Rich Table

Now several years old, Rich Table is still one of San Francisco's most exciting restaurants, melding San Francisco's famed farm-to-table credentials with a marvelous mélange of unique flavors and ingredients. Adding to the buzz is a location in the heart of Hayes Valley, a stone's throw from the Opera House, Davies Symphony Hall and the SFJAZZ Center. Starters such as house-made wild fennel levain bread, delicate sardine chips with horseradish dip, and dried porcini doughnuts will make you wonder why no one thought of them before. Main courses change constantly according to what's on market, ranging from pasta with Dungeness crab and sea urchin to black cod with mustard greens, mango and chanterelles. Reservations, as you'd expect, are worth their weight in gold, and can be made as far as 30 days in advance.