S.F.’s trendsetting chefs hone their focus for unique dishes

The city has been on the culinary cutting edge since 1849, when three Croatian immigrants set up a tent on the wharf to serve fresh fish grilled over charcoal.

Another first came in 1979, when Laura Chenel introduced goat cheese to the United States from her Sonoma County farm.

Waters had the simple idea of working with farmers to produce pristine ingredients, and this philosophy has become second nature to all the top restaurants across the country.

The Bay Area has experienced ups and downs, to be sure, but our history is based on innovation, and when historians look back on the 2010s, they may regard this as a golden age of dining.

Stuart Brioza and Nicole Krasinski’s concept of using dim sum-style rolling carts to deliver their Western food ignited a national trend and helped chefs think differently.

[...] restaurants and bars began to take that concept even further by making bitters and flavorings and growing herbs.

In Oakland, James Syhabout, who is considered one of the most important cooks in that city, has created a menu specifically designed for beer at his Dock restaurant adjacent to the Linden Street Brewery.

The restaurant was remodeled and renamed Dirty Habit, where Bazirgan now creates bar-friendly food such as Dungeness crab toast with uni butter and lardo; spicy chicken wings with sweet soy and chile vinaigrette; and braised lamb neck on polenta.

Before the early 2000s, most restaurant lounges were largely separate from the dining room; diners who ordered a Negroni or Manhattan were likely of a certain age.

Only a decade or so ago, restaurants tried to be all things to all people, which is what led to the standard-hits menu at Italian restaurants and a similarity of dishes at the California-inspired places.

With truncated menus, restaurants are more focused; creative chefs don’t feel bound to follow a classic path and can use their heritage to create food that is not only personal but unique.

Mexican restaurants, like Chinese places, often have a laundry list of dishes; her menu includes only eight appetizers and four large plates, plus a few sides such as guacamole and chips.

Des Jardins, who is half Mexican, is one of the city’s top chefs and earned her reputation at Rubicon and at her Jardiniere, serving American food with strong French techniques.

Using this primitive method has become the rage at places such as Camino, TBD and the Molina in Mill Valley, where chef-owner Todd Shoberg spends his time manning the wood oven — his only source of heat.

Chez Panisse alum Sylvan Mishima Bracket last month opened Rintaro in a handsome warehouse space on 14th Street, where he takes painstaking effort to make the classic Japanese omelet, and uses ingredients like fresh wasabi from Half Moon Bay.

Diners flock to these new trendy restaurants, which often leads to a tendency of those on top to slowly coast downhill.