The Top 43 Tasting Menus Near Quince
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Rank 1. Quince
Contemporary
In a refreshed early 1900s room in Jackson Square, Chef Michael Tusk builds menus from his partner farm's seasonal bounty with surgical precision: silky broth married to guanciale and clam, agnolotti tender with white asparagus, lamb from the fireplace scattered with favas and edible flowers. The cooking is restrained and confident, letting each ingredient declare itself.
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Rank 2. Benu
Asian
Chef Corey Lee's tasting menu unfolds with technical precision, each course a miniature study in restraint and refinement. A roasted quail, glazed tableside with maple and soy, epitomizes his gift for marrying tradition with invention.
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Rank 3. Kusakabe
Sushi
At Kusakabe, a serene counter lined in live-edge elm sets the stage for an omakase that moves with theatrical precision yet lands every note. Bluefin arrives with yuzu and sesame; softshell crab swims in sweet corn broth; sea urchin crowns scallop and snapper with cured yolk. The kitchen's command of technique serves a singular purpose: making you remember what you ate.
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Rank 4. Trestle
Contemporary
At Trestle, three courses rotate through the seasons at a price that rewards restraint: creamy tomato soup with thyme oil might yield to fork-tender short ribs on parmesan polenta, finished with frozen chocolate parfait and crushed cashews. The dining room hums with energy, and staff move with genuine warmth, making the whole enterprise feel less like a bargain than like being let in on something.
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Rank 5. Gary Danko
Contemporary French
The dining room glows with the formality of another era: dark-suited servers, a towering cheese trolley, an wine list of serious depth. Chef Danko's prix-fixe menu lets you build your own path through French-inflected cooking with global detours—or surrender to his tasting menu. Since 1999, the place has remained a steady draw for occasions that call for ceremony and restraint.
- AAA Five Diamonds
- Forbes Travel Guide Forbes Four Star
- Wine Enthusiast The Wine Restaurant Hall of Fame
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Rank 6. Saison
Californian New American
A warehouse devoted to the hearth, where Chef Richard Lee orchestrates playful, earnest cooking—tuna tartlette, rabbit with morels, antelope with blueberries—for San Francisco's elite. The wine program is exceptionally deep, the crowd studiously cool, the setting rustically refined.
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Rank 7. O' by Claude Le Tohic
Fine French
On the fifth floor of a French fine-dining tower, Claude Le Tohic composes tasting menus that marry classical French technique with California's best—a seafood salad layered with dashi and caviar, black cod dusted with five spice and shellfish purée. The experience unfolds with precision, from warm bread to a final cart of petit fours, attended by service that feels both formal and genuine.
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Rank 8. Ssal
Modern Korean
The Baes' tasting menu inhabits a middle ground between Korean tradition and French technique, moving deftly through dishes like sweet potato puffs crowned with caviar and scallop mousseline wrapped in cabbage with spiked beurre blanc. It's cooking that trusts restraint and clarity over elaboration, which in San Francisco's dining landscape reads as its own kind of statement.
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Rank 9. Nisei
Japanese
Chef David Yoshimura balances Japanese tradition with American invention—buckwheat tartlets with date miso, uni in almond dashi—with technical assurance and personality. Service is personable, sake pairings thoughtful, and the wagashi cart a delicate finale.
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Rank 10. Birdsong
Contemporary
Open flames and assembly-at-table theatrics define Christopher Bleidorn's cooking, where lacquered quail arrives with grilled rolls to be built like Peking duck. The whimsy persists through each course—from creek trout roe suspended in kelp kombucha to lemon mochi concealing blueberries and crème fraîche—a kitchen that treats fire and precision as equal partners.
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Rank 11. Atelier Crenn
Contemporary French
Crenn's white-walled atelier channels a painter's precision, each seafood course glazed in silken sauces that speak to her Breton roots and California present. A grandmother's brioche and vegetables from Sonoma orchards anchor the pescatarian tasting menu in something tactile and real, even as desserts from Juan Contreras push toward pure invention.
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Rank 12. Sato Omakase
Sushi
A serene counter where butter-poached lobster and soy-marinated tuna demonstrate the chef's command of both luxury and restraint. The hamachi nigiri, touched with yuzu, and the wasabi-crowned sashimi suggest that true indulgence lies not in abundance but in precision—each ingredient allowed to speak, each technique invisible until you taste it.
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Rank 13. Californios
Mexican
In a cavernous room alive with color and music, Chef Val M. Cantú channels Mexico's culinary depths through meticulous technique and daring reinvention. Tortillas—whether sourdough crisped with mezcal-battered cod or corn kissed with sesame—become the vehicle for a vision of Mexican cooking that feels both rooted and urgent.
- Michelin Guide 2 Stars
- 50 Best 2025 · #14 · North America's 50 Best Restaurants
- James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: California · Val M. Cantú
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Rank 14. Lazy Bear
Contemporary
A warehouse dressed as a hunting lodge stages nightly tastings that toggle between nostalgia and ambition—oysters arrive two ways, one bright with gooseberry, another charred and glazed; butter-soft A5 ribeye meets oxtail and sour cherry tart with architectural precision. The cooking trades subtlety for swagger, and it lands.
