It is January 1. Time for the New Years resolutions. And
time to begin making the list of most amazing places I want to – and will eat
at in 2013.
And of course, again the resolution to NEVER eat in ordinary
places while dining out. It continues to
amaze me how many people just go out and pick a restaurant based upon the
ability to “get in” rather than doing a little thinking ahead.
And what better way to start on my 2013 list than to begin
with one of my favorite restaurant reviewers, Michael Bauer, the restaurant
reviewer for the San Francisco Chronicle. It is true, that I have a bit of an
affinity for the man, since he (also) hales from Kansas City. But when I look
at his food choices, and then compare later with my own thoughts, they often
match up.
Bauer in his annual column “Best New Restaurants of 2012”
outlines a group of great new places, none of which I have been to. I hope to
remedy that in 2013.
His article also summarizes a few changes in the San
Francisco food scene, including:
- Italian is no longer the “in” thing
- San Francisco restaurants are developing distinct personalities.
- Marin Country is in (Just over the Goldengate Bridge
- Less Choices on the menu.
- Vegetables are closer to the center of attraction.
- Wines from outside California are becoming popular.
Name
|
Why / what I
want to try
|
Where
|
AQ
|
The menu
changes every 3 months!
|
SF / 1085
Mission near 7th street
|
Comal
|
Tacos and
enchiladas. But Quesadillas with rabbit.
|
|
Hopscotch
|
A homey
diner.Buttermilk fried chicken, but upscaled.
|
Oakland / 1915 San Pablo Ave. (near Williams Street
|
Local’s Corner
|
Seafood. Uni.
Oysters soup.
|
SF / 2500 Bryant St. (at 23rd Street)
|
Mill Valley
Beerworks
|
Small plates.
Crisp okra.
|
Mill Valley / 173 Throckmorton Ave. (at Madrona Street), Mill Valley
|
Redd Wood
|
Pizza in
Yountville
|
Yountville / 6755 Washington St. (near Madison), Yountville
|
Restaurant 1833
|
Whole truffled
chicken and iceberg salad. Old style
|
Carmel / Monterey
|
Rich Table
|
“the most
exciting to open this year….” Sardine chips, desserts and much more….
|
199 Gough St. (at Oak Street),
|
State Bird
Provisions
|
Rolled carts of
food
|
1529 Fillmore St. (near O'Farrell Street)
|
Terrapin
Crossroads
|
Chopped salad,
grilled chicken
|
San Rafael / 100 Yacht Club Drive (at
Francisco Boulevard),
|
Benu
|
||
Quince
|
||
Bar Tartine
|
||
Gitane
|
Bay Area's
best new restaurants of 2012
The year's top
new spots offer diversity, personality - and plenty of vegetables
Michael
Bauer
A few times this year I almost panicked,
thinking that there were no new restaurants worthy of review. Yet, just as I
was figuring out a revised game plan, a flush of new places would open.
However, I traveled around the Bay Area more
this year. Even in this compact region, where we can go from San Francisco to
the Wine Country in an hour or so, I still put more than 6,000 miles on the
odometer.
This year it felt as if Marin County finally
stepped up its dining game, with the opening of such places as Mill Valley
Beerworks and Terrapin Creek. My Top 10 list of best new places of the year
also includes restaurants in Oakland, Berkeley, Yountville and Monterey.
As in years past, I had to make tough
decisions about what to leave out. I loved Campo Fina in Healdsburg and gave it
a three-star review, but omitted it because it was similar to the owners' other
restaurant, Scopa. Nopalito on Ninth Avenue in San Francisco could easily have
been on the list, but it was so similar to the original I gave it a pass.
The list illustrates one of the major trends
of the year. No longer is Cal-Ital king. Now the dining scene is fueled by more
diversity at places like Bar Tartine, where Nick
Balla has transformed the food by giving it an Eastern European twist. I
did an Update review this year, but the restaurant didn't make the list because
it isn't new.
In a Travel & Leisure article a few
months ago, Adam
Sachs found that what characterizes the food at many of the newer San
Francisco restaurants is a distinct personality.
