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San Francisco Chronicle
5 days ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
The hot spots we omitted from our guide to new Bay Area restaurants
I'm back from vacation — many thanks to fellow-Daytrip-fangirl Cesar Hernandez for subbing in for me last week — and a highlight of my trip was not taking a single food photo over the course of six days. When you're a restaurant critic, logging off means leaving your phone in the hotel room. Cesar and I are hitting the ground running this week with the launch of a new guide that we hope will prove useful to the most intrepid diners among you. It's called The Now List: 25 Bay Area Restaurants of the Moment, and we'll be updating it quarterly. What can you expect? Each of the entries on the list will have opened within the past 12 months, and at least one of your critics will have verified that it's worth a visit. There's a tension with lists like this, one that is far from new. In the early 20teens, there was much chatter about the impact food blogs were having on the 'proper' timing of restaurant reviews, which in the pre-internet era might run six months after a grand opening. In a 2010 piece in the Columbia Journalism Review, Robert Sietsema, then the seasoned critic for the Village Voice, wrote that 'a critique written months after a place open[s], no matter how much fairer and more complete, now seem[s] anachronistic.' Three years later in Slate, Luke O'Neil argued that restaurants should be treated like books or films, subject to review on opening night. Julia Kramer, then a critic for Time Out Chicago, pushed back, arguing that waiting at least a month before a first visit provides needed critical distance from 'the cloud of hype — including hype that I/TOC may have had some role in creating.' Fifteen years later, my editors and I are still having these debates. What is fair to restaurants? What is fair to diners? How do we continue to be part of the conversation when influencers and other news outlets that don't employ restaurant critics are posting quasi-reviews within days of opening? I recently watched a social video from The Almanac, a local news site that serves the Peninsula. Its food editor reviewed the new Menlo Park restaurant Yeobo, Darling, on opening night, and it was a mostly negative assessment. 'I don't want to be too quick to judge,' she said at the video's close, 'so I'd recommend giving it a few months to get itself in the groove before checking it out.' Knowing the impact a negative review can have on a small business, as a journalist, why not take that advice and give it, if not a few months, at least a few weeks before weighing in? This is a rhetorical question I of course know the answer to. Readers and viewers are hungry for intel on the hottest new restaurants, and so the faster a writer can drum up an opinion, the better. But what is that opinion worth if it's based on a single visit on opening night? Something, surely — but, biased though I am, I still think there is greater value in a review that is grounded in multiple visits over the course of weeks or even months. And so here's what you can expect from the Chronicle's restaurant coverage: My food reporter colleagues Mario Cortez and Elena Kadvany will continue to publish reported stories about new restaurants. Although these articles may contain descriptions of the space and menu items, they are not reviews. Cesar and I handle those, and we generally wait at least three weeks and often longer before visiting a new restaurant. We pay two subsequent calls, sometimes only one if the price is prohibitive. In certain instances where we think an establishment is of interest to our readers but probably not a candidate for a full review, we might visit sooner, as in the case of the Jagalchi food hall. And now — the Now List. All my blathering is context for why you'll see some potentially surprising omissions. Yeobo, Darling isn't on there. Bijou isn't either, nor Carabao. These aren't slights; they simply haven't been open long enough for us to visit. Of all the hit/heat/hot lists, the Chronicle's Now List will never be the most trendy. But we do think it's the most well-considered, and I hope you'll take a look. You're reading the Bite Curious newsletter.
San Francisco Chronicle
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
Top Restaurants Sign in or Subscribe Roasted salmon with scorched heirloom tomatoes from Amara in Belmont. Manuel Orbegozo/For S.F. Chronicle The Now List: 25 Bay Area Restaurants of the Moment A quarterly guide to the best new places to eat, from buzzy bars to hidden gems. Roasted salmon with scorched heirloom tomatoes from Amara in Belmont. Manuel Orbegozo/For S.F. Chronicle By MacKenzie Chung Fegan and Cesar Hernandez
Hello, and welcome to the Now List: 25 Bay Area Restaurants of the Moment. This is where you'll turn for the new, the hot, the right-this-second places to eat. Each of these 25 restaurants has opened within the past year, although the cohort is skewed towards more recent arrivals. We, your critics — Cesar Hernandez and I — recommend them all. When Cesar and I began our roles, we inherited a project called the Top 25, a list of the 'best' restaurants in the Bay Area that was updated quarterly. You might be thinking that it sounds like an impossible task to winnow down all the restaurants in the region to a tight 25, and you're exactly right. That's a large part of the reason why we brought back the Top 100 earlier this year. Even with 100 slots, many worthy restaurants didn't make the cut. Hence the Now List. These 25 spots might not all land on next year's Top 100 (although Sun Moon Studio, Fikscue, Outta Sight and Verjus made the 2025 list), but if you want to stay up on where to eat right now, this is the guide for you. One caveat: In situations where either Cesar or I might write a full review of a restaurant, we generally wait three to four weeks before paying our first visit. So if you're wondering why the brand new restaurant that's all over your feed isn't on this list, it might be because we are giving it some time before paying a call. — MacKenzie Chung Fegan Advertisement Dining options Takeout Delivery Outdoor seating Indoor seating Vegetarian options Showing 25 of 25 Amara 1015 Alameda de las Pulgas, Belmont See on map Add to wishlist Reena Miglani and Ajay Walia have been busy. Last year, they reopened Rasa, their formerly Michelin-starred Indian restaurant in Burlingame, following it up in January with Amara, a Mediterranean restaurant in Belmont. The space is striking, with a large central bar topped with aquamarine stone and a verdant outdoor patio. Standout dishes include the dips and spreads, particularly a bright green hummus that smacks of pickled ramps, and the praline pistachio opera cake, a nutty, chocolatey, salty layered confection that melds silky mousse with crunchy feuilletine and candied nuts. Outdoor seating Indoor seating Vegetarian options Price: $$ Payment options: Credit cards accepted Drinks: Full bar Hours: Brunch Friday-Sunday, dinner Tuesday-Sunday Phone: 650-486-1703 Website Bon Délire Pier 3, San Francisco See on map Add to wishlist From Paris with butter-doused love, Bon Délire brings a bit of romance to the Embarcadero. It's a see-and-be-seen spot with a stylish, minimalist design, a gorgeous horseshoe-shaped bar and a booming soundtrack of hip hop and soul. Owner Kais Bouzidi is a native of Paris, and chef Vernon Morales has a steady grasp of French cooking, excelling at classics like croque madame and steak frites tweaked with contemporary finesse. Butter is a constant, used in everything from the escargot to butter-washed Paloma cocktail and the glorious baked-to-order madeleines for dessert. Stop by for brunch, when a DJ provides a soundtrack for velvety omelets. Takeout Outdoor seating Indoor seating Price: $$ Payment options: Credit cards accepted Drinks: Full bar Hours: Lunch and dinner Monday-Saturday, brunch Sunday Phone: 415-969-0655 Website Read the full review Cơm Tấm Sài Gòn 1111 Story Rd., #1019, San Jose See on map Add to wishlist The most popular food court kiosk at Grand Century Mall in San Jose is Cơm Tấm Sài Gòn, whose platters of broken rice with charred meat appear across tables. To find it, search for the bright green sign splashing viridescent light onto the food court. Opt for a dac biet combination, like No. 54, which includes a tender egg cake; a sticky, smoky pork chop; and shrimp two ways: wrapped in tofu skin and fried, and minced then grilled on sugarcane. The sleeper hit is No. 65, a dish centered around woven nets of vermicelli noodles known as bánh hỏi, accompanied by grilled pork, a crackly egg roll and fresh greens. Cơm tấm has become a representative dish of the mall's current dining scene, which is apt as the dish is of two cultures. Takeout Indoor seating Price: $ Payment options: Credit cards accepted Drinks: Soft drinks Hours: Lunch and dinner Thursday-Tuesday Phone: 669-246-0789 Website Order online Read the full review More Top Lists Top San Francisco Restaurants Top Affordable Restaurants Top Outdoor Restaurants Daytrip Counter 4316 Telegraph Ave., Oakland See on map Add to wishlist Finn Stern and Stella Dennig, the forces behind the now-closed Daytrip, are back with the ultimate lunch spot. Now known as Daytrip Counter, the casual restaurant is devoted to rotisserie chicken and invigorating salads, a major shift from