the SF Bay Guardian, saying, “Jazz is the soundtrack of the streets of Lower Fillmore. From its storied days as the ‘Harlem of the West,’ to the current seat of… blues/jazz venues, the subtly gritty streets echo with its soulful past. I would venture to say Fillmore newcomer State Bird Provisions is an ideal jazz companion. There’s no musical connection. But the spirit of jazz is present in their playful, dim sum-style presentation… and in the way… Stuart Brioza and Nicole Krasinski, evolve the menu almost daily… Plates flow out on carts or trays like an experimental jazz riff, but never feel rootless.”
10 years (and a few months) later, jazz fanatic that I am, still feeling those improvisational chops, even as the team has evolved. Review here: Read more →
What happens when one of the nation’s greatest pastry chefs opens a restaurant with a chef from a two Michelin restaurant at the height of pandemic in 2020? Apparently, magic. Lots and lots of heartache on their part, but for us, sheer magic. Read more →
You’d be tempted to call The Madrigal an upscale cocktail lounge with elevated bar food, ideal for pre-and post-show imbibing near the San Francisco Symphony, Opera, Ballet, Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, and SF Jazz. And it is. But it’s much more. Debuting on Van Ness Avenue in December 2021 from Hi Neighbor Hospitality (Trestle, The Vault Steakhouse, The Vault Garden), The Madrigal feels like what the space should have always been. Read more →
These six spots cover the gamut, from “real deal” New Orleans to Korean fried chicken. Here’s why these six are worth eating at/from now: Read more →
In the back of the cozy Merchant Roots wine shop, chef Ryan Shelton launched his first themed tasting menu in January 2019. I’ve raved about these wildly changing, eight-seat dinners ever since. You could call each playful, whimsical, creative, even intellectual, always blessedly delicious.
Yet still too few of you know about it or have dined there. Certainly, it’s Michelin-worthy. But in a spirited, mischievous, smart way, unlike anywhere else. Read more →