The Best SF Restaurant Meals of 2017

Welcome to Year in Eater 2017, Eater’s annual ritual of eulogizing the past 12 months. For 2017’s final week, Eater SF will be posting questions daily about San Francisco’s restaurant scene in the past year, with answers from those who know it best: Eater editors.

Today’s topic: What was your best meal of 2017?

Carolyn Alburger, Eater Cities Director

Probably the tasting menu at Sons & Daughters, which has reached a new high under Teague Moriarty’s sole leadership. I’m not big on tasting menus any more because they can be trite and exhausting, but the pacing, pairings, and portion-sizing really worked here: We were feeling high on life — not sluggish and stuffed — after a two-hour nine-plus course meal. There was an especially awesome abalone dish paired to Sonoma Coast’s Radio-Coteau chardonnay.

Hillary Dixler Canavan, Restaurant Editor, Eater National

I spent a night at Single Thread in July, and from the snacks that awaited my husband and me in our room, to the tasting menu, to the desserts on the roof, to breakfast the next morning, it was simply magical.

Greg Morabito, Pop Culture Editor, Eater National

I had a great lunch at The Charter Oak over the summer. Not all of the dishes clicked, but everything was unique and exciting. I also loved the service and the general wide-screen aesthetic of the place. Maybe it’s not as glossy as its fine dining counterpart, but I love the scope of this restaurant and am excited to see it grow.

Caleb Pershan, Reporter

Sort of late one evening, I loved sitting at the chef’s counter at Ardiana, a new Noe Valley restaurant from Ragazza/Gialina chef Sharon Ardiana, and watching her remove delicious pizza after delicious pizza and clams and bread from the oven. She was very focused, and her food is really great.

Rachel Levin, Eater SF Critic

Tough to pick just one! Instead, check out the best dishes I ate this year from my 13 reviews for Eater SF.

Ellen Fort, Eater SF Editor

I had an incredible pre-theater dinner at Nightbird this summer, featuring beautiful, sweet scallop crudo with citrus — each of the four dishes on the prix fixe were bold but subtle, a tough skill to master. Another dish that scratched all my itches was a simple bowl of fresh shelling beans in broth at Tartine Manufactory, with a soft-cooked egg, greens, and incredibly grassy, green olive oil on top — rich, comforting, and addictive.

• All Year in Eater 2017 [ESF]