the previous restaurant's reputation as the hot date night spot. Vinegar-brined and injected with schmaltz, the chicken is utterly drenched in moisture. It makes for a hearty addition to a salad like the crunchy, herby Caesar salad with fish sauce dressing or the oregano-scented Club Med, filled with creamy beans and tangy feta. The latest version of Datrip is unlike its predecessor in many ways, but it's wonderful in new ones. Takeout Delivery Outdoor seating Indoor seating Vegetarian options Price: $ Payment options: Credit cards accepted Drinks: Beer and wine Hours: Lunch and dinner daily Website Order online Read the full review Related story Enclos 139 E Napa St., Sonoma See on map Add to wishlist Enclos, which opened in late 2024 in downtown Sonoma, rocketed from zero to two — Michelin stars, that is. There is much to find charming about the fine dining restaurant, from its Victorian building to the copper pots and dried flowers framing the kitchen to the personalized, illustrated welcome note waiting for you at your table. If there's a conceit to the restaurant, it's that the 13 or so courses in chef Brian Limoges' menu refract his New England upbringing through a California lens. There's a chawanmushi that nods to clam chowder, venison tartare tarts that reference the state animal of New Hampshire, where Limoges grew up. Pastry chef Sophie Hau, most recently of Californios, ensures the meal ends on an operatic high note with two wee honey ice cream sandwiches perched on a frame of honeycomb from a local beehive. Indoor seating Price: $$$$ Payment options: Credit cards accepted Drinks: Full Bar Hours: Dinner Wednesday-Saturday Phone: 707-387-1724 Website Related story Eylan 500 El Camino Real Suite 101, Menlo Park See on map Add to wishlist If you'd like a general orientation to Eylan, know that it's the third collaboration between chef Srijith Gopinathan and restaurateur Ayesha Thapar, and their first two, Ettan and Copra, both landed on our Top 100. Eylan opened in January, anchoring a Menlo Park live-work development where, if you're so inclined, you can shop for extravagant Swiss watches before your dinner reservation. But as soon as you step through the imposing front door, festooned with artificial flowering vines, you're miles away from Silicon Valley condos. The menu focuses on wood-fired Cal-Indian cuisine. A whole butterflied sea bream, cartoonishly flattened as if squashed by an Acme anvil, wears the imprint of a grill basket on its skin. Cured hamachi sits in a pool of fermented hot sauce made with charred red peppers. With Eylan, Gopinathan and Thapar are three for three. Outdoor seating Indoor seating Vegetarian options Price: $$$ Payment options: Credit cards accepted Drinks: Full Bar Hours: Dinner Tuesday-Sunday Phone: 650-420-6866 Website Read the full review Fikscue 7 Warriors Way, Suite 208, San Francisco See on map Add to wishlist Texas wishes it had barbecue like Fikscue, which first opened in Alameda and recently expanded to San Francisco's Thrive City. The original location has become famous for long lines, but the new spot makes it easier to experience this spectacular blend of Indonesian cooking and Lone Star State-style smoked meats. Where else can you find hulking dino ribs and smoked brisket rendang? The idea for the 'Indo-Tex' combination started at the dinner table of married owners Fik and Reka Saleh. Fik brings Texas technique with his wobbly, bark-encrusted brisket, while Reka handles the Indonesian offerings like the rendang, cubed beef tossed with a complex paste made of red pepper and coconut milk. The latest location introduces worthy new menu items like sticky smoked beef cheek and lumpia stuffed with smoked chicken. Eat your heart out, Texas. Takeout Outdoor seating Price: $ Payment options: Credit cards accepted Drinks: Soft drinks Hours: Lunch and dinner Thursday-Sunday Website Read the full review Jules 237 Fillmore St., San Francisco See on map Add to wishlist Jules' ascension from a popup to the one of the most hopping pizza parlors in San Francisco was blazing fast. Max Blachman-Gentile honed his breadmaking talents at Tartine and his pizza skills at famous New York restaurants Emily and Roberta's. Fermented for a day, the dough has more whole-grain wheat than is typical, adding more chew to the otherwise fluffy, crispy crust. The Spicy Ronny (pepperoni and Calabrian chiles) is the top dog of the red pies, followed by a riff on eggplant parm, littered with toasted bread crumbs and opal basil. Start with a small plate like charred cabbage dressed with chili crisp and end with a licorice-y, anise-flavored Sambuca gelato. The pizza restaurant has limited capacity for walk-ins, so set your alarms to book a reservation a month in advance. Indoor seating Vegetarian options Price: $ Payment options: Credit cards accepted Drinks: Beer and wine Hours: Dinner Tuesday-Saturday Website Related story Mian 3540 Homestead Rd., Santa Clara See on map Add to wishlist Los Angeles noodle operation Mian opened a Sichuan-style shop in a Santa Clara strip mall, and it is as excellent as ever. Loved by Pulitzer Prize-winning restaurant critic Jonathan Gold, the noodle