The San Francisco Chronicle released its annual Top 100 Restaurants in the Bay Area list.Food critics Mackenzie Chung Fegan and Cesar Hernandez compile the list over the year, and the ranking is based on how well each restaurant does what it sets out to do. That means the list includes fine dining restaurants, mom and pop shops and food trucks.Claiming the number one spot this year is Four Kings in Chinatown. Four Kings opened on Commercial Street just about two years ago, serving Cantonese food with global influences. Mike Long and Franky Ho lead the kitchen as head chefs and co-owners. Long and Ho both grew up in China and previously worked at Mister Jiu’s, a fine dining Chinese restaurant just around the corner in Chinatown.“Their childhood and work experience both inform the food here,” said co-owner Lucy Li. Li and Long are partners. Ho’s partner, Millie Bookokua, is also a co-owner.At Four Kings, nostalgia mixes with culinary innovation. On one side of the small dining space, wok flames rise above the bar. On the other side, the wall is lined with ‘90s Canto Pop stars. “The playlist actually came first above all else,” Li said. “That’s why we named it Four Kings. The Four Kings of Canto pop from the ’90s.”But the food is the star at the restaurant. Chronicle food critics recommend the scallop vermicelli, which is doused in a brown butter and garlic sauce. The XO escargot also comes highly recommended as the French delicacy is paired with XO sauce, which originated in Hong Kong, and is served with homemade milk bread. Li said the Mapo Spaghetti might be a more approachable dish; one waiter described it as Chinese Bolognese.”It’s just like this gravy-esque sauce, that’s the mapo sauce, with Sichuan peppercorn and then it’s over spaghetti and the sauce is incorporated well into the noodles,” Li said. The rest of the top 100 list includes everything from pizza in Berkeley to tamales in Sonoma and Laotian food in Concord. See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel
SAN FRANCISCO —
The San Francisco Chronicle released its annual Top 100 Restaurants in the Bay Area list.
Food critics Mackenzie Chung Fegan and Cesar Hernandez compile the list over the year, and the ranking is based on how well each restaurant does what it sets out to do. That means the list includes fine dining restaurants, mom and pop shops and food trucks.
Claiming the number one spot this year is Four Kings in Chinatown. Four Kings opened on Commercial Street just about two years ago, serving Cantonese food with global influences. Mike Long and Franky Ho lead the kitchen as head chefs and co-owners.
Long and Ho both grew up in China and previously worked at Mister Jiu’s, a fine dining Chinese restaurant just around the corner in Chinatown.
“Their childhood and work experience both inform the food here,” said co-owner Lucy Li.
Li and Long are partners. Ho’s partner, Millie Bookokua, is also a co-owner.
At Four Kings, nostalgia mixes with culinary innovation. On one side of the small dining space, wok flames rise above the bar. On the other side, the wall is lined with ‘90s Canto Pop stars.
“The playlist actually came first above all else,” Li said. “That’s why we named it Four Kings. The Four Kings of Canto pop from the ’90s.”
But the food is the star at the restaurant. Chronicle food critics recommend the scallop vermicelli, which is doused in a brown butter and garlic sauce. The XO escargot also comes highly recommended as the French delicacy is paired with XO sauce, which originated in Hong Kong, and is served with homemade milk bread.
Li said the Mapo Spaghetti might be a more approachable dish; one waiter described it as Chinese Bolognese.
“It’s just like this gravy-esque sauce, that’s the mapo sauce, with Sichuan peppercorn and then it’s over spaghetti and the sauce is incorporated well into the noodles,” Li said.
The rest of the top 100 list includes everything from pizza in Berkeley to tamales in Sonoma and Laotian food in Concord.
See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel