The Bay Area Hit List, June 2022: Hilda and Jesse, Nari, and More

The transition from spring to summer produce is decidedly a delicious one. One very excellent way to see it is bite-by-bite,  course-by-course, at contemporary Thai restaurant Nari, led by chef-owner Pim Techamuanvivit, chef de cuisine Meghan Clark, GM Heather Miller, and co. Go with the chef’s pick and get a bit of everything coursed and paced properly. 

Weekend brunch in San Francisco can get a little hectic, but a brunch tasting menu for dinner? Speaking our language! The talented chefs Kristina Liedags Compton and Rachel Sillcocks are cooking up all sorts of pretty delicious things, like grilled asparagus with cashew milk, chile oil, and fried shallots. And you know about the pancakes.

If you haven’t made it out to chef-owner Crystal Wahpepah’s groundbreaking restaurant yet, you’re missing out. This Fruitvale spot celebrates Indigenous American ingredients with dishes like Oklahoma pearl hominy tossed in duck fat; acorn crepes; and sweet potato and salmon tostadas with refried beans. While you’re at it, read our interview with her right here.

Buddy is your new favorite 22nd Street bar. Set in the old Californios, this little alcove from a team of industry vets — Nora Furst (Uma Casa), Claire Sprouse (Hunky Dory), Alvaro Rojas (Elda), Nicolas Torres (True Laurel) — offers natty wine, low-abv cocktails, and snacky plates like a mortadella sandwich to end all mortadella sandwiches.

The State Bird Provisions cart is finally back, which is a welcome sight. The cart makes the restaurant, and the restaurant helps make the city — it’s truly one of the best. The classics never go out of style here, like burrata bread and the fried quail, but keep an eye out for some of the new spins that chef de cuisine Gaby Maeda scatters through the menu to keep things fresh. More info here.

Did you catch The Chronicle’s rad chaat package? If you did, you’d know to go to La Cocina alum Heena Patel’s restaurant Besharam and order the dahi vada — it’s cool and creamy and savory and spicy and so so good. More info here.

For pasta, crudo, and everything in between, head to Itria on 24th St in the Mission. Hokkaido scallop with preserved lemon and sea beans! Crispy pork belly with pickled green tomato panzanella! Garganelli with porcini butter, asparagus, and lamb’s quarter! Can’t decide?  Go with the six-course tasting menu and get a bit of it all.

Sorella — which means sister in Italian — is the younger sister restaurant to Suzette Gresham’s great Acquerello. At such, at Sorella, stick with the pastas and you’ll be deliciously rewarded. Short rib agnolotti with morel mushrooms, fava beans and cultured butter; egg yolk tonarelli with sea urchin and salmon caviar; squid ink linguini with lobster in a spicy brodo bath; and so much more. More info here.

From the same people behind Juni  is the newly-opened, no-reservations Handroll Project. The restaurant here specializes in—you guessed it—handrolls: fatty tuna with pickled radish and shiso; spicy tuna with aioli and cucumbers; and A5 Wagyu rolls with garlic chips. More info here.

Summertime is Sonoma is wonderful. Wine tasting at Scribe? Yes. Huichica — the best darn music festival located at GunBun one winery over? Hell yes. Brunch at the vibey, critically acclaimed Valley before it all? Yes, please, and thank you. These are a few of our favorite things… More info here.

Your favorite biker bar/beer garden just got a burger upgrade. Their new smash burgers feature white American cheese and a special special sauce. Just trust us: go on a sunny afternoon, order a double, hold the lettuce and tomato, and grab a pint of whatever you’re feeling. Thank us later. More info here.