Michelin-starred SF restaurant is closing, moving to Scotland

Michelin-starred fine-dining restaurant Avery is closing after seven years on San Francisco’s Fillmore Street, the restaurant announced on Instagram. However, this isn’t entirely the end — as the restaurant shared in August, a new location of Avery is slated to open in Edinburgh, Scotland, in spring 2024. 

Chef-owner Rodney Wages told SFGATE that he and his family fell in love with Edinburgh on vacation last year, leading them to return this summer for three months to scope it out as a potential a new home for Avery. Closing the San Francisco location wasn’t initially his plan, he said, but he realized he needed to after his time away.

“What we noticed while I was gone is it’s almost impossible to find someone to keep the integrity of Avery,” he said. “I think I’ve built kind of a monster, you know, it’s a very chef-driven experience. I’m at the table pouring wine, I’m talking to people about sake, I’m explaining the food, I’m cooking the food. … And I think that’s really amazing, but I can’t replicate myself.”

Wages and his wife also recently had a baby, so he said he is looking for more work-life balance, and to have his child grow up closer to his English wife’s parents. While he said he won’t be moving his family to Scotland full-time, they will be going back and forth between the Bay Area and Edinburgh.

Plus, he said, “I think the food scene in Edinburgh is up and coming. There’s some really talented chefs putting Edinburgh on the map for food, and I think in the next couple years, there’s definitely probably going to be more Michelin stars and more talented chefs opening restaurants in the city.”

In San Francisco, Avery serves an Asian- and European-inspired menu of dishes like foie gras tortellini, grilled black cod curry and black truffle tuna. Avery in Edinburgh’s menu is expected to feature similar flavor profiles, but with Scottish ingredients like scallops and wild game. Eventually, Wages said he hopes to have his own farm there to grow ingredients for the restaurant. 

That said, Wages isn’t abandoning San Francisco. In the former Avery space on Fillmore Street, he plans to open a new, more casual concept that is less chef-forward.

“We’re not necessarily throwing in the towel, but taking a little break and then focusing on what is next for San Francisco,” he said. “…We’re talking about possibly turning into something more a la carte and focusing on more of a wine bar kind of aspect for people to come in and just have a few things before a show.”

Wages stressed that he didn’t want to add to the San Francisco “mass exodus” narrative, and that the decision to close Avery in San Francisco was mostly a personal one. 

“I’m excited for Avery and I think San Francisco has been a really great start for Avery, getting a Michelin star and putting in that work,” he said. “I think that looking back at what we’ve achieved is pretty amazing, so I’m definitely very grateful for San Francisco.”

Avery’s final day of service is planned for Nov. 4, but Wages said they will most likely have an “open-house party” on Nov. 5 to send off the restaurant.