Three-Michelin-Starred Chef Corey Lee’s Favorite San Francisco Restaurants
Meet one of the best chefs in the country
The Relisher is the place where the world’s top chefs reveal their favorite spots in their home cities. This week, we met with Chef Corey Lee, of three-Michelin-starred Benu in San Francisco.
With a career spanning over 25 years, Chef Corey has worked at some of the most prestigious restaurants globally, including as the head chef at Thomas Keller’s The French Laundry, where his exceptional work earned him a James Beard Award. Lee opened Benu in 2010 and by 2014, it became the first restaurant in San Francisco to receive a three-star rating. Today, it remains one of only six three-Michelin-starred restaurants in California.
Below, one of the country's top chefs shares his favorite restaurants in San Francisco.
Dinner Restaurants: A Japanese Izakaya, Contemporary French Gem & Thriving Chinatown Spot
Most people assume authenticity means traditional food prepared exactly as it was in its place of origin. However, that's not authentic at all. True authenticity comes from making the cuisine your own and giving it a real, unique identity – and that's precisely what makes Rintaro, an izakaya (an informal Japanese bar), so special.
They don't import and replicate flavors from Japan. Instead, they take the core ideas, sensibilities, and spirit of Japanese cuisine and combine them with local products, making the dishes entirely their own. For example, their seasonal sashimi comes from a local farm outside San Francisco, and the chickens are California-grown. This approach makes Rintaro an authentic restaurant that could only exist in this part of the world, as it reflects the experiences of people who have grown up or worked in Japan.
Regardless of what else I order, I always get the gyoza with chicken feet, wings, and the sashimi offering.
