The Bay Area has no shortage of restaurants — with more coming on the scene every month. Though parts of the region have quite a long ways to recover from the pandemic (i.e. downtown SF), there are examples of this slice of NorCal is coming back. And the burgeoning gastronomic landscape is evidence of just that.
From kosher Israeli takeout to a new Korean grocer, these five restaurants are worth dining at now.
Family Name (SoMa)
Family Name just opened late September 2021 inside City Beer Store by the store’s owners, Craig and Beth Wathen — already a destination in its own right with that superb beer-on-tap selection and shop. This new California bistro does right by their drink selection with 18 beer taps as of my last visit, including three sours from Belgium, SF, and OR, like the fascinating Little Beast Animal Family Foeder-aged Sour Farmhouse Ale.
The wine list is what you want a casual neighborhood restaurant: savvy, current but comfortable (e.g. a clean, crushable 2021 Deliquente “Tuff Nutt” Bianco Pet Nat from Australia).
But let’s talk food from chef Max Bauer (who cooked at Heirloom Cafe, Ichi Sushi, Blue Plate). Smoky deviled eggs brined in beetroot are rightly a house favorite, as are dissolve-in-your-mouth garlic noodles, though I couldn’t help but wish for a lot more garlic (same goes for the nuoc cham tahini on roasted delicata squash).
The sleeper hit is roasted and fresh persimmon over ricotta on crostata, accented by toasted walnuts, pomegranate molasses, and tomato water vinaigrette. It’s more creative than the typical trendy toasts and tasted like California winter. The “wow” dish came in a turmeric-spiced bouillabaisse of marinated black cod (I can taste the Ichi influence here) with mussels, scallops and roasted fennel. It stole the show. Aromatic makrut lime leaf in a Valrhona chocolate brownie topped with five spice caramel and toasted marshmallow makes for a whimsical, gratifying finish.
// 1148 Mission Street, www.familynamesf.com
Donaji (Mission District)
Brightly revamping the former Great Gold (I especially miss hip Korean spot Foxsister in the space prior), chef Isai Cuevas and wife Alison Cook opened their first restaurant, Donaji. Cuevas has long been a chef (Epic Steak, Liverpool Lil’s) and they’ve run Tamalitos Catering (now changing to Donaji), as they still host their farmers market stand. Cuevas hails from my beloved Oaxaca, so expect Oaxacan joys like his grandmother’s utterly gratifying mole recipe in enchiladas de mole (chicken or sweet potato).
I’m excited that he plans on slowly introducing more Oaxacan treasures, like tlayudas, and they already serve champurrado, a warm chocolate corn drink I’d savor from streetside carts in Oaxaca city. Everything I’ve tried so far is as heartwarming as the family and sweet staff is. The space is sunny and cheerful, the tamales are on point (oh, that masa!), and even a salad of arugula, cabbage, jicama, oranges, pickled onion, candied almonds and sesame seeds is gourmet healthy. Brunch and a beer/wine license is underway. What a win for the neighborhood.
// 3161 24th Street, www.donajisf.com
The Korner Store (Mission District)
The Korner Store is one sweet little Korean grocery, eatery, and bar with neon signage and films on the back wall feeling like you stepped into a hip streetside bar in Korea — one that also sells Korean foods, snacks, and canned/bottled drinks to-go. Opened September 2021 in the longtime Mission Cheese space, the family-run shop turns out a mean boneless fried chicken and vegetable dumplings, solid tteok bokki (spicy “rice cakes,” more like thick, chewy noodles) and packaged treats like eomuk bokkeum (thinly-sliced fish cake in grilled onions).
A fab cross-section of Korean drinks make this a real Korean drinking food kind of stop: think soju cocktails (like a blue-hued soju slushie), Korean wines, sojus and makgeolli (milky, fermented rice wine). This is my jam: a casual spot that also playfully schools you on the range in Korean drink. Friendly staff and super affordable pricing (all dishes are under $10) confirm it’s a gain for SF — there’s also a sidewalk patio for lingering.
// 736 Valencia Street, www.instagram.com/thekornerstore_sf
Hummus Bodega (SoMa/Inner Richmond)
While the original Geary location opened in May 2020, Hummus Bodega’s second 6th Street SoMa spot just opened in November of 2021. Israeli immigrants and co-owners Issac Yosef and Din Beid are shining examples of small business owners and immigrants giving back to their communities. First, their food is halal and kosher, so you can trust the animals were well-treated and humanely butchered.
Secondly, they hire formerly incarcerated people (the heartening story here), with over 30 such staff between both Bodegas and their excellent kosher Israeli bakery, Frena, which I wrote about after it opened in 2016. Their hummus dishes are standouts, amid a range of salads, pita wraps, shakshuka and latkes. I am partial to the Explodin’ Eggplant, a whole fire-roasted eggplant swimming in tahini, chopped tomatoes, red onion, Israeli hot sauce, olive oil and whole clove garlic confit that leaves my breath blissfully aromatic.
// 132 6th Street and 5549 Geary Blvd., www.hummusbodega.com
TRUSS at Four Seasons Resort Napa Valley
Opened November 1st, 2021, at Four Seasons Resort and Residences Napa Valley in Calistoga, TRUSS Restaurant + Bar Living Room was notable not just because it’s at the long-awaited Four Seasons, but because the restaurant launched helmed by chef Erik Anderson, whose menus I appreciated during his two Michelin-star stint at COI in SF, and at my Nashville fave, The Catbird Seat, where he was exec chef. As we go to press, Anderson has just moved on from TRUSS, so it remains to be seen how consistent the food remains or who comes on next and veers this still fledgling restaurant other directions. Also, this review is for the more casual Living Room, as the upscale, tasting menu-option “Restaurant” has not yet opened.
Serving caviar at every meal (my food dream come true), Anderson had formed his own private label local TRUSS white sturgeon caviar via the great, female-founded/led California Caviar Co. The caviar service is a delight, from smoked crème fraiche to sieved hard-boiled egg spherified as yolks and whites on fluffy Japan-style blini. But my favorite dish is Anderson’s Chicago cracker-thin pizza, a style perfected by pizza master Tony Gemignani at Capo’s in SF nearly a decade ago. Thankfully, we now have another local source for this lesser-known Chicago style — I couldn’t stop eating the sausage-Jimmy Nardello peppers version. My second favorite dish was thinly-sliced duck ham, crusted in espelette pepper and orange confiture: silky, savory-sweet, meaty perfection. From pastry chef Josh Gaulin (Quince, The Restaurant at Meadowood), fig leaf ice cream in almond streusel was the standout after trying all the desserts.
The lofty, inviting dining room, bar, and outdoor patio are also ideal for wines but pricey but deep 250+ wine list from sommelier Morgan Gray (Gary Danko), or cocktails from bar lead Randy Languerand, like Oliver Want Some More?, creamsicle-esque with Martin Miller’s Westbourne Gin, Licor 43 orange liqueur, lemon, and egg white, gone silky with olive oil.
// 400 Silverado Trail North, Calistoga; www.trussrestaurantandbar.com