shop has quick service and a space decorated with wallpaper illustrations of Chengu street life. Thin and supple house-made noodles deserve the top billing. In the Chengdu zajiang noodles, the bouncy strings are slick with ground pork, fermented broad bean sauce and mouth-numbing chile oil so dark red it could make a vampire salivate. Supplement your meal with savory steamed eggs or a warm cup of sweet soy milk with a crunchy baton-shaped doughnut. Mian is temporarily closed through August. Takeout Delivery Indoor seating Price: $ Payment options: Credit cards accepted Drinks: Soft drinks Hours: Lunch and dinner Wednesday-Sunday Phone: 650-308-4364 Order online Read the full review Mijo 55 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera See on map Add to wishlist Mjio, which opened in March, is located in a Corte Madera strip mall, sandwiched in between Book Passage and an outpost of the spectacularly named bakery chain Nothing Bundt Cakes. But once you're inside Mijo, you're transported to —OK, not literal Spain, but a quite nice restaurant, one where attention has clearly been paid to the decor. There's a colorful mural on the back wall, cozy upholstered booths for two and larger ones for four, a long copper bar, lots of tile. As for the food, seasonal California ingredients update Spanish classics like patatas bravas and jamón croquetas. Don't miss the market salad, bathed in an aged sherry vinaigrette that you could happily drink on its own. Price: $ Payment options: Credit cards accepted Drinks: Full Bar Hours: Dinner daily Phone: 415-891-3552 Website Related story Outta Sight Pizza 643 Clay St., San Francisco See on map Add to wishlist Top 100 restaurant Outta Sight opened its second location in Chinatown in January, and the stars of the show here are chunky, rectangular grandma slices loaded with Asian American-inspired toppings like butter chicken and Peking duck. Under no circumstances should you skip the mapo slice. A squiggle of tangy whipped tofu stands in for ricotta, cushioning dollops of chile crisp packed with Sichuan peppercorns. Keep an eye out for happy hour deals on weekday afternoons when slices are discounted and bottles of wine are half off. Takeout Delivery Indoor seating Vegetarian options Price: $ Payment options: Credit cards accepted Drinks: Beer and wine Hours: Brunch and dinner Monday-Friday Phone: 415-829-3108 Website Piccino Presidio 1 Letterman Dr., Building D, San Francisco See on map Add to wishlist When restaurants open an additional location, the name of the new spot is usually the same as the original. But Piccino is so synonymous with Dogpatch that its second location, nearly 20 years in the making, is called Piccino Presidio. Although the space is considerably larger than the OG Piccino, the ethos is the same, with easy-to-love pizzas and pastas dominating the menu. A corn pie with spicy n'duja and fontina is a celebration of summer, but a salad of shaved fennel, endive, soft feta, pickled sultanas and olive chermoula dressed in a fragrant saffron vinaigrette steals the show. Takeout Outdoor seating Indoor seating Vegetarian options Price: $$ Payment options: Credit cards accepted Drinks: Full bar Hours: Lunch daily, dinner Monday-Saturday Phone: 415-824-4224 Website Prelude 333 Battery St., San Francisco See on map Add to wishlist Someone (and by someone we mean private equity firm KHP Capital Partners) poured a lot of money into the Jay Hotel, formerly Le Mérdien San Francisco. AvroKO, the firm behind some of the most luxurious restaurants and hotels in the world, gave the building a complete overhaul using a design vocabulary they're calling 'warm Brutalism.' Prelude, the hotel's ground-floor restaurant, is awash in marble, an extravagant background for chef Celtin Hendrickson-Jones' build-your-own grits bar. Served with a variety of fixin's, from crispy Benton's ham to pickled okra, the blue Oaxacan corn grits are a highlight of the Southern-with-a-swerve menu. There's even ambrosia for dessert. Don't be scared! Hendrickson-Jones' take, with homemade marshmallows, orange jelly and a potent swirl of Absinthe and passion fruit foam, is the rehabilitation this maligned 'salad' needs. Price: $$$ Payment options: Credit cards accepted Drinks: Full bar Hours: Dinner Tuesday-Saturday Phone: 415-375-8041 Website Order online Rasa 209 Park Rd., Burlingame See on map Add to wishlist After a three-year closure, Rasa, a trailblazing contemporary Indian restaurant in Burlingame, resurrected in 2024. It's as strong as ever. Signature dishes like arm-length dosas and crunchy potato fritter sliders are still worthy, while the flaky, juicy halibut drenched in coconut sauce is an awesome newcomer. Or try the darling egg curry served with yielding saffron rice — the sleeper hit from brunch service. Rasa remains an impressive thread in the fabric of the larger Indian food scene. Indoor seating Vegetarian options Price: $$ Payment options: Credit cards accepted Drinks: Full bar Hours: Lunch and dinner daily Phone: 650-910-6351 Website Read the full review Rusty Ladle 3645 Lawton St., San Francisco See on map Add to wishlist Rusty Ladle, a soup spot mere minutes away