Hidden in San Francisco\u2019s quiet Sunnyside neighborhood is a white tablecloth restaurant serving fine dining dishes like bavette steak with pomme puree and clam frites in sake-laced dashi \u2014 and almost nothing costs more than $14. It\u2019s open four days a week but only for about 90 minutes each day. Reservations are recommended, but the majority of its diners walk in. Intrigued?<\/p>\n
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There\u2019s a catch. In exchange for this organic lunch menu thoughtfully crafted by a chef who trained in the kitchens of\u00a0Benu, Spruce and Oakland\u2019s Burdell<\/a>, the young staff asks for your patience and forgiveness, because service can be spotty\u00a0\u2014 and for very good reason. This is a laboratory for the future culinary leaders of San Francisco.\u00a0<\/p>\n Chef\u2019s Table is at the City College of San Francisco\u2019s<\/a> Ocean Avenue campus and is run by the instructors and students of the Culinary Arts and Hospitality Studies Department. Founded in 1936, it is the oldest two-year collegiate hospitality program in the country and has graduated some of the biggest names in San Francisco food, from Belinda Leong of B. Patisserie to Jeff Hanak of Nopa and Liholiho Yacht Club. Students in the program have gone on to work at Dalida, Californios and Rich Table.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n City College of San Francisco chef instructor David Ashin gives instruction to a student during\u00a0Chef\u2019s Table lunch service on Tuesday, April 7, 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n Charles Russo\/SFGATE Nonalcoholic orange and hibiscus buck beverages are served at Chef\u2019s Table during lunch service at City College of San Francisco, on Tuesday, April 7, 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n Charles Russo\/SFGATE<\/p>\n It can be a bit tricky to find Chef\u2019s Table, which is hidden inside the\u00a0Statler Wing of Smith Hall, on Cloud Circle, alongside a cafeteria and a quick-service eatery. All together, the three restaurants serve up to 450 people daily.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe nightmare of this restaurant is how do you find us? We don\u2019t have sidewalk or street access,\u201d dining room instructor Christopher Johnson told\u00a0SFGATE. \u201cThere\u2019s very little signage. There\u2019s no parking. We\u2019re in the far reaches of the galaxy.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Luckily, we found Chef\u2019s Table with little effort on Tuesday, when the restaurant held its first service of the semester. It was the first time Johnson and chef instructor\u00a0Malik Francis, both Bay Area restaurant veterans, were running the restaurant with this current cohort of about 20 students.<\/p>\n A few things went wrong, as they often do in restaurants. A server mixed up his table numbers. A diner never received a dessert menu. And a Monday fish order wasn\u2019t delivered until the start of service. But rather than spinning out of control, these students, some of whom had never worked in hospitality before, were firing on all cylinders, making and presenting high-quality, impressive food to actual paying customers.\u00a0<\/p>\n Chef instructor Malik Francis, center left, addresses City College of San Francisco students ahead of Chef\u2019s Table lunch service on Tuesday, April 7, 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n Charles Russo\/SFGATE<\/p>\n It\u2019s the way third-semester student Meredith Nover, who left a career in tech for this program, prefers it. When she\u2019s not at CCSF, she\u2019s working as the grill cook at Melissa Perello\u2019s Michelin-recommended Frances in the Castro. She knows what restaurants are like.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cWhat stands out to me is the intensity of the production here,\u201d Nover said. \u201cCity College kind of takes it to another level. A sense of time management and urgency definitely comes from this program. It helps me get used to being under that pressure.\u201d<\/p>\n While students study everything from fine dining theory to cost control in the classroom, Chef\u2019s Table and the other eatery concepts are their laboratories for testing their skills in real time\u00a0\u2014 and that includes getting it wrong sometimes, according to Francis.<\/p>\n \u201cMy teaching style is giving people the space to make mistakes and learn from them,\u201d he said. \u201cIf they really take the time to own what they\u2019re learning and share the knowledge, they\u2019ll get more out of it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Chef instructor Malik Francis, right, speaks with City College of San Francisco student\u00a0Bianca Cardenas during\u00a0Chef\u2019s Table lunch service on Tuesday, April 7, 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n Charles Russo\/SFGATE A student server writes down an order during lunch service at City College of San Francisco\u2019s student-run Chef\u2019s Table on Tuesday, April 7, 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n Charles Russo\/SFGATE<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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