I couldn't agree more, whether it's the
Scandinavian food produced at Plaj or the Turkish-California dishes at Troya on
Fillmore. While neither of these places made my list, they are still noteworthy
additions to the dining scene.
As a result of this newfound personality and
confidence, menus continue to shrink. The once-standard menu that would list a
dozen appetizers and main courses seems to be going the way of the landline
phone. Menus at places like Hopscotch in Oakland and AQ in San Francisco list
half that many, which works to showcase the chef's talent in the best light.
These sorts of menus are truly a case where less is more.
Vegetables moved closer to the center of the
plate this year. Maybe it's the tighter economy, but protein portions are
shrinking and chefs are using their creativity on what surrounds the meat or
fish.
The best example of this is at Mill Valley
Beerworks, where David
Wilcox creates the sort of dishes you don't even realize are meat-free.
This brings up another welcome trend: the
emergence of beer.
At Abbot's Cellar in San Francisco, artisan
beer is given a respect once reserved for wine. Chef Adam Dulye crafts
interesting beer and food pairings, making this a restaurant to watch, despite
not making the list. The food here, and at Mill Valley Beerworks, goes way
beyond stereotypical beer-centric fare.
Cocktails continue to gain momentum at
restaurants like Hopscotch, where the bartenders shake up some interesting
combinations behind a counter that looks as if it belongs in an old-fashioned
diner. While the emphasis on local ingredients is so strong that many restaurants
don't even bother to advertise that fact anymore, that's not the case with the
wines.
Many wine lists I've reviewed his year are as
compressed as the menus, and are dominated by wines from outside California.
In a way we are ceding one of our best assets
because our proximity to Wine Country has been partly responsible for our rich
food culture. It's nice to have international selections, but when we make such
a case for sourcing locally, shouldn't wine be part of the equation?
Not all the action in 2012 was in new
restaurants. You can tell it's a vibrant dining scene when established
restaurants get even better.
This year, I wrote an Update review of Benu,
raising it to four stars because Corey
Lee continues to amaze me with his seamless blending of Eastern and Western
techniques.
I also raised Quince to four stars. Michael
Tusk has taken his Italian-inspired food in new, exciting directions, and his
wife, Lindsay Tusk, has
continued to upgrade the already elegant interior. Neither of these will be in
the accompanying list because they made the cut the year they opened. They're
just even better now. That's also the case with restaurants like Bar Tartine
and Gitane.
Despite our love of everything new, I need to
give props to two restaurants that have been reborn while respecting tradition:
Original Joe's and the Trident.
Original Joe's thrived in the Tenderloin for
more than 75 years, but a fire in 2007 forced its closure, and it took five
years for the family to decide where to reopen. They chose North Beach and have
created a restaurant that embraces the past without being a cliche.
The Trident in Sausalito was a hangout for Janis Joplin and her
friends in the 1960s, and for many years was Horizons. It's been purchased by
the owners of the Buena Vista Cafe, who
have lovingly restored it while preserving its stellar views.
These all help to create a richer Bay Area
dining scene. The new restaurants seem to spur the established ones to be even
better, and we still have the sense of history to respect our elders.
Best new Bay Area restaurants of 2012
Here are my picks for the top 10 new
restaurants I reviewed in 2012, in alphabetical order . A couple opened in late
2011, but because of The Chronicle's policy of waiting a month to let the
restaurant staff settle in and then visiting three times before writing a
review, the restaurants didn't find their way into print until 2012.
AQ
Every three months, the interior of this
Mid-Market restaurant changes dramatically, along with the menu. The copper-top
bar and warm color scheme of fall turns into a cool Carrera marble bar and
white tablecloths in winter.
And Mark Liberman, who
honed his skills at La Folie, creates a completely different menu, too. I still
remember a dish from my first visit a year ago: avocado blistered with a blow
torch to order and served with squid, parsnips, sesame and grapefruit.
That's no longer on the menu, of course, but
now you might find mussels and salsify with stinging nettles ($14), or beef
poached in mushroom tea ($32) with horseradish, bok choy and turnips. 1085
Mission St. (near Seventh Street), San Francisco; (415) 341-9000. aq-sf.com.
Dinner Tuesday-Sunday; brunch Sunday.
