On Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday mornings, the farmers’ market outside the San Francisco Ferry Building is the vibrant center of Northern California’s culinary life.
Chefs, civilians, and visitors alike are drawn to the shiny chartreuse of locally grown apples; the purple-tinged tips of spring’s first asparagus.
Here are the pale pastels of a dozen different lettuces, each just hours out of the ground; and the jade dark skins of avocados, hiding bright spoon-soft flesh beneath.
It’s as if green has a rainbow all its own, every shade shouting an encouraging “Go!”
Go eat in San Francisco!
For over three decades, the Ferry Plaza Farmers’ Market has offered this palette to inspire the palate. It also offers an important reminder of the city’s resilience. (www.ferrybuildingmarketplace.com/farmers-market)
First established in 1993, the market was an essential element of the city’s rebuilding after the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989, a sign of thriving life on a site that was recently amidst the rubble of a fallen freeway and a shaken (but unbroken) city spirit.
San Francisco, which has ridden a boom-and-bust rollercoaster since the goldrush days of the 19th Century, was slow to recover post-pandemic, but the city once again on the upswing.
Mayor Daniel Lurie, elected in 2024, has led successful efforts to attract new business and clean up the downtown streets.
Tourism is on the rise again, and alongside dozens of stalwart farmers’ markets, at Ferry Plaza and throughout the city (www.sfenvironment.org/farmers-markets-in-sf), notable new restaurants have been opening at a rapid clip, reinforcing the San Francisco Bay area’s reputation as one of the world’s most delicious destinations.
Farmers’ market to table
The Ferry Building itself has recently undergone a restaurant renaissance, highlighted by the opening of Arquet (www.arquetrestaurant.com), a moderately priced, produce-driven dining room from the owners of Sorrel, a Michelin-starred tasting menu restaurant in the city’s Presidio Heights neighborhood (www.sorrelrestaurant.com).
Arquet is a complete reenvisioning of a waterfront space previously occupied by The Slanted Door, the pioneering upscale Vietnamese restaurant presided over by chef Charles Phan for 16 years.
(Phan passed away in 2025; but outposts of The Slanted Door remain open, nearby in Napa and far away, in the Burgundy region of France.www.slanteddoor.com).
Arquet has transformed the Slanted Door’s sultry, nocturnal space into a white-walled, sun-drenched oasis, with roomy banquettes and blond wood tabletops surrounding a huge open kitchen with gleaming racks of copper pans. It’s the ideal spot for a leisurely lunch.
Guests should start any meal with the modestly named but endlessly craveable Chips & Dip, a puree of fava beans and melted leeks served with crispy sweet potato chips for a textural contrast.
Ingredients purchased just outside the restaurant door bring California flair to dishes like the nectarine-dressed yellowtail appetizer, garnished with burnt scallions and crushed macadamia nuts; grilled pork with grilled local black apples and spigarello, an heirloom broccoli from nearby Dirty Girl farm; and Chef Alex Hong’s succulent barbecued duck confit, which owes its Asian agrodulce accent to a balanced touch of kimchi and pear.
Arquet’s sleeper hit is its housebaked sourdough, served with cultured butter. In a city that knows how to loaf with the best of them, these ruggedly-crusted, tender-crumbed beauties reigns as an apex-breadator.
Given this baking prowess, it’s hardly surprising that Arquet’s adjacent bakery, Parachute (www.parachutebakery.com ), in the Ferry Building food hall, is also a winner. And a creative one at that: Among the signature sweets is a comically cube-shaped croissant with an inside stash of strawberries, chamomile and yogurt cream.
Other new and notable Ferry Building fooderies include Lunette Cambodia, Chef Nite Yun’s no-reservation celebration of her native cuisine. Her fragrant noodle soup with 8-hour pork broth makes the ideal antidote to a foggy day (www.lunettecambodia.com).
