Top 10 New Restaurants of 2008
By Patrick Heig, San Francisco Editor
2008 was a huge year for San Francisco restaurants, and food in general. Three multi-million dollar blockbusters opened on the waterfront, but only two made this list, while one hard-working chef made it with a tiny takeout sandwich shop. Peru finally got its due, a sexy gypsy moved onto Claude Lane, and Valencia Street got a couple of new stars. Finally, SoMa got one avante garde hotspot while one of the neighborhood’s oldest restaurants got a new chef who’s an old favorite. Check out our top ten for '08.
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Beretta
1199 Valencia St, San Francisco, CA
It's hard to decide what's better here, the pizzette, antipasti and or the cocktails--Beretta would have made this list for any one of them--so it's best to just combine all three. -
La Mar Cebicheria Peruana
Pier 1.5, San Francisco, CA
With authentic ceviches made from fresh, locally harvested fish, pisco-centered cocktails, an elegant-but-casual dining room and a heated patio right on the water, La Mar is one of the splashier restaurants to open in the city in years. -
The Sentinel
37 Stevenson St, San Francisco, CA
This tiny takeout counter isn't technically a restaurant--it's barely a phone booth--but chef Dennis Leary's gourmet sandwiches are so inventive, delicious and reasonably priced that this spot belongs with the big boys. -
Limon Rotisserie
1001 South Van Ness Ave, San Francisco, CA
La Mar Cebicheria may get all the the attention, but this modest spot in the deep-end of the Mission serves up mouth-watering ceviche, rotisserie chicken and small plates in an econo-elegant setting at unbelievable prices--definitely the right formula for this recession. -
Luce
888 Howard St, San Francisco, CA
Italian flavors and seasonal Northern California ingredients wend their way through the dinner menu at this San Francisco InterContinental restaurant, which has exec chef Dominique Crenn's in the running for best female chef in the country. -
Gitane
6 Claude Ln, San Francisco, CA
Tucked away on a Euro-alley near Union Square, this plush, sexy and exotic new restaurant blends the flavors of Spain, France and Portugal and boasts a star-studded kitchen and bar staff; we dare you not to like it. -
Orson
508 Fourth St, San Francisco, CA
Though it just opened earlier this year, Orson has already had its ups and downs, but it deserves top ten status simply for going where a lot of restaurateurs are afraid to: outside of the Alice Waters culinary straightjacket. -
The Moss Room
At California Academy of Sciences, 55 Music Concourse Dr, San Francisco, CA
The fine artistry of this restaurant--the space, the food, and the service--stuns, considering it's in the basement of a science museum; undoubtedly the most pleasant surprise of the year. -
Zare at Fly Trap
606 Folsom St, San Francisco, CA
One of the oldest restaurants in SF, revamped by chef Hoss Zare, combines California ingredients with French and Mediterranean technique and gets everything just right. -
Udupi Palace
1007 Valencia St, San Francisco, CA
This South Indian restaurant in the Mission is firmly in line with its neighborhood's sensibilities: cheap, vegetarian, and authentic. It's also insanely, impossibly delicious, even for dedicated carnivores.