Comal
Matt Gandin was chef de cuisine for five
years at Delfina and he carries over the same exacting standards to what he's
now doing at this Mexican restaurant.
Gandin offers tacos, enchiladas and other
typical fare, but there's a subtle fanaticism that's missing at many other
Mexican places.
Quesadillas are filled with rabbit ($13);
enchiladas are plump with heirloom pork ($14); and meatballs are made with beef
and pork ($12) lightened with ricotta and simmered in an adobo sauce.
Another winner: whole spit-roasted chicken
($39; pictured) brined and rubbed with lemon, garlic and ground annato seed.
Fire-roasted potatoes, rice with rajas and black beans with epazote and arbol
chiles come on the side.
The stylish dining room includes innovative
acoustical work by Meyer Sound, making
conversation possible at the always-packed tables. 2020 Shattuck Ave. (near University
Avenue), Berkeley; (510) 926-6300, comalberkeley.com. Dinner nightly.
Hopscotch
One of the most exciting trends of 2012 is
chefs who create extraordinary food in casual surroundings. That's clearly
illustrated at this restaurant that resembles a homey diner.
The service under Jenny Schwarz has a
fine-dining edge and the menu under Kyle Itani gives
classic American combinations a gentle Asian twist.
He knows when to push the envelope and when
to stop, serving buttermilk fried chicken ($17) with chopped vegetables
flavored with chrysanthemum leaves and shishito peppers. Yonsei oyster ($5) is
topped with sea urchin, salmon roe and citrus soy sauce; and a pork chop ($23),
is arranged over sliced persimmons, with bamboo shoots coated in lardo and
shaved pickled turnips.
The restaurant also serves some of the best
cocktails around. 1915 San Pablo Ave. (near Williams Street), Oakland; (510)
788-6217. hopscotchoakland.com. Lunch and dinner Tuesday-Sunday.
Local's Corner
The food at this creative restaurant is
defined by what can be produced with a limited kitchen, yet Jake Des Voignes
offers a menu unlike anything else in the Bay Area. The dishes focus on
seafood, with raw or lightly cooked fish.
When I reviewed the restaurant in late
spring, the most memorable dish was uni with English peas, mint and preserved
lemon. Now it's served with mandarins, turnips and celery ($15).
Another standout was oyster soup, a creamy
blend with diced red potatoes, raw miyagi oysters and baby turnips, creating a
unique juxtaposition of land and sea. Now the chef features oyster pot pie
($15) with fennel and carrots. 2500 Bryant St. (at 23rd Street), San
Francisco; (415) 800-7945. localscornersf.com. Breakfast, brunch or lunch and
dinner Tuesday-Saturday; brunch Sunday.
Mill Valley Beerworks
When you think of a beer pub, vegetables
aren't the first thing that comes to mind, but chef David Wilcox had a
different vision. When I visited, 13 of the 16 small plates were
vegetable-based.
While the restaurant has been open more than
two years, it expanded recently and Wilcox has made it a destination. It almost
goes without saying the menu changes constantly, but on my visits I enjoyed
crisp okra ($8), charred from the grill and coated in cooked cherry tomatoes
with anchovy, mint and serrano chile; caramelized baby turnips ($8) in
chimichurri with sauteed turnip greens; and romano beans ($9) with poached egg,
roasted tomato sauce and olives.
If you crave protein, the pork meatballs
($13) in chunky tomato sauce are outstanding. I knew the lightly grilled
albacore ($14) would be fresh when I saw a whole fish being carried in the
front door by a fisherman. 173 Throckmorton Ave. (at Madrona Street), Mill
Valley; (415) 888-8218. millvalleybeerworks.com. Lunch and dinner daily.
Redd Wood
These days every top-tier chef opens a
downscale option; for Richard Reddington of Redd it's this nearby pizza restaurant.
The excellent pizza - I love the version with
prosciutto, arugula, grana padano and a generous grind of black pepper ($15) -
is only one item that keeps the place packed with locals and visitors. Other
excellent dishes include meatballs ($14) in tomato sauce with grilled bread,
and a magnificent rib eye ($30/$59) with bone marrow and olive butter.
When the restaurant was the recently built
Cantinetta Piero, the interior never jelled, but now it's solidified thanks to
Erin Martin's design featuring dark wood and imaginatively recycled accents. 6755
Washington St. (near Madison), Yountville; (707) 299-5030. redd-wood.com.
Breakfast Friday-Sunday; lunch and dinner daily.
Restaurant 1833
When I go to Monterey or Carmel,
this is the one restaurant where I always want to eat. Built in one adobe
dating back to 1833, the place not only has a rich history but a beautiful
warren of dining rooms, including a patio with fire pits, all within view of a
150-year-old oak tree. Chef Levi Mezick earned his stripes in New York, and
blends American favorites with an urban sophistication.
His iceberg salad ($10) features the chilled
lettuce cut into a thick, round slice and topped with blue cheese, candied
walnuts and slices of Granny Smith apple processed in an immersion bath with
Riesling. The must-order item: whole truffled chicken ($39; pictured). 500
Hartnell (at Calle Principal), Monterey; (831) 643-1833. restaurant1833.com.
Dinner nightly.
Rich Table
This gets my vote as the most exciting
restaurant to open this year. Husband-and-wife team Evan and Sarah Rich worked at
some of the best restaurants in New York and moved here to open their own
place, which they did after getting experience at Quince, Coi and Michael Mina.
The storefront interior is modest, but the
constantly changing menu isn't: red trout ($25) with spaghetti squash,
cippolini onions and pea shoots; tagliatelle ($17) with pork bolognese, apples
and almonds; lasagna ($19) with chicken, and mustard green salsa verde.
You'll always find house-made wild fennel
bread ($4) and sardine chips ($7), a twist on a dish Evan Rich learned at
Bouley in New York. It consists of potato chips slit in the center to hold the
fish, arranged on horseradish cream. Sarah Rich prepares desserts, which
shouldn't be missed. 199 Gough St. (at Oak Street), San Francisco; (415)
355-9085. richtablesf.com. Dinner Wednesday-Monday.
State Bird Provisions
When the September issue of Bon Appetit named
this the best new restaurant in the country, it was no surprise to its legions
of fans. The restaurant is also popular with chefs, due to its innovative
format and well-liked owners, Stuart Brioza and Nicole Krasinski, of the much
beloved and departed Rubicon.
Waiters roll carts from table to table,
filled with potato chips with house-cured caviar and other cold dishes. The
kitchen will also cook a batch of duck neck dumplings in sauerkraut jus or
sweetbread meatballs with quince and pickled vegetables, which waiters hawk
from hand-carried trays.
The menu changes often; most items are $5 to
$10. One thing you'll always find: deep-fried quail ($8/$16), the California
state bird and restaurant's namesake. 1529 Fillmore St. (near O'Farrell
Street), San Francisco; (415) 795-1272. statebirdsf.com. Dinner
Monday-Saturday; brunch Sunday.
Terrapin Crossroads
I don't know of any other Bay Area venue that
so successfully combines live entertainment and food. It's the brainchild of
Phil Lesh, an original member of the Grateful Dead. He loves performing, but he
got tired of the travel, so he took over the former Seafood Peddler and turned
it into a stage where he hosts concerts.
The back half is a separate dining room and
patio, the domain of Chris Fernandez. He creates an American menu that includes
an excellent chopped salad ($14) with grilled chicken, bacon, avocado, blue
cheese, eggs, tomato and creamy herb vinaigrette. Hangtown fry ($11.50;
pictured) is a masterful blend of fried oysters on cooked spinach and bacon in
an herb crepe.
This is also a good place for rotisserie
chicken ($19), fish and chips ($19) and pizza ($11-$14). 100 Yacht Club
Drive (at Francisco Boulevard), San Rafael; (415) 524-2773.
terrapincrossroads.net. Dinner Tuesday-Sunday; brunch Saturday-Sunday.
Michael Bauer is The San Francisco Chronicle
restaurant critic. Find his blog daily at insidescoopsf.sfgate.com, and go to www.sfgate.com/food
to read his previous reviews. E-mail: mbauer@sfchronicle.com
Twitter: @michaelbauer1
I'm getting hungry...
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