Central Kitchen

From the man who created Flour + Water, Central Kitchen and neighboring Salumeria, chef Thomas McNaughton presides over a stylish, casual Mission dining room that evokes a rustic, reclaimed style for what could be the best dining room in the city. Accessed via warehouse doors along the 20th Street Corridor, a lofty dining room with beam ceiling and glass skylights illuminate an open kitchen and reception area clogged with waiting, sometime-begging diners not lucky enough to score a reservation.

The Food

An ala carte dinner menu is offering alongside a prix fixe menu priced at around $90 per person and required for the full table. Dishes are a symphonic orchestration of chicken liver mousse with homemade bread, hen and lemongrass soup, smoked sturgeon with celery root and beef tartare with radish greens. Larger plates lend hen with lentils, herb and ricotta dumplings or cod with young potato.

Last Word

Rustic, casual dining room with native California menu by Chef Thomas McNaughton - the creator of Flour + Water. Images: Central Kitchen