The Best Restaurants in Saratoga, by the Record
The best restaurants in Saratoga, by the professional record: AAA, Michelin Guide, and San Francisco Chronicle have all weighed in, and their honors are what rank this list. Plumed Horse comes out on top.
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Rank 1. Plumed Horse
Californian New American
A glass-walled wine cellar you can see right through the dining room sets the tone at this elegant Saratoga fine dining destination, which holds a Michelin star. The kitchen runs on California's seasons, offered as a tasting menu or a multicourse prix fixe, and the chef navigates meat, seafood, and vegetables with the same easy confidence. The room is quiet and unhurried, the kind where the sommelier actually knows the cellar cold.
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Rank 2. Hashiri Bettei Kaiseki Aoki
Kaiseki Japanese
Nine seats at a counter in Saratoga, quiet enough that you'll learn exactly how someone accidentally ended up with too many cars. This is a kaiseki tasting menu, eleven courses, served to everyone simultaneously like a dinner party. The chef mists soup bowls to simulate dew and trims grapes so they stand upright instead of rolling. Between courses he silently practices piano on the countertop. Small details, unhurried pace, kimono-clad service guiding you through all of it.