Why America’s Culinary Future Lives Here
Small city, massive influence: how SF’s compact grid outperforms cities triple its size
A question I’m constantly asked in my global travels as a dining and drink writer, judge, and consultant: What’s your favorite restaurant? For many, it seems a simple question. Surely one place must reign supreme?
But when you’ve dined at nearly 15,000 restaurants over a couple of decades, as I have, that’s impossible. There are hundreds of cuisine styles and cultural contexts: traditional to mashups, high to low, endless cuisine subcategories. Even asking about a favorite pizza prompts more questions: which style? Neapolitan? NY? Chicago deep dish or tavern-thin? Detroit? St. Louis? I can list favorites in each.
Though San Francisco spans just 49 square miles (7x7 across)—1/7 the size of New York, 1/10 of Los Angeles—the city is densely packed with excellence across virtually every category, thanks to three essential factors many cities lack as a package:
Some of the best ingredients in the world
Innovative chefs in a city built on boundary-pushing
Historic, deep diversity in tight, interwoven neighborhoods
Yes, SF has faced tough challenges: from pandemic and inflation to being unfairly scapegoated as a stand-in for perceived “leftist” ills with outsized “doom loop” talk mostly from people who don’t live here or visit. Facts speak: violent crime rates remain among the lowest for major U.S. cities, and independent, creative small businesses still dominate our neighborhoods, not chains.
I grew up in NYC and LA suburbs, both titans of American cuisine. But I’ve long said without hesitation: SF is the city that most “schooled me.” It’s the best food city in the U.S. and one of the best in the world. That’s not hyperbole. As an Academy Chair for The World’s 50 Best Restaurants and for just-launched North America’s 50 Best—to name but a few places I judge—I travel globally half of every month, obsessively researching dining and drink. I log spreadsheets, studying context, history, and evolution. SF continues to check every box.
Still, colleagues from everywhere ask me, “Is SF okay?” with a tone of pity. Despite the same struggles facing the entire industry, we remain a vibrant dining city, led by a New Guard pushing forward, long-time veterans holding firm, and chefs from the last 10 to 15 years fully hitting their stride. Don’t even get me started on drinks and other edible realms.
Dozens of classic restaurants (some over a century old) still shine. Some from the last 50 years remain iconic, like Zuni Café, Anchor Oyster Bar, and Chez Panisse. At Acquerello since 1989, one of the nation’s greatest female chefs, Suzette Gresham, keeps two Michelin stars. Boulevard continues its legacy by reinventing itself under Dana Younkin, partnering with Nancy Oakes, a pioneer in California Cuisine since the ’90s.
SF’s past 15 years have birthed many of the nation’s best restaurants, better than ever now: State Bird Provisions and The Progress, Nightbird, Atelier Crenn, Rich Table, Californios, Saison, Angler, Prubechu, Aziza, Liholiho Yacht Club, Sorrel, Sons & Daughters, Flour + Water, Quince and Cotogna, Nari and Kin Khao, Mister Jiu’s, Rintaro, Besharam, Commis in Oakland, to name but a few.
“But who’s leading now, in this era shaped by seismic industry shifts? Who’s carrying forward the Bay Area’s trailblazing ethos since the 1960s of farm-fresh ingredients, seasonal menus, diverse cultural roots, with a vision for this Brave New World?”
Fifteen thousand restaurants later, I’ve never seen anything like what Ryan Shelton is doing at Merchant Roots—not even at Grant Achatz’s themed Next in Chicago. Launched in 2019 with eight seats in the back of a wine shop, it moved into a massive SoMa space in 2024, offering immersive, multi-sensory dinners that blend art, video, an open kitchen, a wine room, and even a ceramics studio. Whether exploring class systems in England in the era of Thackeray’s Vanity Fair, “eggs and broken things” in their Humpty Dumpty theme, or even what mermaids eat, there's no experience like it… anywhere. Chef Shelton confirms: “The core of San Franciscans who prioritize this city’s culture and social awareness will always be here to innovate food and be a part of a continually thriving restaurant community… we’re always trying to bring the dining experience places it has never been, and, more and more, I’m thrilled to see others doing the same.”
Marc Zimmerman and Peggy Tran reinvented the modern Japanese restaurant Gozu as The Wild in late 2024. Still centered around a binchotan grill and chef’s counter, The Wild explores wild-foraged West Coast ingredients (caviar sundaes, anyone?) Francis Ang’s Abacá remains one of the country’s most exciting modern Filipino spots—more casual than Chicago’s Kasama, but equally innovative, especially in Fisherman’s Wharf.
For modern Southern food, few do it with the whimsical elegance of Celtin Hendrickson-Jones at new Prelude. Obsessed with Southern cuisine in its regional forms, I’m giddy over his smoked catfish dumplings in crawfish étouffée, for starters. Mike Lanham’s Anomaly takes a more minimalist approach to Southern food, winking at Waffle House hash browns with hash brown ice cream in truffle-parmesan foam, fried shallots, and caviar.
In modern Indian food, innovation abounds: brothers Sujan and Pujan Sarkar’s new TIYA wins, even in their vegetarian dishes. While they once led the kitchen at ROOH SF, Valice Francis now carves out his vision there. Srijith Gopinathan—formerly the only US Indian chef with two Michelin stars—has since launched more casual, hip Copra in SF, Ettan in Palo Alto, and just opened Eylan in Menlo Park. Brand new Caché is a fresh take on French cuisine from two expats from France, served in a tiny space.
Oakland’s new Jaji, from married duo Sophie Akbar and Paul Iglesias (also of the modern Colombian gem Parche), is redefining modern Afghan cuisine. Meanwhile, husband-wife team Sayat and Laura Ozyilmaz bring Cal-Turkish to life at Dalida, blending his Istanbul roots with her Mexico City technique in the magical Presidio.
I’m just getting started. After 24 years living here, delicious originality does not wane. SF may be small, but it punches far above its weight. It’s a city of visionaries, of chefs, makers, and artisans who care deeply about what we eat and how we eat it.
No, I’m not a native. But I proudly call SF home. The New Guard is taking us forward, bravely and boldly, despite the setbacks of recent years, despite today’s precarious state. And it is (still) the best food city in the nation.