from Ocean Beach, feels like a remedy for hard times. You can leave the restaurant with a happy belly for under $15. Inside is a long counter, decorated with lines of pennies, that doubles as an art installation — a nod to owner John Lindsey's background as an artist. The menu strictly consists of sandwiches and soups, including a thick chowder loaded with Bodega Bay clams and a tangy-sweet tomato soup cooled with slightly pungent basil cream. You'll want to pair the latter with an obscenely cheesy schmelty, a grilled cheese encrusted with a crisp skirt. As food prices spike, affordable spots like Rusty Ladle are more vital than ever. Takeout Outdoor seating Indoor seating Vegetarian options Price: $ Payment options: Credit cards accepted Drinks: Beer and wine Hours: Lunch and dinner Thursday-Sunday Phone: 415-205-0860 Website Read the full review Shoji 140 New Montgomery St., Suite 1200, San Francisco See on map Add to wishlist Shoji is a daytime cafe, restaurant and bar from Ingi Son of Michelin-starred sushi restaurant the Shota. But what's arguably more exciting is that he teamed up with chef Intu-on Kornnawong, the force that brought Jo's Modern Thai in Oakland to prominence. The Japanese-leaning restaurant is slicker than slick, with round comfy booths, heavy stone tables and an intricate mural of animals in traditional Japanese painting style. Kornnawong's mastery of Thai flavor shines in creamy oysters flavored with beet chile jam and fish ceviche laced with fiery, herby nam jim. She proves equally adept at cooking Japanese dishes like a donburi, rice stacked with cured, naturally sweet shrimp, seasoned ikura and melty uni. It's so indulgent that it almost feels forbidden, the edible equivalent of staring at the sun. Outdoor seating Indoor seating Price: $$ Payment options: Credit cards accepted Drinks: Full bar Hours: Dinner Monday-Friday Related story Side A 2814 19th St., San Francisco See on map Add to wishlist Parker Brown climbed the ladder at fine dining spots like Aphotic, but at his Mission District restaurant Side A, he maintains a strict 'no microgreens' policy. Instead, you'll find hearty portions of creative Midwestern-inflected fare, from Italian beef gnocchi — one of the best dishes we've had all year — to chicken schnitzel served with a nostalgia-inducing honey mustard sauce. Brown is chasing, in his words, yumminess, not stars. His wife and business partner, Caroline, a music industry veteran, pulls from a deep selection of vinyl, spinning everything from Peter Gabriel to OutKast in the DJ booth at the front of the restaurant. A visit to Side A is like stopping by a house party where the host also happens to be a first-rate chef. Indoor seating Price: $$ Payment options: Credit cards accepted Drinks: Full bar Hours: Dinner Thursday-Monday Phone: 415-231-4969 Website Read the full review Sirene 3308 Grand Ave., Oakland See on map Add to wishlist Paul Einbund and Gavin Schmidt, the duo behind the Morris in San Francisco, are back with another smash restaurant: Sirene in Oakland. The two are like the Abbott and Costello of the Bay Area food world, and they bring their passion for warm hospitality to Sirene. The menu is an oddball mix of seafood and fried chicken. Cozy up to the bar for a glass of wine or a Chartreuse slushy and a hearty bowl of wood-fired mussels. For a full meal, start with something light like marinated raw fish and end with something heavy like the fried chicken. The chicken sports a thin, crackly shell and can be accompanied with accordion-like biscuits and an awesome kimchi octopus sauce — a riff inspired the duo's love of late-night Korean fried chicken. Exposed brick lends the dining room rustic character; there's also a charming back patio covered in vines. Takeout Outdoor seating Indoor seating Vegetarian options Price: $$ Payment options: Credit cards accepted Drinks: Full bar Hours: Breakfast and dinner Wednesday-Sunday Phone: 510-200-8750 Website Read the full review Smish Smash 945 Market St., San Francisco See on map Add to wishlist After gaining a reputation for making the Bay Area's best smashburger as a roving popup, Smish Smash settled into downtown San Francisco's Saluhall earlier this year. Run by couple Amy Han and Vic Donado, Smish's supremacy boils down to its execution and consistency, informed by obsessive, innovative technique. There are always six burgers on the menu, such as the the signature, with a sherry wine-vinegar-infused secret sauce, and the Cheeseboiga, a messy number inspired by the Big Mac. But don't ignore the specials, which test the limits of imagination. Smish Smash is temporarily closed. Takeout Indoor seating Vegetarian options Price: $ Payment options: Credit cards accepted Drinks: Soft drinks Phone: Website Order online Read the full review Sun Moon Studio 1940 Union St., Suite 21, Oakland See on map Add to wishlist Sun Moon Studio is an odd name for a restaurant. It suggests artists at work, a place devoted to experimentation and craft rather than the practical exchange of meals for money. It might seem pretentious were it not for chef-owners Sarah Cooper and Alan Hsu's extremely unpretentious geniality, and