These six spots cover the gamut, from “real deal” New Orleans to Korean fried chicken. Alongside this month’s full-length restaurant reviews — Merchant Roots, Flour+Water, Harris’ Restaurant, KAIYŌ Rooftop — here’s why these six are worth eating at/from now (as always, I’ve vetted, visited or ordered from each place):
Pomet, Oakland
When a second-generation NorCal farmer opens a restaurant, you know the ingredients are going to be impeccable. And at February 23 newcomer, Pomet, they are. Aomboon Deasy runs beloved K&J Orchards with her husband Timothy, a year-round farm started by her parents in 1982, which has supplied high end restaurants like The French Laundry ever since. At Pomet, Deasy partnered with chef Alan Hsu (former sous chef at both three-Michelin-starred Benu and two-Michelin Blue Hill at Stone Barns) and consulting sommelier Paul Einbund, who owns The Morris.
Pomet’s lofty but intimate space previously housed Homestead, one of Oakland’s better New American restaurants, with open kitchen and wood-burning hearth. Pomet maintains that feel, soothed with copper and navy blues. Alongside local joys like Den Nama Genshu sake and quality craft beers like To Øl’s Gose to Hollywood beer from Denmark or SF’s Woods Beer Freeze Pop Ale, there’s a tight list of wines, ranging from France to California.
Straightforward flavors can dominate, whether crispy fried Zuckerman Farms potatoes dipped in a dill-laced ranch dressing, soy-forward Stemple Creek Ranch beef tartare or cured Bodega Bay rockfish crudo with its bright note being chiles. Fish and its skin are cooked perfectly in the smoked Half Moon Bay black cod accented by sunchoke and lemongrass, while silky trout and charred Brokaw avocado are livened with citrus and nori seaweed. Bread and desserts were the highlight on my initial visit: namely, a warm scallion sesame seed roll, miso cake layered with peanut butter, mousse and Shared Cultures’ cacao nibs, and a vivid satsuma creamsicle pie.
// 4029 Piedmont Avenue, Oakland; https://pomet-oakland.com
Better-Than-Nola Muffalettas? Sandy’s in Maison Corbeaux, Pac Heights
Trust me, as one whose second soul home in the U.S. after my own SF is New Orleans, I never say anything from Nola tastes better outside Nola. Until now. My soul connects deeply with countless elements of my beloved Nola where I have dug deep in its food, drink, culture and music for 15 years. Not entirely unlike first trying disappointing beignets at legendary Cafe Du Monde, I was a bit let down trying my first muffaletta in 2008 from Nola’s legendary (since 1906) Central Grocery, where Sicilian immigrants invented the massive round of mortadella-olive sandwich.
Enter Sandy’s, a four-day-a-week pop-up inside Maison Corbeaux, one of SF’s best spirits shops. Owner Peterson Harter runs the business with his dad, Sandy, tributing both dad and his mother, who passed away when he was a boy, on the site. This Italian mortadella, prosciutto, soppressata, provolone sandwich — vibrant with the right amount of spicy olive salad and mayo — is the best muffaletta I’ve ever had. I want to be loyal to the sandwich’s home roots, but this version shines. Like Central Grocery’s “half muff,” Sandy’s “muffs” come in $11–76 eighths, quarters or massive round that could feed a group (an eighth was more than filling for me as one dense wedge).
While Sandy’s chicken-andouille-shrimp gumbo is not immediately my tops (much harder to surpass Nola’s endless versions), it’s a “7 out of 10” dark roux, so dark roux fans will dig it. I need to try Mondays-only red beans and rice, another of my top Nola dishes —and their andouille sausage melt piled with sausage, provolone, herby coleslaw, Creole mustard and Duke’s Mayo on a Firebrand pretzel torpedo roll.
Bonus: Peterson’s aunt and uncle turned him on to (Louisiana-style, with rice in the sausage) boudin sausages from a shack called The Best Stop in Scott, LA since 1986, just outside Lafayette, roughly two hours drive from Nola. Sandy’s is selling them now to cook at home. These sausages (smoked or regular) are packed with pork, pork liver, onions, bell peppers, Cajun seasoning, rice, green onions. Like the best Louisiana boudin I’ve grilled at home, these literally explode open with meaty-rice goodness. Far from healthy, these babies are proper Louisiana boudin and (again) among the best I’ve ever had.
