If you’re wondering where you should be wining and dining in San Francisco, here are five of the most news worthy and buzzy restaurants to check out right now. From the city’s newest wine bar from the team behind two Michelin starred Saison and an innovative and upscale 11 course Thai tasting menu, to where to get the most innovative pasta dishes and the best martini towers, these are places that making waves in the San Francisco’s dynamic food scene now.
Saison Wine Bar
Adahlia Cole
Saison Wine Bar
From the team behind two Michelin starred Saison and one Michelin starred Angler comes San Francisco’s newest wine bar, Saison Cellar & Wine bar.
“This is a full circle moment for me, as 234 Townsend is the very same space that was home to my former restaurant Les Clos,” says Bright. “We are excited to offer the highest quality at the best price — it’s affordable luxury, and we aim for every guest to enter comfortable and leave comfortable, having learned a little and had a great time in between.”
This elegant-yet-cozy wine bar offers a similar, upscale vibe to the neighboring Saison, with its navy blue interiors contrasted with gold, moody wood and leather, plus taxidermy, dried flowers and a welcoming ambiance. This charming wine bar features between 30 and 40 selections of wines available by the glass, with prices ranging from just $12 to $100-plus.
The wine bar serves up a personally curated list curated by Mark Bright, who is both Saison Hospitality’s cofounder, and the winemaker at Saison Winery, as well as their team of Sommeliers, complemented by French wine bar fare. While the wines are the star of the show, the food menu shouldn’t be overlooked.
The food menu, which includes some signatures from Maison Nico, celebrates French fare with deliciously indulgent dishes like the caviar parfait a la Mina, a savory layer-cake of hash browns, horseradish creme fraiche, smoked salmon, and eggs topped with caviar; the croque monsieur with French bistro ham, mornay, comté, dijon and pickles topped with truffles; and the pommes dauphine — crispy potato puffs filled with wagon wheel cheese served with wildflower honey. From a selection of cheeses to charcuterie sliced fresh to order, there’s a big enough selection to satisfy.
Saison Wine Bar has also launched happy hour. From Tuesday to Saturday from 2pm-5pm enjoy:
$8 rotating selection of wine by the glass
$5 off truffle fries, pommes dauphine, and seasonal salad
$18 chef’s cheese and charcuterie board, rotating selection of meat and cheese with Marcona almonds, olives, honey, and baguette
*daily from 4pm-5pm $1 oysters
Those that are interested can be founding members for $5,000 giving them and their guests access to the cellar area and a climate-controlled private wine locker to store up to 78 bottles. In addition to a starter case of wine, members will receive $5,000 credit to buy bottles of wine throughout the year and special access to wine events and dinners at any of the Saison Hospitality Group restaurants.
Alora
Neetu Laddha Photography
Alora
At the beginning of this year the iconic Embarcadero welcomed its newest restaurant, Alora. Though “Alora” has several definitions depending on where you live, its Latin definition is “beautiful dreamer.” This pretty restaurant is a coastal Mediterranean destination on the water by the husband and wife team Vikram and Anu Bhambri, who also own three locations of ROOH, among other restaurants around the Bay Area.
The beautiful 2,500 square foot space features a spacious patio with bay views, giving guests the perfect spot to enjoy craft cocktails and a variety of wines by the glass. Alora showcases the cuisine from destinations surrounding the Mediterranean Sea, including Spain, Italy, Morocco, and Turkey. The menu features seasonal, market-driven menu of dips, handmade pastas, seafood specialties, kebabs and more.
Standouts include the whipped and twice roasted eggplant dips with Calabrian chili; roasted pepper and walnut dip with feta and pita; the hand-rolled thick noodles, burrata, tomato butter sauce; the agnolotti filled with sweet corn, leek, fennel, wild shrimp, and shrimp cream; oven roasted confit octopus with snow pea tzatziki; and the steak shish kebab with roasted grape + bone marrow salsa.
In more news, Alora just announced the arrival of Chef Nicholas Peters as its new Executive Chef. Known for his innovative approach to dining, he is currently crafting an entirely new menu that will debut on October 15, 2024, showcasing fresh, seasonal dishes inspired by the Mediterranean coast for the fall and winter seasons.
Flour + Water
Carter Hiyama
Flour + Water
This Mission District staple celebrated its 15th anniversary in May 2024. Best known for its array of hand-crafted pasta — since 2009 it has created approximately 90 unique pasta shapes — Flour + Water’s Neapolitan-style pizza is also worth both touting and making room for. This year, culinary director Ryan Pollnow and the team began utilizing a sourdough starter to further refine the pizza program.
The evolution of the dough at Flour + Water OG was inspired by their research and development at Flour + Water Pizzeria and the findings of what a preferment does to the complexity of that dough. Current pizzas on the menu include the zucca with taggiasca olive, veal sausage and anchovy and the pomodoro with sungold emulsion and cherry tomato miso bagna cauda.
The selection of pastas change seasonally and range from the summer favorites that include the squash agnolotti with parmigiano reggiano and sourdough and corn cappelletti with chanterelle, brown butter and marsala to creative dishes like the squid ink bucatini with octopus ragu and Calabrian chili to pork raviolini with jimmy nardello mostarda and sesame urfa crumble.
Rounding out the menu is a few entrees that currently include the swordfish with salsa verde and the pork belly with fairytale eggplant and melon mostarda.
To compliment the impressive menu of Italian far, Flour + Water also features a house wine program featuring collaboration bottles with Subject to Change, Hammerling, and Les Lunes wineries in Northern California.
Hed11
Chelsea Davis
Hed11
Brought to you by Chef Piriya “Saint” Boonprasan and owner Naruephon “Billie” Wannajaro of Hed Very Thai on Hardie Place, comes Hed11, a new fine dining Thai restaurant located inside the Kimpton Hotel Enso in Japantown. After just two months of opening, Hed11 was added to Michelin Guide California’s recommended list. As the name suggests, Hed11 offers an seasonal, 11 course tasting menu where the bold flavors and spices of Southern Thailand have most recently been showcased in a seafood centric tasting menu which ends in September.
The menu features an array of unique small dishes like the Thai coconut pancake with caviar; grapefruit salad with Hokkaido uni; and grilled Hokkaido scallop with coconut curry noodles; as well as larger highlights including a spicy crab curry with grilled bitter bean; a Phuket famous five spice beef stew, and namprik shrimp with cha-om omelet and seasonal vegetables. The variety and number of sweet and savory plates make dining here a true culinary adventure.
Brixton
Patricia Chang
Brixton
The Brixton in Cow Hollow is back, reopening after a new transformation that embraces its roots as a modern American gastropub. With great food, craft cocktails (even a martini tower complete with salty snacks), and a lively social atmosphere, Owner Hugo Gamboa is refocusing on The Brixton’s original restaurant concept while keeping the bar vibe a focal point of the buzzy restaurant.
“We’re thrilled to return to our roots and create a welcoming space for the community to gather,” says Gamboa. “At the onset of the pandemic, our team made the decision to shift The Brixton to more of a bar concept in order to survive. Now, we are eager to embrace our roots as a restaurant with an exciting bar program, and a place where the community is welcome to gather and enjoy this great city and Cow Hollow neighborhood, which we are so proud to see having a resurgence with new openings.”
The reimagined menu, created under the expert guidance of Consulting Chef Joey Altman, will feature an ingredient-driven selection packed with bold flavors. New, popular dishes include pan roasted organic chicken breast with a lemon-caper sauce; Osaka style sushi stacks ranging from dragon roll to ahi tuna; Brixton super smash burger with shaved sweet onion and American cheese; Korean BBQ ribs with a tangy Asian pear reduction; and more.
Elevated-yet-approachable new cocktails include the Oh She Sour with honeydew and cucumber infused gin; Be My Baby with jalapeno and habanero infused tequila and cucumber juice; Baby’s Milke with Fruity Pebbles, strawberries and milk washed & more.
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