Skip to Content

first bite

Courtesy of Ironside

If Ironside was a girlfriend, she'd be the kind that you really like a lot, that you enjoy spending time with, but who you aren't sure you are going to marry. Ironside is a good-time girl, and sometimes a good-time girl is exactly what you need. The month-old restaurant, opened by the owners of District around the corner, have created a place that speaks to these times. It's casual, it's affordable, it doesn't take itself too seriously, and the eclectic menu has a more refined version of the something-for-everything ethos.

Saison's chef Joshua Skenes prepping in the kitchen

In the ongoing trend of chefs thinking outside the box, Saison—a Sunday night “restaurant” put on by Kris Esqueda, former Michael Mina sommelier Mark Bright and chef Joshua Skenes—has been luring diners from all over the city to a urban-cool space tucked behind the Stable Café in the Mission District.

Mutsimi Takehara and her yummy nigi-miso buns

As a resident of Bernal Heights—a neighborhood that's known more for its liberal politics and crunchy good vibes than its haute cuisine—I was excited to finally get a taste of the much-anticipated Sandbox Bakery, which just opened. No slouch, owner and pastry chef Mutsimi Takehara started learning her craft at La Farine in Oakland and at Chez Panisse. She was then the pastry chef at Rubicon and spent 10 years as the Slanted Door pastry chef. So she's spent some quality time with butter.