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Rank 15. Sons & Daughters
Contemporary
Harrison Cheney's tasting menu moves through fermented vegetables, foraged mushrooms, and carefully butchered seafood with the precision of Nordic technique and the warmth of British comfort—a quail egg wrapped in sausage, rutabaga noodles glossed in pork fat and brown butter. Service matches the cooking's generosity.
- Michelin Guide 2 Stars
- AAA Four Diamonds
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Nominee · Best Chef: California · Harrison Cheney
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Rank 16. Kiln
Nordic New American
Chef John Wesley's spare warehouse tasting menu channels Nordic preservation techniques—curing, drying, fermentation—into deceptively simple dishes of intricate craft. A puffed beef tendon or squab lacquered in burnt honey reveals the kitchen's balance of rusticity and refinement across each course.
- Michelin Guide 2 Stars
- Condé Nast Traveler 2024 · The best new restaurants in the world
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Best New Restaurant
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Rank 17. 7 Adams
Californian New American
Serena and David Fisher cook with unhurried confidence in this railway-style room, where a seasonal menu balances technique with restraint. Handmade pasta and carefully calibrated broths reveal a distinctly Californian sensibility, one that favors support over spectacle.
- Michelin Guide 1 Star
- Esquire 2024 · The Best New Restaurants in America
- The New York Times The 25 Best Restaurants in San Francisco Right Now
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Rank 18. Le Comptoir
Pescatarian French
At a marble counter beside Atelier Crenn, a handful of diners watch the kitchen plate delicate courses that weave French technique through California seafood and vegetables. The meal builds toward moments of studied refinement—caviar on buckwheat, brown butter on agnolotti—where restraint and precision feel like the entire point.
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Rank 19. Nightbird
Californian New American
Behind a carved wooden door in Hayes Valley sits a narrow dining room where Chef Kim Alter composes small plates with deliberate artistry—roasted duck breast arranged with summer squash and gooseberry compote, a spiced broth to follow. The menu pivots with the seasons; house-made breads arrive at strategic intervals, each one another small flourish in a meal designed to sustain surprise.
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: California · Kim Alter
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
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Rank 20. Mijoté
French
Chef Kosuke Tada simmers local ingredients with quiet French restraint at this Mission bistro, letting quality speak without fuss. The seasonal prix fixe and natural wine list feel less like ambition than honest neighborhood cooking.
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: California · Kosuke Tada
- James Beard Awards 2025 · Nominee · Best Chef: California · Kosuke Tada
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
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Rank 21. Prubechu
Guamanian
- The Infatuation #25 · The 25 Best Restaurants In SF
- The Infatuation The 21 Best Outdoor Dining Spots In SF
- San Francisco Chronicle 2026 · #53 · Top 100 Restaurants in the Bay Area
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Rank 22. Wolfsbane
American
In a spare Dogpatch room, Chef Rupert Blease builds tasting menus that fold Nordic and Japanese touches into California's best ingredients: Dungeness crab with sweet potato and blood-orange sauce Maltaise, each dish balanced between richness and clarity. The work is precise and unhurried, letting pristine flavors speak through refined technique.
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- The Infatuation The Hit List: New San Francisco Restaurants To Try Right Now
- San Francisco Chronicle 2026 · #71 · Top 100 Restaurants in the Bay Area
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Rank 23. Sorrel
Contemporary
Chef Alexander Hong coaxes uncommon depth from pasta—smoky zlikrofi with plum mostarda, silken gnudi crowned with fried sage—using herbs from the rooftop garden. Duck breast arrives with crackling skin and kuri squash; the small plates show equal restraint and precision.
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Rank 24. Ken
Japanese
An unmarked door on Divisadero opens into Chef Ken Ngai's six-seat counter, where Hong Kong training meets Bay Area sensibility through nigiri topped with cured egg yolk and preserved plum alongside composed plates of silky chawanmushi and poached ikura in ume broth. The cozy intimacy here feels earned rather than affected.
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- The Infatuation #6 · The 25 Best Restaurants In SF
- The Infatuation The 14 Best Restaurants In The Lower Haight
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Rank 25. Noodle in a Haystack
Ramen Noodles
A narrow counter in the Richmond seats eight across from the open kitchen, where the chef builds each bowl as a composed tasting. The ramen here—broth calibrated across hours, noodles cut to order—arrives as something between comfort and ceremony.
- The Infatuation Infatuation’s Highest-Rated Restaurants In America
- Bon Appétit 2023 · America's Best New Restaurants
- The New York Times 2023 · The Restaurant List
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Rank 26. Yuji
Japanese
A nine-seat counter in Japantown where punctuality matters—the meal starts without stragglers. Yuji moves through a twelve-course kappo progression of delicate, seasonal bites: pristine sashimi, crispy fried tilefish, rice enriched with hairy crab, finishing with silky matcha custard. Intimate enough that you watch the work unfold mere inches away.
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Tucked into a Japantown mall corner, this sushi counter barely interrupts the foot traffic, yet the nigiri here—silky fish, clean technique—competes with more visible operations. A lightly torched wild star butterfish dissolves on the tongue; a handroll of chopped bluefin and pickled daikon crackles with nori. Five to twelve pieces, reasonable prices, no pretense.
