In this episode of Plateworthy, host Nyesha Arrington makes her way through some of the best bites in San Francisco. First stop on the eating tour: Breakfast Little, owned by Andrew Perez and known for its Mission-style burritos. The tater tot-filled OG breakfast burrito has balanced bites of bacon, creamy avocado, and plenty of spice.
Next, Arrington stops at Sōhn for a galbi patty melt. Chef and owner Deuki Hong preps every aspect of the sandwich, including a square-shaped beef patty, kimchi-style slaw, melted cheddar, and a sweet and salty galbi sauce, all between a sesame-crusted croissant bun. Arrington pairs it with a banana oat milk latte and popcorn chicken skewered with tteokboki, before enjoying in Sōhn’s art-covered dining room. “This is one of those quintessential mashups that actually works,” she announces after her first bit of the patty melt.
Arrington then heads to Sons & Daughters, a cozy fine dining spot with two Michelin stars. Chef Harrison Cheney preps trout for one of the restaurant’s most popular courses. The huge fish from Mount Lassen are cut into filets and each bone is carefully removed with a technique Cheney learned while working at Gastrologik, a famously boundary-pushing restaurant in Stockholm that closed in 2022. The fish is cured overnight before being cut into extremely thin slices that are layered on a sheet pan and left in the freezer overnight. Then they cook down the sauce for the fish dish, layered with shallots, garlic, and lacto-fermented root vegetables along with their two-week-old brine. Arrington helps to smash up currant branches that sit in a neutral oil for about a week, creating a flavorful herb oil for the dish. Egg whites slowly soak into another mixture of herbs, also for the sauce. The leftover trout is mixed with egg yolks, lemon juice, and salt in a food processor to make a mouse that the fish will sit on top of. Finally, Cheney makes the layered dish: the rounds of trout and the mousse at the bottom of a small bowl then topped with the fermented root-vegetable sauce and currant wood oil. Arrington is emotional eating the light dish which showcases Californian produce.
Watch the latest episode of Plateworthy to see Arrington taste a few most-try dishes across San Francisco, from a casual breakfast burrito to a high-end trout dish that take days to prepare.
Chef Harrison Cheney is a rising star in the California fine dining scene having recently been named Michelin Guide California’s 2023 Young Chef Award winner. Since joining the team at one-Michelin-starred Sons & Daughters, he’s sharpened the restaurant’s focus on New Nordic cuisine, drawing in part from his experience cooking at Gastrologik in Stockholm. The menu celebrates seasonal and local ingredients such as Gilfeather rutabaga grown in the North Bay and Half Moon Bay spot prawns. Then Cheney applies a Nordic ethos, resulting in elegant tasting menus that balance the bright flavors of preserved kumquat and green almonds with the delicate notes of a Maine scallop bathed in juniper syrup and brown butter.
