Tag: Seafood

Top Chef Master Chris Cosentino Quietly Ups the Seafood Game on Tomales Bay at Nick’s Cove

by  on  in Around the Bay

I’d eat wherever San Francisco chef Chris Cosentino is cooking. I’m still missing his ahead-of-its-time Incanto (2002–2014), and his bold Cockscomb (2014–2020). He’s known for his TV runs, from The Next Iron Chef, to winning season four of Bravo’s Top Chef Masters, and he spent recent years in Napa running Acacia House. But he’s long lived in SF and I await the day he’ll open a new restaurant in the City. Unexpectedly, since this fall, he’s commuting north to bucolic Tomales Bay in Marin County to run the kitchen at 1931 institution, Nick’s Cove. Read more →

Where to Eat & Drink Now: 5 Newcomers or Reborn Spots for Food & Cocktails

by  on  in The Latest, Top Tastes

Restaurants/bars reviewed:
— Cozy Italian Comfort: Che Fico Alimentari
— Georgian Food Rarity: Georgian Cheese Boat, North Beach
— Fillmore Seafood House Gets a Remodel: Woodhouse Fish Co., Pacific Heights
— Tiny Thai Hit: Prik Hom, Laurel Heights
— SJ Cocktail Pioneer: Paper Plane, San Jose
Food Recommends:
— Jack and Remi Chef-Crafted Ice Cream
— Van Van Vietnamese Ingredients Read more →

Sunny, Chic New Oyster Bar with Low-ABV Cocktails & Irresistible Seafood Opening Today: Little Shucker

by  on  in The Latest

San Francisco is blessed with iconic oyster bars, from the one, the only Swan Oyster Depot for over a century, to the Castro’s great Anchor Oyster Bar since the 1970s. As the city that gave birth to the likes of cioppino and Crab Louie salad, these oyster houses are decidedly West Coast, often showcasing our glorious local oysters and dungeness crab. But we don’t have one like brand new Little Shucker, opening August 9, 2023, on bustling Fillmore Street. Read more →

Idyllic New Neighborhood Oyster Bar: Popi’s Oysterette

by  on  in The Latest

San Francisco’s history is interlaced deeply with seafood. Dungeness crab. Local halibut. Anchovies. Tomales Bay oysters. It’s in our blood and roots. SF’s style of seafood oyster bars are its own.

Popi’s Oysterette, just opened in the Marina from chef/partner Melissa Perfit, a former “Top Chef” contestant who cooked at my beloved Bar Crudo since back in 2005 in its original space (which I still miss). She was asked to run Popi’s by Tacolicious owners Joe Hargrave and Mike Barrow, who also brought on partner/general manager Davin Affrunti, formerly of Larkspur’s Hog Island Oyster. Read more →

The New Aphotic: Wildly sustainable seafood and house-distilled cocktails

by  on  in The Latest

I won’t forget my first visit to Palette soon after opening in 2019 when chef Peter Hemsley grilled up rare, local coonstripe shrimp just caught that morning, buttery-fresh and revelatory; like eating our divine local spot prawns for the first time. Midwest-born Hemsley’s hand with seafood was evident from those early days. So maybe it’s little surprise that as Palette closed, Hemsley and team just opened Aphotic in the same space on March 21, 2023, as a sleek tribute to… you guessed it: seafood. Read more →

Tiny Fish Heaven… With Vermouth, Wine & Sherry: Anchovy Bar

by  on  in Top Tastes

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 →