// Inside Maison Corbeaux, 2901 Sacramento Street; www.sandyssf.com
Fab Korean Fried Chicken: Dak Chicken, Outer Sunset
There are many Korean fried chicken spots around, from longtimer Aria Korean to delightful newer spot, The Korner Store. But Outer Sunset newcomer Dak Chicken — opening February 2022 — is arguably already one of the best in town. Blessedly open all day (11am-9pm), fried chicken is the star, whether by the piece, combo, family meal or as a chicken sandwich on fluffy buns. Then choose your sauce: original, chile garlic, sweet garlic, savory-sweet yang nyum or gochujang rose. While I appreciated sweet garlic, I couldn’t get enough of the gochujang, garlic and sugar-laden yang nyum chicken. Whichever way you order it, Dak’s serves juicy, crispy goodness. I’m craving it again.
// 2045 Irving Street, www.dak-chicken.com
Cute New Vietnamese Sandwich Shop: Bánh Mì Viet, Nopa
Banh Mi Viet is a tiny new bánh mì shop that opened in a former Divisadero nail salon in January 2022. It’s a friendly countertop turning out Vietnamese coffees, lemongrass beef vermicelli, spring rolls and five different bánh mì sandwiches on Vietnam-worthy crunchy-soft baguettes. While I was most drawn to a solid fish cake bánh mì, classic dac biet (“cold cuts”) was better, layered with Vietnamese pork, ham, pate, cilantro, cucumber, pickled radish, carrots, jalapeno, mayo. Is among the top bánh mì shops in SF, much less the hundreds around the Bay Area, heavy in San Jose? Not really. But it’s a charming little shop if you happen to be in the area.
// 518 Divisadero Street, www.yelp.com/biz/banh-mi-viet-san-francisco
Oh, Those Salads: Camino Alto, Cow Hollow
Open November 2021, my best experience at Camino Alto was during weekday lunch with order-at-the-counter service. Our friendly server was as attentive and welcoming as if we were in an upscale restaurant. From lively natural wines, like Austrian 2018 Kolfok Intra! The Wild Grüner-Welschriesling, to a dense rocket (wild arugula) salad of roasted cauliflower, hass avocado, morita hummus, pomegranate, sunflower seeds, celery and flame raisins in coriander lime dressing, the food is gourmet-gratifying. Also at lunch, two hefty tacos with a side beans and rice are not exactly Mexico-traditional, but full of impeccable ingredients (I like the Japanese sweet potato tacos packed with fennel, roasted pepitas, morita salsa, crema, radish, pickled onions, cilantro for something different).
Dinner was decisively not as heartwarming, though I still appreciated unique salads, like “yuzu party” of hass avocado, Fuji apples, daikon radishes and tortilla bits. Excessively loud with deft but not engaging table service, a very “Marina crowd” (we’ll leave it at that) and good-but-not-memorable $30–49 entrees (like market fish with beans, braised escarole, parsley oil) are not exactly worth crossing town for. But lunch IS.
// 1715 Union Street, www.caminoaltosf.com
Seafood with a View: Waterbar, Embarcadero
Waterbar is a top seafood-with-a-view spot considering most restaurants with a view have awful food. Helmed by chef Parke Ulrich since 2013 — also of neighboring EPIC Steak, Waterbar views are ideal during lunch, brunch and happy hour ($1.05 oysters from 12–5 pm). Vibrantly-colored fish swim in large glass pillars in the main dining room under the gaze of the Bay Bridge. While more one-note Maine lobster bisque disappointed on a recent return, blue crab cocktail over lettuce is light and breezy with horseradish cocktail sauce, while a country-fried Mississippi catfish sandwich in house pickles, grilled red onions and spicy gribiche with malt vinegar chips is filling comfort. A Tiki-esque Rambo Lopéz cocktail (Plantation Xamayca Dark Rum, passionfruit nectar, coconut cream and lime) makes a happy pairing.
// 399 The Embarcadero, www.waterbarsf.com
