{"id":173511,"date":"2026-02-11T14:37:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-11T14:37:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/173511\/"},"modified":"2026-02-11T14:37:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T14:37:11","slug":"you-dont-need-a-sound-bath-you-need-lunch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/173511\/","title":{"rendered":"You don\u2019t need a sound bath. You need lunch"},"content":{"rendered":"

This column is a part of the Off Menu newsletter, our Wednesday dispatch of restaurant news, gossip, tips, and hot takes. To sign up, visit The Standard\u2019s newsletter page<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In this time of strife, instead of seeking wellness in a sound bath<\/a>, cold plunge<\/a>, or sauna<\/a>, try making a lunch reservation.<\/p>\n

This is my radical counterproposal to the self-care advice that floods our algorithms. Cacao ceremonies, reiki sessions, silent retreats \u2014 the pressure to recenter is enough to rile a vagus nerve. But being served beautiful food between noon and 2 p.m.? That is my kind of coping strategy.<\/p>\n

To be clear, I don\u2019t mean lunch as we\u2019ve come to know it \u2014 a poke bowl eaten al desko. I mean the full-service version: where you are seated, the food isn\u2019t served in plastic, and time is allowed to pass.<\/p>\n

Kokkari\u2019s grilled fish. | Source: Sara Deseran\/The Standard<\/p>\n

This idea occurred to me a couple of weeks ago at Kokkari. On a Wednesday afternoon, the venerable Greek restaurant in Jackson Square was full. Two smiling hosts greeted me at the door. In the dining room, a whole lamb turned on a spit over a crackling fire. Diners sat in cushy chairs meant for lingering, deep in conversation, their elbows resting.<\/p>\n

It felt delightfully transgressive. While the AI kids were pulling 996 shifts <\/a>at their computers, I was about to sink into a booth for two hours like a slacker. Once I stopped looking over my shoulder for the work police, I gave a deep exhale.<\/p>\n

It is no secret that work-from-home culture and cafeteria-ized offices, along with the rise of UberEats and DoorDash, were the nail in the coffin of the ceremonial, full-service restaurant lunch.\u00a0 The \u201990s were the zeitgeist of midday dining in SF \u2014 back when people still drank.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Gerald Hirigoyen, who was chef and owner of the long-closed Fringale, a \u201990s French bistro staple in SoMa, recalls the good ole days. \u201cPeople used to go crazy for lunch, which was great for restaurant owners. They\u2019d have a drink, sometimes a bottle of wine. They weren\u2019t as health-conscious or as worried about how they\u2019d behave,\u201d he said. \u201cThere was Aqua, Lulu, and later Boulevard. And then, during the first dot-com boom, in the late \u201990s, you had kids with expense accounts, and they didn\u2019t give a shit how much money they spent.\u201d<\/p>\n

While dedicated modern-day lunchers are rarities, there are a few holdouts. For two years, restaurant designer Hannah Collins Tate of Roy Hospitality<\/a> and her husband have had a standing Friday lunch date at Zuni. \u201cIt\u2019s been a game changer,\u201d she says. \u201cIt gives us time to check in at the end of the week\u2019s chaos.\u201d They always split a Caesar to start, a pasta or fish for a main, and, if they have room, the rich chocolate g\u00e2teau Victoire. \u201cIt\u2019s one of my favorite desserts in the city,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\"PeopleZuni\u2019s famous wood-fired chicken, which takes 45 minutes to prepare, is a perfect entree for a leisurely lunch. | Source: Jason Henry for The Standard<\/p>\n

Michael Tusk opened his three-Michelin-starred restaurant, Quince, for lunch after it was redesigned in 2023. He romanticizes the \u201cmagical\u201d lunches he\u2019s had in Europe. \u201cToo few fine-dining restaurants in the city serve lunch,\u201d he laments. He also knows that a marathon tasting menu requires time to digest. \u201cIt\u2019s nice to be able to take a long walk after instead of going straight to bed.\u201d<\/p>\n

At Kokkari, my friend and I relished a pretty salad of citrus and candied walnuts and a whole grilled fish deboned theatrically tableside. We spooned up a frozen pomegranate granita with yogurt sorbet. (However, being that it\u2019s 2026 and not 1990, we responsibly paired it all with iced tea.) We talked about our families and bantered with the server, a consummate professional. For two hours, lunch did the work that restorative practices are always promising: It grounded my senses, forged some community, and reminded me that we don\u2019t need to flee civilization to come back to the center. Lunch is here for us. We just have to take it.<\/p>\n

Where to have a proper lunch in SF<\/p>\n

Akikos, 430 Folsom St. (East Cut)
The city\u2019s most celebrated omakase restaurant offers a $150 menu at lunch. Not cheap, but well worth the quiet luxury and gorgeous space.
Tuesday through Friday, 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.<\/p>\n

Angler, 132 The Embarcadero (Embarcadero)
If you\u2019re looking to save at Saison\u2019s little sister, the pro tip at the one-Michelin-star Angler is the $50, three-course \u201cQuick Catch\u201d menu.
Tuesday through Saturday, 12 to 2:30 p.m.<\/p>\n

Cach\u00e9, 1235 9th Ave. (Inner Sunset)
Lunch is served every day this bistro is open, but the $30, three-course French menu \u2014 available Monday, Thursday, and Friday \u2014 is the reason to go.
Weekdays except Wednesday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. <\/p>\n

Kokkari Estiatorio, 200 Jackson St. (Jackson Square)
Dine on gorgeous Cal-Greek fare at this perennial favorite.
Monday through Friday, 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.<\/p>\n

Quince, 470 Pacific Ave. (Jackson Square)
Two days a week, the three-Michelin-star restaurant serves a four-course lunch, starting at $220, in the salon and main dining room.
Friday and Saturday, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.<\/p>\n

Superprime, 545 Mission St. (East Cut)
This Wagyu-focused steak house by chef Marc Zimmerman just opened for lunch and promises to have you out in 45 minutes (but we suggest lingering).
Monday through Friday, 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.<\/p>\n

Zuni Cafe, 1658 Market St. (Upper Market)
Yes, your favorite roast chicken for two is available for lunch.
Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, 11:00 a.m. to 3 p.m.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This column is a part of the Off Menu newsletter, our Wednesday dispatch of restaurant news, gossip, tips,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":173512,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[14212,2867,412,101,103,102,104,106,105],"class_list":["post-173511","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-francisco","tag-lunch","tag-off-menu","tag-restaurants","tag-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco-headlines","tag-san-francisco-news","tag-sf","tag-sf-headlines","tag-sf-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173511","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=173511"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173511\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/173512"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=173511"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=173511"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=173511"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}