The Bay Area's most anticipated restaurants opening this spring
After a year of casual fare, promising new fine dining restaurants are about to debut
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Mascarpone agnolotti from Bungalow Kitchen, an upcoming Tiburon restaurant by chef Michael Mina.David Varley
Many of the most exciting eats to emerge during the pandemic have been casual, takeout-oriented affairs, including pop-ups, ghost kitchens and home operations. But a rush of fine dining is on its way, with several of spring’s most anticipated openings leaning high-end and coming from chefs who used to work in Michelin-starred kitchens.
The recent lull in splashy, three-dollar-sign restaurant debuts makes sense with the pandemic, but now chefs are getting vaccinated and indoor dining is reopening across the Bay Area. Finally able to envision a future where their dining rooms can be full, these chefs have decided to open their doors this spring — and many more are likely to follow this summer and fall. Imminent arrivals include the long-awaited Cantonese restaurant Empress by Boon in Chinatown, as well as Ernest, an ex-Rich Table chef’s venture.