The New Guard: 5 Rising Star Chefs to Watch in San Francisco

It takes a lot of chutzpah to move to one of the United States’ toughest restaurant markets and open an all-day neighborhood bistro within the first year. Simon Mounier, who comes from the two-Michelin-starred La Grande Maison de Bernard Magrez in Bordeaux, did just that with business partner Florent Thomas. The result is an unapologetically French, wildly creative menu that will inspire even the most seasoned palates. The briny surf-and-turf crudo and the skate wing with “celery variations” are standouts, and the buckwheat–maple-syrup tart already has a loyal following.

When Aphotic, Peter Hemsley’s Michelin-starred seafood restaurant, closed abruptly a year ago, many fine dining lovers were saddened and surprised. Happily, former team members are now stepping into the limelight with their own projects, and chef Parker Brown’s Side A is a standout example. A former chef de cuisine at Aphotic, Brown teamed up with his wife, Caroline—a music expert and DJ—for a sleek new project in the Mission. Part listening bar, part restaurant, Side A, already one of the toughest reservations in town, showcases Brown’s take on American bistro classics with a Midwestern twist. The menu feels fresh without being whimsical, with dishes such as a “garbage salad” with pork belly and dilly beans, gnocchi with short rib and giardiniera, an elevated chicken cutlet, and a decadent burger topped with melted Comté, smoked bone marrow, and onion jam. Brown’s fine dining pedigree shows in the details, but the portions are joyful, generous, and fun.

Before Prelude, San Francisco had few fine dining Southern restaurants. That changed in 2024 with the arrival of chef Celtin Hendrickson-Jones, who came up in local kitchens and decided to put his Alabama grandmother’s cooking on the map. While dishes such as dirty rice–stuffed chicken wings and griddled “stuffin’” earned Prelude its early press, it is the creative spins Hendrickson-Jones puts on Southern staples like grits and catfish that make a lasting impression.

Leading this relatively new spot in the rapidly trending Sunset neighborhood, chef Sung Park is self-taught, and as such, he has thrown out the rulebook to create one of the city’s most interesting and unexpected menus. At Kothai Republic, Park serves “a modern interpretation of Asian cuisine through the lens of the first-generation San Francisco native chef and our entire kitchen staff,” according to the restaurant’s website. That might mean chicken liver mousse with yuzu and mochi popovers, lamb roti with Szechuan peppercorn sauce, or a mushroom and fiddlehead fern yukgaejang—a nod to his Korean heritage. The flavors are wild, the risks are bold, and they pay off.

Chef Felix Santos is a well-known figure on the local dining scene, having spent years at acclaimed restaurants Atelier Crenn and Sorrel. At Bar Maritime and Maritime Boat Club, the new opening inside the Palihotel downtown, he steps up as executive chef for the first time, bringing together his wife's Mexican heritage (chef Sofia Lechuga), passion for Japan, and love of local produce and seafood. Think mussels escabeche, Mt. Lassen trout tataki with hoja santa—a fragrant Mexican herb—and plenty more surprises to come.