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Rank 28. jū-ni
Omakase Sushi
Chef Geoffrey Lee's twelve-seat omakase delivers pristine nigiri with precise flourishes—sakura masu crowned with salt-cured cherry blossom, buttery scallop, ikura finished with frozen monkfish liver. The meal unfolds with studied restraint, from vegetable courses to a gentle mochi finale.
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Rank 29. Omakase
Edomae Sushi
A narrow counter in an industrial corridor serves Tokyo-sourced edomae sushi with methodical precision: kelp-cured sea bream, braised monkfish liver with its butter-soft minerality, mackerel sharp with chive purée. The chef adjusts rice and wasabi to each diner's preference, calibrating the experience bite by bite. Reservations and punctuality are non-negotiable; the ritual demands it.
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Rank 30. Anomaly
Contemporary
An unmarked door on a quiet residential stretch opens onto a hushed, clandestine dining room where Chef Mike Lanham composes tasting menus built on seasonal produce and precise technique—halibut crudo with yuzu bavarois, asparagus in multiple preparations—without descending into modernist affectation. The plates arrive exquisitely plated, each one a study in texture and restraint.
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Rank 31. 3rd Cousin
New American
Greg Lutes's Bernal Heights dining room sits quietly uphill from the city's noise, where hand-rolled pastas and unexpected luxuries—uni crème brûlée with caviar, Wagyu with maitake—signal a chef uninterested in convention. The intimacy here feels earned, built on the steady work of someone who knows how to close a meal, whether with truffle ravioli or pistachio cake.
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Rank 32. Kibatsu
Sushi
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Rank 33. NARA
Japanese
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Rank 34. Commis
Contemporary
James Syhabout's calm neighborhood tasting room on Piedmont Avenue moves with the precision of someone drawing from Thai and Chinese traditions while sourcing obsessively local. A slow-poached egg yolk in malt cream, raw fish dressed with aged soy and fermented plum—each plate announces itself as both familiar and strangely refined.
- Michelin Guide 2 Stars
- AAA Four Diamonds
- James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: California · James Syhabout
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Rank 35. Wakuriya
Japanese
Katsuhiro Yamasaki commands the counter at this eight-seat temple of kaiseki, where each monthly menu threads classical technique with California's seasonal bounty—a silver spoon might cradle lobster in dashi gelée, soft-boiled egg, crisp kombu. The steamed black cod arrives flawless, the sashimi course assured, each plate a studied conversation between tradition and the chef's singular vision.
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Rank 36. Navio
Contemporary
Inside the Ritz-Carlton's clifftop perch, Chef Francisco Simón crafts polished coastal fare—Dungeness crab with apple and sourdough, duck with radicchio and pear—that balances classical precision with an unhurried sense of luxury. The room lives up to its setting: ocean views that flare gold at sunset, a dining experience that feels as much about ease as refinement.
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Rank 37. Protégé
Contemporary New American
Chef Anthony Secviar, a French Laundry alum, pairs refined but unfussy cooking—think sablefish with sweet onion dashi, morel lasagna—with a sommelier's wine list in a relaxed modern room. The lounge's à la carte and trolley desserts balance the tasting menu's ambition without pretension.
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Rank 38. Table Culture Provisions
French-inflected New American
Chef-owners Saint Louis and Vargas run a ten-table tasting room where seasonally minded Californian cooking meets French technique, as in a flaky squab pithivier. Warm service and composed desserts like chestnut Mont Blanc complete the picture of understated, approachable elegance.
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- San Francisco Chronicle 2026 · #75 · Top 100 Restaurants in the Bay Area
- San Francisco Chronicle Top Sonoma County Restaurants
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Rank 39. Kenzo
Kaiseki Japanese
A serene 25-seat counter in downtown Napa where chef Kenzo Tsujimoto composes kaiseki with seasonal precision—steamed scallop dumplings in aged dashi, seared A5 Wagyu with burdock root miso—each course unhurried and deliberate. The room, spare and minimal, invites you to watch the kitchen work while Napa wines and sake arrive in measured pours.
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Rank 40. La Toque
Contemporary
Ken Frank's kitchen in the Westin shows off technically precise seasonal cooking—roasted lamb with aligot potatoes, dry-aged duck with za'atar cherry—in an elegant dining room with an open kitchen view. The tasting menu is pricey and portions modest, but the wine list and celebratory atmosphere justify the splurge.
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Rank 41. The French Laundry
French
Thomas Keller's Yountville kitchen applies classical French precision to impeccable ingredients in a dining room engineered down to the counter height. A progression might unfold from salmon tartare in a delicate cornet through butter-poached lobster and herb-roasted lamb to a chocolate gâteau finale. This is restaurant craft at its most exacting.
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Rank 42. Le Papillon
European
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Rank 43. ADEGA
Portuguese
Adega pairs a Portuguese tasting menu of sardines, bacalhau, and octopus with one of California's deepest collections of Portuguese wines. The understated dining room lets the kitchen's contemporary technique and wine program command attention.