San Tung 1031 Irving St San Francisco, CA 94122 Dining date: 12/24/12 San Tung is consistently one of San Francisco’s most popular Chinese restaurants, known for its long waits almost as much as its food. Located in the Sunset district of the city, the first-come first-served restaurant always seems to have a crowd waiting outside,…
this is not a pop-up: Evan Funke Square One 4854 Fountain Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90029 Dining date: 2/6/13 this is not a pop-up, housed in Hollywood’s Square One Dining space, follows a similar concept to the now-defunct Test Kitchen, housing chefs for a short period of time to cook whatever they want. It’s a…
State Bird Provisions 1529 Fillmore St San Francisco, CA 94115 Dining date: 12/28/12 This was one of the restaurants I really wanted to try while I was in San Francisco (probably #1 on my list). Opened on the last day of 2011, it was named to numerous lists for best new restaurants of the year, including…
Oola 860 Folsom St San Francisco, CA 94107 Dining date: 12/27/12 This past year for my grandmother’s birthday, my cousins and I took her to dinner at Oola in San Francisco’s SOMA neighborhood. It’s a tradition we’ve been doing a number of years now, and something I look forward to each holiday season. This year,…
Rich Table 199 Gough St San Francisco, CA 94102 Dining date: 12/26/12 Rich Table was one of San Francisco’s bigger restaurant openings of last year and continues to be one of the hot tables in town. Evan and Sarah Rich are the couple behind the restaurant, whose collective resumes include San Francisco’s Quince, Michael Mina…
Ikemen 123 Astronaut E S Onizuka St #108 Los Angeles, CA 90012 Dining date: 1/28/13 Ikemen is the latest ramen chain to open up shop in Little Tokyo (following other notables Shin-Sen-Gumi and Men Oh Tokushima). Located in Weller Court (the plaza shared with super-spicy Orochon), it kind of replaces the recently-closed Chin-Ma-Ya. Ikemen’s first…
Sons & Daughters 708 Bush St San Francisco, CA 94108 Dining date: 11/24/12 Sons & Daughters is a restaurant I’ve been wanting to try for some time. Since I spend a limited amount of time in San Francisco nowadays, it’s always been on my list of places to try but never high enough to the…
The Hart and the Hunter Palihotel 7950 Melrose Ave Los Angeles, CA 90048 Dining date: 1/6/13 Formerly the pop-up Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing, Brian Dunsmoor and Kris Tominaga opened The Hart and the Hunter last October. It’s quickly become one of the most talked-about restaurants in LA over the last few months for its hearty…