also the fact that Sun Moon Studio is one of the best restaurants to open in the Bay Area in 2024. On an industrial block in West Oakland in a space that seats 12, they're serving a tasting menu that surprises and delights, from the housemade lap cheong on a steamed brioche bun to the savory egg custard tart, a showcase for Cooper's pastry prowess. It would all be impressive were it cooked by a team of 10, but it's only Hsu and Cooper in the kitchen, honing their craft night after night. The Michelin Guide took note this summer, awarding Sun Moon Studio its first star. Indoor seating Vegetarian options Price: $$$$ Payment options: Credit cards accepted Drinks: Beer and wine Hours: Dinner Thursday-Saturday Website Read the full review Supreme Dumplings 3251 20th Ave., San Francisco See on map Add to wishlist In June, our colleagues reported that while most San Francisco malls are struggling, Stonestown Galleria is thriving. The reason? The mall's management has invested heavily in Asian retailers and restaurants. The latest concept to open is Supreme Dumplings, a Washington-based mini chain that is, some might say, a homegrown Din Tai Fung dupe. (One of its two head chefs led Din Tai Fung's original central kitchen.) It should come as no surprise that the thing to get here is the soup dumplings, particularly the supreme pork xiao long bao, which come eight to an order and burst with a generous amount of liquid. Grab a reservation if you can; in the weeks after opening, Supreme Dumplings proved so popular that waits topped two hours and walk-in diners were turned away well before close. Takeout Outdoor seating Indoor seating Vegetarian options Price: $$ Payment options: Credit cards accepted Drinks: Beer and wine Hours: Lunch and diiner daily Phone: 877-839-4283 Website The Roll 921 Folsom St., San Francisco See on map Add to wishlist Sushi Hakko is all about pristine omakase. The team's new casual restaurant, the Roll, is rooted in futomaki. But what makes the spot a standout is the stuffed spins on inari sushi, which typically feature rice tucked inside pockets of fried tofu. Each one resembles a sweet little boat. The Roll offers three for $17 or five for $26, including a side of seaweed salad, and each piece is big enough to split between two people, if somewhat difficult to cut in half. In addition to more usual topping suspects like dry-aged tuna and salmon with yuzu kosho, there are less conventional options like corn cheese and yakiniku beef topped with a quail egg. Takeout Delivery Indoor seating Price: $ Payment options: Credit cards accepted Drinks: Beer, wine and sake Hours: Lunch and dinner Tuesday-Sunday Phone: 415-489-8610 Website Order online Tsujita Artisan Noodle 4330 Moorpark Ave., San Jose See on map Add to wishlist Tsujita, a Tokyo-born ramen shop that opened its first stateside shop in Los Angeles, recently expanded to San Jose. The noodle shop is known for its tsukemen, a ramen variant where you dip cold noodles into hot, fortified broth. The cool temperature of the thick yellow noodles helps preserve their springy chew. The most basic tsukemen includes only noodles and potent broth; the spicy version adds prickly chile paste, and the deluxe gets a double portion of melty braised pork and a seasoned egg. The Los Angeles Tsujita has a reputation for its long lines, and the new 30-seat outpost is no different. Waits can range from 30 minutes up to several hours. Indoor seating Price: $ Payment options: Credit cards accepted Drinks: Beer, wine and sake Hours: Lunch and dinner Sunday-Thursday Website Under-Study 595 St Helena Hwy., St Helena See on map Add to wishlist After an unexpected permitting hiccup that forced a temporary closure, Under-study in St. Helena is back open. As of early July, the museum café-bakery-marketplace still doesn't have its seating sorted out, but until then visitors can eat their expertly laminated danishes and sweet and sour pig ears on the adjacent patio at sister restaurant Press. You should definitely get both, and be sure to tack on the heirloom tomato as well. On the menu, it's described as coming with 'preserved plum, toasted sourdough,' but this is no toast. Expect instead an intensely flavorful sculptural salad with precariously stacked tomato and plum segments, tweezered herbs and lacy sourdough crisps. Takeout Outdoor seating Indoor seating Vegetarian options Price: $ Payment options: Credit cards accepted Drinks: Beer and wine Hours: Breakfast and lunch daily Phone: 707-286-0070 Website Related story Verjus 550 Washington St., San Francisco, CA 94111 See on map Add to wishlist After a four-year closure, Lindsay and Michael Tusk's wine bar across from the Transamerica Pyramid is back and firing on all cylinders. The dramatic interiors are as captivating as ever, with the menu displayed on a lit marquee running the length of the room and an oxblood lacquered ceiling as glossy as the caramel sauce on the godly pain perdu. But the food from executive chef Walker Stern will pull your attention squarely back to what is on your plate. The breadth of France is represented, from chicken Normande ($32), resplendent in a Calvados sauce, to a Provençal-style