When fine dining restaurant Sons & Daughters earned its second Michelin star in 2024, 12 years after its first star, the win affirmed the restaurant’s new direction and the talent at the helm. The current menu embraces New Nordic techniques and food under chef Harrison Cheney, who joined the Sons & Daughters team in 2022 and became executive chef in 2023 (and handily won the Michelin Young Chef Award in 2023). Under his guidance, dishes highlight local products merged with Nordic fermentation techniques such as halibut served with fermented root vegetables, dill vinegar, and currant wood oil. It’s a menu that takes the New Nordic ways and applies them to a produce-rich region for something that feels different in the Bay Area.
It’s a much different scene now than when Sons & Daughters first opened in 2010. Launching in San Francisco’s Nob Hill neighborhood under chefs Teague Moriarty and Matt McNamara, that duo embraced New American gastronomy for a decade (although McNamara left in 2017). Along with the shift in menu, the Sons & Daughters team moved into a new space at 18th and Florida streets (the former Osito location), and they invited me in to see how they’ve evolved in their newer, larger space in the Mission.
While some of the bones of the Osito space remain — the dual staging tables in the kitchen, the wood-paneled walls and ceiling, the concrete flooring — certain touches denote that a new team is in control. The previous bar area to the left of the entrance is completely transformed. The space is smaller now and serves as a welcome area for diners to have their first few bites and for the team to introduce themselves to guests and talk about wine or nonalcoholic pairings. After three small dishes, parties were whisked into the dining room, table by table, giving the guests individual opportunities to get a close look at the kitchen.
There, you’ll see a wall of vinegars on a high shelf along the north wall, a Big Green Egg smoker grill, an enviable line of copper pans, and the team hard at work. Sage green Norr11 dining chairs accompany heavyset gray tables, with simple floral arrangements set in a wooden vase. It’s a chic setting for dinner, but one that’s actually comfortable enough to withstand a multi-hour marathon meal. The open kitchen makes the space feel like every table is a chef’s table.
Sons & Daughters offers both a wine and a nonalcoholic pairing with dinner for $185 and $145 respectively, but there are also wines by the glass, bottle, and half-bottle. For the luxury yacht set, the restaurant can do a reserve wine pairing for $385. If diners prefer to go simpler, there are beers, ciders, and a selection of nonalcoholic drinks by the glass, with a few made in-house by the team.
Sons & Daughters is proud of its partnerships with makers and artists, and that’s especially noticeable in the plateware used at the table. Fans of ceramic dishes will likely have much to admire during the parade of courses, and Cheney’s own mother contributes some ceramics to the restaurant. Even a pair of tweezers left at the table during the bread course are emblazoned with the restaurant’s name and its two-Michelin-starred status, and these details are almost like refined Easter eggs waiting to be uncovered.
Cheney is clear-eyed and vocal about his team aiming for a third Michelin star, and, at least by my experience, they’re really going for it. This is a high-technique dinner that boldly displays the team’s relationships with their network of farmers, butchers, fishmongers, and more for its stacked menu. This is about as close as Bay Area locals can get to Michelin-starred New Nordic — at least without a plane ticket.