Allied Tables
San Francisco's most celebrated kitchens and bars are discovering that true success means opening their doors to each other
Flour + Water’s sous chef Elijah Baccus with Xiao Ye owner/chef Louis Lin. Image courtesy of Carter Hiyama.
Dining out in San Francisco right now is a thrilling proposition. As the city grapples with the notion that it's been slow to recover from the supposed post-pandemic "doom loop" effect, the access to nationally renowned, list-topping, Michelin-rated, James Beard-winning, and downright fantastic restaurants and bars has never been better. Yet, at a time when one could reasonably expect bars and restaurants to have their heads down in their own spaces, furiously trying to meet margins in this vastly competitive and abundant environment of over 3,000 food establishments, they're hosting more one-night-only collaboration events than ever.
But why would the restaurant that topped the SF Chronicle's list of Top 100 Bars feel the need to ever cook outside of their own kitchen? Why are some of the busiest hospitality groups in town bringing chefs and bartenders from out of town into their space for one-night-only events? It's not just about sharing social media marketing exposure. In fact, the motivation behind these endeavors paints a picture of exactly why San Francisco's dining scene is nothing short of world-class.
"Our team learns every day on the job, but after a while that learning curve starts to flatten," says Flour + Water co-executive chef and VP Ryan Pollnow, who admits that while he and co-chef/CEO Thomas McNaughton have played their share of "away games" as guest chefs in other kitchens, this was the first time they'd ever brought in another restaurant into Flour + Water's intimate cooking space.
Flour + Water chef owners Ryan Pollnow and Thomas McNaughton. Image by Carter Hiyama.
"To bring in a guest chef for a night, all of a sudden the week leading up to it and the week following, everyone's passion for food is ignited and we're all learning from that chef," Pollnow says, citing the importance of a fresh perspective.
“ “This cross-pollination of ideas really helps spark future inspiration for both of our teams.””
For one of its three West Coast Summer Series collaborations, Flour + Water welcomed co-owners Louis Lin (Chef) and Jolyn Chen (GM) of Portland's standout Xiao Ye and the resulting presentations were sparkling: A khao soi sorprese married Xiao Ye's penchant for Asian flavors with Thai yellow curry and chicken nestled within F&W's carefully pinched pasta; very clearly a joint production. While Xiao Ye's signature masa + mochiko mini madeleines were presented ahead of F&W's noted ricotta of the day with seasonal Early Girl tomatoes and spicy taggiasca XO, a loosening of the grip of sorts by the hosts to showcase touches of what makes its guests shine and an exponential payoff for the evening's lucky diners.
Summer Series menu with Flour + Water and Xiao Ye. Image by Carter Hiyama.
For Lin and Chen, who are pushing a lot of buttons with their surging two-year-old restaurant, they have something to prove.
"There's this pressure to continuously be interesting in the attention economy," Lin says. "A lot of restaurants are doing collaborations to stay relevant and keep people excited about them. We get that and we want to do it too, but also staying true to who we are."
Chen used the opportunity on the trip down to visit other establishments in the city as well and glean design, culinary, and hospitality ideas—a reverence to SF dining that she gleefully proclaims. Yet the pair concedes that success for Xiao Ye in this foray isn't measurable in the traditional sense.
"If we can show that we can hang in the kitchen with the best restaurants in each city and show that we have what it takes, then hopefully people can see Portland again like in its big renaissance ten years ago."
Xiao Ye’s owners Jolyn Chen and Louis Lin. Image courtesy of Carter Hiyama.
Collaboration dinners are nothing new to the well-oiled Hi-Neighbor Group's (7 Adams, Trestle, Mama's, The Vault) Executive Chef and Partner Jason Halverson, who's been running the Eat Like A Chef, Drink Like A Somm series since 2014. This year's series featured dinners with critically acclaimed chefs like Che Fico's David Nayfeld, Azalina Eusope of Azalina's, and Geoff Davis of Burdell (recently named both Food & Wine's Restaurant of the Year and SF Chronicle's #1 restaurant in the Bay Area).
The ethos behind the series is charity, and each year, all proceeds from the dinners benefit a different cause. This year, it was Sprouts Chef Training, which provides hands-on culinary training to youths experiencing hardship.
"We were never going to be the people who can write this big fat check," Halverson says. "But we know how to work for it. So when we opened our first restaurant, the basis of this was charity and working with people we know and love."
Davis says the charity was a driving force for his involvement, saying that he's had 4-5 "Sprouts" work in his kitchen since Burdell first opened in 2023. "It's a mission I really believe in," he says.
But even though Burdell is a highly decorated operation that can stand firmly on its own, Davis saw another opportunity to cook dishes like juicy heritage pork with pig head beans, crispy ears, and dandelion greens with the Hi-Neighbor team in San Francisco for a night.
"It's in SF and there's probably a lot of people who act like the bridge is a wall," he says. "So if you can get in front of another person’s audience and present yourself, something analogous to the person you're collaborating with, it can be impactful. And in some ways, it's like a pop-up."
Chef and owner Chris Yang of the Mission's superb Asian comfort food outpost Piglet & Co. said that being able to host pop-up chefs was an intentional part of his and partner Marcelle Gonzales Yang's plan. Before Piglet & Co., Yang was an active pop-up chef himself. Recent guests in the 'Piglet & Friends' series included former Nisei sous chef Haley Garabato and Ken Turner, shortly after he closed his beloved sandwich shop, Turner's Kitchen.
"We were always looking for spaces or chefs that were willing to open up their space for us when WE were popping up," Yang says. "Everyone’s in survival mode one way or another, so a lot of the Piglet & Friends series collaborations are about opening up our space to like-minded chefs or people that don’t currently have a space to express themselves. It's also given us an opportunity to cook with friends."
Fostering the convivial atmosphere that the industry is known for is a hallmark of collaboration events. For their part, bars have been doing this dance for quite some time. With a stunning view of the city atop Union Square's Beacon Grand Hotel, Starlite is plugging away with its "Bar Stars" guest bartender nights. GM Adam Chapman notes that the US Bartender's Guild (USBG) was formed in 1948 at Starlite in its past iteration as Harry Denton's Starlight Room, and keeping that legacy alive almost feels like a duty to the trade.
"It’s really for the industry, staff from other bars and restaurants will see the Bar Stars events on social media, and it gives them an opportunity to engage with these places," Chapman says, adding that a vast majority of the clientele on Bar Stars nights is bar industry professionals.
Meanwhile, Bar Crenn, the luxe, cocktail-driven lounge connected to Chef Dominique Crenn's three-Michelin-starred institution Atelier Crenn, wasn't functioning very well last year, according to Director of Mixology Florian Thireau. A native of France (like Crenn), Thireau came on board last October, tasked with reviving the space. He refreshed the cocktail menu and introduced his own alluring custom glassware with the ultimate goal of making Bar Crenn a world-class bar. Until he was satisfied with that, there wouldn't be any collaboration events.
Then in the middle of this year, Bar Crenn finally began a series of collabs which featured bartenders from World's 50 Best Bars entrants like Paris' Danico, Cambridge Public House, and Bar Pompette, and New York's Sip & Guzzle. After tightening up the operation, Thireau says Saturday night covers have increased nearly fivefold. The deft mixologist—who's far more well-known in Europe than in the US—said he's used the collaboration nights to show off what his team is building at Bar Crenn.
"We needed a structured environment before we started welcoming guest bartenders," Thireau says. "Now it's the fastest way to build our reputation, to get known in the industry, have people understand what we want to do here and how we execute our cocktails and hospitality program."
He concedes that the effort is "more about the people involved than the place," and that it creates opportunities for the Bar Crenn team to make lasting connections. It brings up a common theme that is echoed across the board in these collaborations: camaraderie.
Bar Crenn’s Director of Mixology Florian Thireau. Image courtesy of Crenn Dining Group.
That at the end of the day, restaurant and bar collaborations aren't some sort of magic beans to make more money. It's a unique experience for the clientele, and what lingers longest for the staff is the time spent with new and old friends in the industry.
"When your social life is generally centered around the people you're surrounded by at work," Pollnow says, "to have that camaraderie with others living that same lifestyle is a breath of fresh air. We inevitably end up talking about restaurant happenings, how many covers you do, staffing, etc., and it feels like you have this new unspoken or undefined community."