soupe de crabe ($38) inspired by bouillabaisse. The wine list — 'thick with under-the-radar producers,' according to our colleague Esther Mobley — hews Gallic as well. More of a cocktail drinker? Thad Vogler has compiled a list of classics made with his Bar Agricole single-origin spirits. Indoor seating Vegetarian options Price: $$ Payment options: Credit cards accepted Drinks: Full bar Hours: Dinner Tuesday-Saturday Phone: 415-944-4600 Website Related story Advertisement Save your wishlist Add to your wishlist by checking the boxes above Copy wish list to clipboardEmail wish list To come up with the price designations, the Chronicle estimated what two people would spend on a meal without drinks or dessert. $: up to $50 $$: $51-$100 $$$: $101-$250 $$$$: more than $250 Insights on Northern California's culinary scene, from the Chronicle Food team Sign up This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service By subscribing, you agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge that your information will be used as described in our Privacy Notice. Credits Reporting by MacKenzie Chung Fegan / Restaurant Critic and Cesar Hernandez / Associate Restaurant Critic. Visuals by Chronicle Photo Editors, Photographers, and Contributors. Editing by Janelle Bitker and Caleb Pershan. Audience engagement by Jess Shaw and Elisabeth Smith. Project management by Brittany Schell / Hearst DevHub and Alex Fong / Deputy Creative Director, Design. Design and development by Danielle Rindler / Hearst DevHub and Evan Wagstaff / Hearst DevHub. Powered by the Hearst Newspapers DevHub. Homepage To Top About Our Company Terms of Use Privacy Notice CA Notice at Collection Your CA Privacy Rights (Shine the Light) DAA Industry Opt Out Careers Advertising Newsroom Ethics Policy Our Use of AI Endorsement Process News Tips Newsroom News Contact Customer Service FAQ Newsroom Contacts Services Subscriber Services e-Edition Reprints & Permissions Corporate Subscriptions App Archives Membership Place an Obituary Store Subscription Offers Your Privacy Choices (Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads) ©2025 Hearst
San Francisco Chronicle
05-07-2025
- General
- San Francisco Chronicle
This tiny Bay Area town is a surprising spot to find delicious Hawaiian food
Subbing in for MacKenzie Chung Fegan this week is Cesar Hernandez, sharing his favorite recent bites, dishes, snacks and baked goods that don't make it into a full review. Want the list a few days earlier? Sign up for MacKenzie's free newsletter, Bite Curious. I was delighted by the laidback atmosphere of The Altamont General Store, a counter-service restaurant and market in Occidental, the secluded town in Sonoma County with a population of 1,000. The casual restaurant makes a credible sausage breakfast sandwich ($16.50), slicked with romesco, but the Hawaiian-inspired plate lunch ($21) stole the show. I went with shrimp, which was slightly crisp and doused in a spicy-sweet sauce. It was rounded out with toothsome rice, creamy mac, miso broccoli and piquant, tangy kimchi. I had one of the greatest fish soups I've ever tried at Mountain View's HalalStreet Xinjiang Cuisine, which specializes in Northern Chinese and Uyghur cuisine. The hulking sea bass in a green peppercorn broth ($58.98) arrives at the table bubbling with fury. While the fish was tender and flaky, I couldn't get enough of the pickled cabbage. The decadent broth is more numbing than spicy, but keep drinking and your sinuses will loosen. I recommend trying it with a group of friends. Or tackle it alone, if you're brave enough. 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m., 5-9 p.m. Monday-Friday, 11:30 a.m.-4:30-9 p.m. Saturday-Sunday. 174 Castro St., Mountain View. or 650-386-5103 I had wonderful snacks on a recent visit to the Restaurante Latino Los Sazones de mi Tierra, a new Guatemalan restaurant in San Leandro. The restaurant excels at crunchy appetizers like tostadas topped with sliced beets, boiled eggs and a spiral of ketchup. The standout was the garnaches ($15), 10 cracker-sized tostadas adorned with ground beef, tomato sauce and pickled cabbage. I like to think of them as improved Lunchables. 10 a.m.-9 p.m. daily. 16496 E. 14th St., San Leandro. 510-626-6471
San Francisco Chronicle
01-07-2025
- San Francisco Chronicle
I miss my favorite Oakland restaurant. But the sequel is wonderful in different ways
