Celebrating the people, passion, and stories behind great hospitality with Tock 10.
Friends Only
San Francisco, CA
The concept
Chef Ray Lee opened Friends Only omakase counter to double as a research and development kitchen for sister restaurant Akikos, experimenting with dry-aging techniques for fish and testing out ideas for new dishes. There are just 10 spots at a custom walnut counter with two seatings each night. With a herringbone oak floor, leather upholstery, and etched porcelain wall panels, every detail is thoughtfully crafted.
Expect up to 18 bites over three hours, many of which are likely to showcase different types of uni, or sea urchin. Canapés to begin might include caviar service on okonomiyaki or a wagyu jidori egg jam croustade. Sashimi, binchōtan charcoal-kissed bites, and seasonally flavored chawanmushi lead to the main event: nigiri. All the fish is dry-aged and there’s always a great hand-roll at the end, plus refreshing homemade ice cream for dessert.
For the impressive dry-aging techniques. It really sets Friends Only apart from other sushi counters, coaxing a more tender texture and deeper umami flavors. Who knew bluefin tuna belly could melt in your mouth like a stick of fish butter?
Kiln
San Francisco, CA
The name
With pure intense heat, a kiln changes raw materials while retaining their essential soul. That’s what makes San Francisco’s Kiln special: the sum of its parts—from staff to dishes to decor—metaphorically passes through the kiln each night to create a magical experience. “When something gets fired into a kiln, it transforms,’ co-owner John Wesley told Eater SF. ‘In a restaurant setting, that’s applied to food and, hopefully, guests, but also staff. People that come in and spend time here should leave different than when they came in.'”
Two Bay Area natives—Chef John Wesley and Julianna Yang—forged their partnership while working at the Michelin-starred Sons & Daughters. The intuitive passion for hospitality of these kindred spirits led them to receive a Michelin star of their own for their nightly 18- to 20-course meal.
It’s all about dramatic simplicity and intentionally stark ambiance. Sure, the overhead lights make it hard to snap social shots, but that’s the point. “We don’t cook food for social media. We cook for our guests,” Wesley tells us. This philosophy shines through their carefully sourced ingredients prepared with Japanese, Scandinavian, and French techniques. As Wesley notes, everything on the plate serves a purpose.
Lazy Bear
San Francisco, CA
Origin
After being laid off from a law firm in 2009, David Barzelay began hosting elaborate dinner parties out of his San Francisco apartment. The underground operation quickly gained notoriety and eventually moved into a covert warehouse to accommodate growing demand. In 2014, Barzelay secured a permanent location in the Mission District, where he built an open kitchen and placed two long elm tables in the dining room to maintain a dinner party ethos. One year in and Lazy Bear earned its first Michelin star.
Lazy Bear recently marked a decade in the Mission by reimagining their space and approach to service. Gone is the communal model, replaced by individual tables. “We wanted to make it more refined, more luxurious, but still express the sense of fun that I think we bring to dining experiences,” Barzelay tells Eater. Billed as “the most fun fine dining experience in fine dining,” Lazy Bear has managed to evolve without sacrificing what made the restaurant so special in the first place: the shared connection between diners, chefs, and the service team. That is the magic of Lazy Bear.
For the palpable sense of place. Through fresh velvet horn seaweed, foraged onion blossoms, wild conifers, and button chanterelles, the Bay Area comes to life.
