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 | A Few Rough Edges Silks in the Mandarin Oriental, once obscured within a sea of hotel restaurants, seemed to garner an unprecedented level of buzz in 2006. After reading so many good reviews of the Asian-influenced haute cuisine, we hesitated to order the same things that had been raved about. We took a chance on the tasting menu ($95), so we could really give the chef a chance to show his stuff. From the moment we walked into the lovely Silk Road-themed dining room, there were subtle signals that the balance was off.More |  | What a Difference a (New) Chef Makes While cozy, elegant PlumpJack Café has always had a solid reputation as a destination for dependably adult California cuisine, it's been rare within the last decade to hear tell of anything extraordinary going on within this Cow Hollow outpost of the Plumpjack hospitality empire. However, the food has risen to new heights under the guidance of chef James Syhabout, a Bay Area local who has worked in such esteemed establishments as the notoriously hypercreative El Bulli, The Fat Duck, Manresa and most recently Daniel Patterson's Coi.More |  | Zen Eats Medicine Eatstation is a study in contrasts. The location is in the midst of the financial district in the Crocker Galleria, yet the restaurant floats tranquilly above the hustle and bustle. The interior is minimalist and stark, yet refined. While based on the food of Japanese Zen Buddhist monks, the "New-Shojin" restaurant features a sophisticated selection of sake. The food is meant to support "enlightenment" and eschews the use of garlic and onion, yet sometimes the flavors are intense and provocative.More |  | Go For the "Crack" Chicken, Stick Around For the Dumplings Does every restaurant have at least one good dish? It seems likely. But the longer and more diverse a menu is, the more difficult it can be to discern the true specialties. San Tung, however, is an easy mark. Here at SF Station, we kept hearing foodie buzz that this casual Chinese restaurant near Golden Gate Park serves chicken wings so addictive that it is often referred to as "that place with the crack chicken".More |  | Bravo Coco! Coco500 recently reached its first anniversary. There are plenty of reasons to celebrate. The restaurant manages to balance top-notch food with a friendly, let’s-not-take-ourselves-too-seriously attitude. The interior is inviting, filled with warm earthy wood tones, contemporary paintings and minimalist light fixtures. The patrons are a portrait of San Francisco hipsters, from young to aging and a few in between.More |
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