MacKenzie Chung Fegan is on vacation, so Cesar Hernandez is filling in this week. Daytrip was my favorite restaurant in the Bay Area. I fell to my knees and cursed the heavens when it closed last December. The Oakland spot was cheeky, dizzyingly flavorful and psychedelically sexy with a fermentation kink. This burning star shined bright then evaporated — an allegory for the waning invincibility of your 20s. Last month, it was reborn as Daytrip Counter, a counter-service rotisserie chicken spot better suited to the new interests of owners Stella Dennig and Finn Stern — parents in their 30s. Daytrip 2.0 bears resemblance to beloved quick-service spots like Souvla and RT Rotisserie, known for delivering affordable quality and consistency. Mainly consisting of rotisserie chicken and salads, the menu is like if Sweet Green and El Pollo Loco had a kid that went to culinary school. The flavors are bright and zippy; the textures disparate and bountiful. It's a supreme lunch spot that I wish I could visit every day. Full disclosure: My first experience with the chicken was less than optimal. In a blind taste test of rotisserie chickens in the Bay Area, Daytrip didn't live up to my expectations. That was likely due to the testing parameters; we tried all chickens at room temperature and without any sauces. I felt compelled to give the chicken another shake in its intended state and, boy, am I glad I did. This chicken was juicy, tenderly shreddable and doused in a schmaltzy sauce, an emulsion of chicken fat and stock, landing somewhere in between chicken gravy and milky oxtail broth. To ensure succulence, the vinegar-brined birds are injected with several CCs of that fatty, emulsified liquid. I recommend scaling down its richness with a squeeze of lime or try introducing additional flavor with a rolodex of sauces. I loved the herby, tangy-sweet tomatillo vinaigrette — similar to green sauce from Cheese Board Pizza in Berkeley — and spicy, fish sauce-spiked aioli, like a creamy version of Vietnamese nước chấm. Fish sauce also lends a depth of umami to the Caesar aioli, a bright, peppery condiment accompanying the crunchy Caesar fries, spuds coated in garlicky, citrusy seasoning and finished with Parmesan cheese shavings. The original Daytrip had a reputation for a revelatory salad, and its latest foray expands upon that idea. The oregano-scented Club Med ($13.50) is a whirlwind of creaminess and acidity while the Crispy Spicy ($13) is podium for crunch and funk. Although the salads are plenty filling, I recommend adding shredded chicken ($3.50) or a jammy egg ($3.50). With the change in concept, the space got a facelift. The pink walls and murals of the past have been replaced by a fresh coat of lemon yellow paint. It could double as a monochromatic set piece from a Wes Anderson movie. The lounge area was traded for more seating and a floating island, the bussing, self-serve water and utensil station. Above it hangs a crystal disco ball, a remnant of a former life. If the former restaurant was a disco-themed dinner party, Daytrip Counter is a picnic on a sunny day. Welcome back.
San Francisco Chronicle
05-06-2025
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco croissant contest crowns a surprising new champion
A surprise newcomer, Maison Benoit, claimed top honors at the 2025 Best Croissant San Francisco competition on Sunday, edging out 349 contenders and clinching the Grand Prize in a tightly judged field of buttery, flaky rivals. The annual event, hosted at the Clift Royal Sonesta Hotel and organized by French Morning, Frenchly and French-American Hospitality & Gastronomy Association, drew hundreds of pastry lovers and a waitlist over a thousand names long. Notably absent from the finalists this year was Arsicault, among the bakeries often credited with putting San Francisco on the national croissant map and whose croissant Chronicle critic Cesar Hernandez named No. 1 last year. The 10 finalists considered at the event were chosen through public voting, with fans nominating their favorite bakeries in an open call leading up to the competition. The judging panel included Jean-François Houdré of the Westin St. Francis, Philippe Gardelle of Chapeau, Shaunda O'Day of Noe Valley Bakery, Céline Plano of Aura in Napa, and Pierre Bee of FAHGA. Benoît Vialle, who left a career at Microsoft and later the wine industry to pursue baking, opened Maison Benoit in Danville just last year. 'For me it highlights our relentless focus on producing the best possible quality authentic French products, and croissants in particular, at a price that everyone can enjoy every day at $3.75,' Vialle told the Chronicle on Tuesday. His pastry chef Lucile Espeillac, formerly of Paris' La Tour d'Argent, was equally pleased with the outcome. 'We've worked so hard since we opened that this prize is really a great reward,' she told organizers. Among the 10 finalists were standout bakeries from across the Bay Area, including Backhaus, Maison Nico, Le Carousel Patisserie, the Midwife and the Baker and East Bay Bakery, each showcasing inventive flavors and classic techniques in pursuit of the top prize. The Midwife and the Baker, based in Mountain View, took home the People's Choice Award. 'I am very proud of the products that we have presented today: we utilize pre-fermentation techniques that give depth to the flavor of our croissants,' founder Mac McConnell told Frenchly. In the 'Best Original Creation' category, the win went to Le Carousel Patisserie for a mango and rum-flambéed pineapple flower pastry. 'We wanted to offer a viennoiserie that was both classic and original,' said Jérémie Mullet, founder of the popup bakery. Despite stiff competition and experimental entries, it was Maison Benoit's traditional craftsmanship that captured the top prize. People's Choice Award The Midwife and the Baker Best Original Creation Le Carousel Grand Prix 1st place: Maison Benoit 2nd place: Backhaus