Neighbor NOPA Fish does a stellar rockfish and chips and takes the tuna melt to a Reuben dimension with smoked wild albacore, caraway sauerkraut, gruyere, and Russian dressing sandwiched between slices of crunchy grilled bread.(www.nopafish.com).
And global gastronomes will want to treat themselves to a cross-cultural comparison of the flaky Jamaican savory hand pies at Peaches Patties and the inarguably delectable Argentine empanadas at El Porteno–try the pizza-adjacent Fugazetta (www.elporteno.com).
Sublime fine dining
The Bay Area is home to some of the United States’ most elaborate Michelin-starred restaurants; temples of cuisine where up to a dozen artfully plated small courses are served over a span of several unrushed hours. The time, expense, and difficulty of acquiring a seat make these experiences akin to attending a hot Broadway show in Manhattan.
It’s not everybody’s cup of 10-month fermented wild mushroom tea, but for travelers who build entire itineraries around fine dining, San Francisco’s exemplars of epicurean delight have an irresistible lure.
This year, long-established Quince (www.quincerestaurant.com), a den of Tuscan luxury and Atelier Crenn (www.ateliercrenn.com)-a poetic, pescatarian fever dream—both recipients of three Michelin stars— have been joined at the city’s culinary peak by a newcomer destined for such celestial recognition:
At Wolfsbane (wolfsbanesf.com), Rupert and Carrie Blease lead a brilliant brigade of chefs and servers to present guests with an elegant dozen-course menu with a perfect degree of creativity: The food is extraordinary, but never feels experimental. You’re treated like a savvy diner here, not a willing guinea pig.
Dinner begins with an eye-tickling garden of miniature nibbles including artichoke hearts served from the center of a sunflower; a baton-like pick-up “potato salad” with fresh herbs and greens in a tube of fried tuber; and translucent onion petals cradling cool garlic cream.
Then, a parade of regularly changing dishes, perhaps a narrow strip of perfectly tender duck breast atop a slick of gently acidic cider reduction with a fat-stemmed nasturtium blossom riding shotgun; a crab croquette kissed with fermented pepper mayonnaise; or an exquisite signature preparation of buttermilk-poached cabbage sprinkled with dried uni.
Dessert courses may bring an unctuous rhubarb and rose-scented flan, or a “sno ball” of strawberry creme fraiche, capped off with bonbons of smoked dark chocolate.
The warm, woodsy 24-seat dining room is low-lit and intimate, and the smart, attentive staff is open to giving you just the level of culinary schooling you desire on every course, from a quick introduction to a deep dive.
Wine director Louisa Smith and bar manager Carlos Cabral offer full-meal pairings, but are also happy to help you select just the right glass or two to accompany individual dishes of your choice.
While the full menu here is a worthy three-figure special occasion splash, Wolfsbane generously offers a way for the cash-poor but culinarily curious to dip a toe in these rarified waters: You can drop in for a drink without reservations and sample a selection of morsels priced under $10 apiece.
Take two
A pair of popular San Francisco restaurateurs have recently expanded their footprints, opening top-notch new spots. Chefs Sarah and Evan Rich, whose Rich Table (www.richtablesf.com) has been a tough reservation since it opened 14 years ago, have made snagging that two-top just a little bit easier by opening the equally worthy RT Bistro (www.rt-bistro.com) right around the corner.
Both restaurants, along with one of the couple’s fabulous fast-casual RT Rotisserie locations are located in the Hayes Valley neighborhood, in walking distance of San Francisco’s symphony hall, jazz center, and other major performing arts venues.
One of the Bistro’s reasons-for-being is the near-legendary hamburger that used to be served at the bar of the original Rich Table. Just ten were available each night.
Now, that juicy specimen- six-and-a-half ounces of a custom ground blend incorporating dry aged rib cap fully cloaked in molten cheddar, then topped with pickled onions and creamy sauce -is a menu staple at RT Bistro. Even guests who opt for alternate entrees frequently order a burger cut in two or four, to share with their table.
