Esquire food writers dined at over 200 restaurants across the country to select their 50 favorites. Two of these were San Francisco restaurants: Dalida and Kiln.
Dalida, a Mediterranean restaurant in the Presidio, opened in June. The power couple behind the restaurant, co-chefs Sayat and Laura Ozyilmaz, previously worked at Eleven Madison Park, Saison and Mourad, and opened Noosh in Pacific Heights in 2018. Esquire praised Dalida for its “massive menu that celebrates all cultures and foodways of the Eastern Mediterranean and Levant,” from a 12-hour lamb shoulder tandoor to Anatolian erishte, a Mediterranean pasta dish. Esquire also crowned Dalida’s wine director Ruth Frey “wine person of the year.”
Kiln, a Hayes Valley fine dining restaurant from chef John Wesley drawing from French, Japanese and Scandinavian cuisine, opened in May. “Kiln is a study in restraint and an exercise in fine-dining minimalism,” wrote Esquire. Its tasting menu features dishes such as beef tendon with sweet potato and roasted onion vinegar, and grilled beet with bone marrow and huckleberry.
Outside of San Francisco, Oakland’s Burdell and Calistoga’s Auro also represented the Bay Area on the list. Burdell opened in September in Temescal, where chef Geoff Davis combines his fine dining expertise with the nostalgic soul food of his youth. Auro, a new American restaurant from “Top Chef” alum Rogelio Garcia, opened inside the Four Seasons Resort and Residences in late 2022. It recently received its first Michelin star.