The Progress
1525 Fillmore St
San Francisco, CA 94115
Dining date: 11/29/15
The Progress is Stuart Brioza and Nicole Krasinski’s follow-up to uber popular State Bird Provisions. Opened for almost a year now, the restaurant is located just next door to State Bird and has also gained mostly positive reviews (though not quite to the same crazy hype as their first restaurant). I was able to dine in with the parents as the last meal in SF over the Thanksgiving holiday.
The Slanted Door
1 Ferry Bldg
San Francisco, CA 94111
Dining date: 11/28/15
It’s been five years since I’ve been to the Slanted Door, Charles Phan’s flagship Vietnamese restaurant in the Ferry Building. The restaurant is as popular as ever since opening eleven years ago, recently noted as the highest grossing independent restaurant in California last year. Given the announcement of the second Slanted Door location opening up in downtown Los Angeles, I thought it was a good time to revisit. I made a reservation pretty far in advance for a Saturday lunch while the Ferry Building farmers market would be open. Two birds, one stone.
Petit Crenn
609 Hayes St
San Francisco, CA 94102
Dining date: 11/27/15
Petit Crenn is Dominique Crenn’s follow-up to her two Michelin starred Atelier Crenn. This restaurant is very different from the Atelier’s haute multi-course tasting menus; Petite Crenn is a small neighborhood restaurant serving a daily family-style menu inspired by Crenn’s childhood in Brittany, France. The food is seafood and vegetable-focused and is priced at a relatively reasonable $79pp for five courses (inclusive of service).
We dined at the Chef’s Table on this evening, which contrary to my assumption, was neither in the kitchen nor had much of a view of the kitchen. It’s a six-top in a secluded corner of the main dining room serving an ‘enhanced’ version of that night’s menu (upgraded ingredients and extra courses). For the privilege, these seats were $120pp inclusive of service.
Osteria Mozza
6602 Melrose Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90038
Dining date: 11/5/15
I’ve been to the Mozzaplex a bunch of times over the years, but this meal was a unique one. It was part of the Chase Private Dinner Series open to Chase Sapphire cardholders. A $175 ticket included everything from food, wine, tax, gratuity and valet, as well as some time with the chef (Nancy Silverton) and sommelier. It was my first time trying a dinner in this series and I wanted to see what it was all about.
Pok Pok LA
978 N Broadway
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Dining date: 11/8/15
Pok Pok was one of the city’s most anticipated restaurant openings this year. It has become one of the must-visit restaurants in Portland since opening 10 years ago. Since then, the restaurant and chef have been given numerous awards including chef Andy Ricker winning the James Beard award for Best Chef Northwest in 2011 and the New York location garnering a Michelin star this year. Los Angeles is the third city to have Ricker’s popular restaurant, following the opening of his Phat Thai street food concept at the end of last year.
Church & State
1850 Industrial St
Los Angeles, CA 90021
Dining date: 11/6/15
Church & State was one of the first really exciting restaurants to open into the reinvigorated Arts District of downtown. With Walter Manzke in the kitchen, the restaurant was an immediate success. The neighborhood has had a ton of new development over the years, but Church & State has been a standby serving classic French bistro food. The restaurant celebrated its seventh anniversary last week and rolled back prices to 2008 levels in celebration. It’s been a long five years since I dined at the restaurant, so a revisit was long overdue.