While a mighty good burger, it’s by no means the best dish on RT’s bill of fare. The rhubarb duck, fried trout belly in green garlic salsa verde, and crackle-edged baked rigatoni with cheese and morel mushrooms are robust and satisfying.
The appetizers here have plenty of punchy flavor, tool: Sweet potato tempura is an inviting mound of crisp-on-the-outside, soft-within cubes; glossed with a saffron aioli and candied walnuts; it’s the veggie echo of a classic Cantonese fried shrimp dish. The Cali Croque, a sort of nouveau riche hippie food, is a fat slice of sourdough grilled with date butter, cheddar, fresh fava beans and lemon confit. Weird. And delicious.
Also doubling down is Sean Manchester and his team from Piccino, a longtime favorite for contemporary Cal-Italian fare in the off-the-beaten-path Dogpatch neighborhood (www.piccino.com).
They’ve opened a beautiful new outpost, Piccino Presidio in a building shared with Industrial Light and Magic, the special effects studio founded by George Lucas. It’s already become something of a cantina for digital whizzes. Yoda, meet ricotta. (www.piccinopresidio.com).
The Presidio location is ideal for out-of-town visitors, a stroll away from Tunnel Tops Park, the Palace of the Fine Arts theater, the Disney Family Museum, and a handful of other attractions.
And the kitchen matches the location for high quality and wide appeal. In a city that’s picky about its pizza, Piccino Presidio’s bubbly-crusted pies, with their thin, bubble crusts and gently resistant chew, they’re ideally paired with a glass of wine and one of Piccino’s deftly composed salads, like a colorful scatter of snap peas, radishes, pistachios and lemony quinoa set on a layer oregano buttermilk dressing.
Handmade pastas, including a toothsome pappardelle served in a rustic lamb ragu, are another menu highlight.
Old school swagger
Union Square, where cable cars clatter past brand name boutiques, has long been the symbolic heart of San Francisco for business travelers and vacationers. Chinatown, the theater district, the convention center and many of the city’s major corporate headquarters are all close by.
After a few rough years, the square is sparkling again, with musical performances, a winter skating rink, floral displays, art shows, and free outdoor movie screenings drawing crowds to the public plaza.
The square’s Westin St. Frances Hotel, a survivor of the great 1906 earthquake, recently underwent renovations including the opening of chef Michael Mina’s newest Bourbon Steak (www.bourbonsteak.com/location/san-francisco )
The grand brass and leather accented chophouse makes the most of the bones of its historic home, sprawling over multiple high-ceilinged rooms to provide a swank setting for baller business meals, anniversary bashes, and any occasion one wants to raise a glass and get old-school festive.
Seafood towers glisten with cracked crab on crushed ice and oysters on the half shell. Roe meets Hostess in Mina’s signature “Caviar Twinkee,” a crazy cake and eggs concoction that’s salty and sweet, high-toned and lowbrow all at once.
Suited waiters parade by hoisting bone-in ribeyes the size of tennis rackets, golden-domed lobster pot pies bigger than your head, and gargantuan salt-crusted tomahawk steaks, soon to be set aflame
For a night, you’ll feel like a San Francisco robber baron.
Or perhaps a Golden State Warrior: Tucked behind the main dining room is a superstar Steph Curry’s reservations-required 40-seat bourbon bar, The Eighth Rule, featuring tasting flights of six craft cocktails made with Curry’s own high-end bourbon brand, Gentlemen’s Cut.
Another historic grand San Francisco hotel, the Huntington, on Nob Hill, recently reopened its own storied restaurant, The Big Four. Named to honor a quartet of one-time regulars, the railroad tycoons Leland Stanford, Collis Huntington, Mark Hopkins, and Charles Crocker, the retro-snotty dining room features a familiar menu of carnivorous manly-man classics and another much-vaunted pot pie. (www.thehuntingtonhotel.com/the-big-four ).
An endless menu
For regularly updated listings of San Francisco restaurants at a wide range of price points, visit San Francisco Travel (www.sftravel.com/eat-drink )
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