AL’s Place. Yes, AL’s Place sounds like a diner. But “AL” is Aaron London, who last cooked at Ubuntu, Napa’s erstwhile temple to vegetables, so the cooking is anything but short order. His mind-set remains veggie-centric, with a few of the meant-to-be-shared mains involving seafood. (The cured trout with potato chunks and green-fig mousse is a winner, especially for lox lovers.) Meat is relegated to the side dishes, and the hanger steak with sherry butter does complement an entrée of goat’s-milk curds and fennel over grits. Which is about as close to down-home as this food gets. $$; 1499 Valencia St.; www.alsplacesf.com.
The Progress. With demand for provisions at their home base State Bird Provisions unrelenting, Stuart Brioza and Nicole Krasinski launched a new place next door. The Progress leans toward a dinner party format: family-style service, with your choice of six dishes. Modernist musings like matsutake mushroom dumplings, with sake leeks and kale, give way to mains such as lamb scaloppine with pea shoots and cipollini onions, followed by desserts of honey-cocoa ice cream, and jasmine tea–poached pears with plum jam and ricotta whey. Seats get snatched up swiftly in the two-story space, which operated as a theater in the early 1900s. A century later, it is part of the hottest twin billing in town. $$$$; 1525 Fillmore St.; theprogress-sf.com.
Rintaro. The menu here changes each night and usually takes some explanation. On one recent evening, the through-line was niboshi (tiny dried sardines). It was mixed with candied walnuts and chile powder as a bar snack, incorporated into a cloud of bonito shavings on top of flanlike tofu, and presented in an antique blue porcelain dish. The Mission District restaurant—all warm wood and comfy booths—is inspired by the izakaya tradition: charcoal grilled meat accompanied by lots of beer and sake and laughter. The atmosphere isn’t so much raucous after-work blowing-off-steam, though, as it is genteel, nice dinner-out. $$$$; 82 14th St.; izakayarintaro.com. Cockscomb. Incanto vet Chris Cosentino, a chef known for celebrating unsung proteins, goes whole hog in his showy SoMa project, where the kitchen stuffs its meat pies with snails and pork belly, and a roasted pig head turns up fit for sharing at your table and on Instagram. Diners disinclined toward Game of Thrones–style feasting can find lighter fare in platters of raw shellfish and pickled sardines with lively giardiniera. But there’s no mistaking the aesthetic of a menu that features beef heart tartare and a little gem salad flecked with crispy pig skins. It’s tail-to-snout eating, riding high as an urban trend. $$; 564 Fourth St.; cockscombsf.com. The Interval. Housed in the Fort Mason headquarters of the Long Now Foundation—the private nonprofit behind such quirky-yet-yet visionary projects as the 10,000 Year Clock—this cafe-bar may sound mildly out of place in theory, but it’s perfectly delightful in practice. (Thanks in large part to the involvement of noted bartender and booze historian Jennifer Colliau.) Look for the Midas Touch, from Dogfish Head Brewery, a spiced beer based on a 3,000-year-old recipe pulled from Midas’s tomb and, from a northern Italian winery called Pelissero, an award-winning Barbera-Nebbiolo blend named in honor of the foundation. $; 2 Marina Blvd.; theinterval.org. Smokestack. A soaring warehouse in the Dogpatch has been dressed up in the manner of a post-Depression bar, with distressed wooden floors and old newspapers pasted on the walls. The patrons work hard at being throwback, their Deadwood-era beards and retro denim establishing a look that verges on self-parody. The barbecue, however, is no joke. Dennis Lee, the chef and co-owner of Namu Gaji, oversees the smokers, producing a classic-modern mix that ranges from Thai sausage and crisp-skinned smoked duck to Wagyu beef brisket in a traditional Texas-style rub. Vinegar- and kimchi-spiked sauces shine, as do sides like housemade slaw and baked beans with burnt ends. It’s all served over the counter, on metal trays lined with butcher paper, just as in the olden days. $$$; 2505 Third St.; magnoliasmokestack.com.Locanda. Delfina introduced the Mission to the best of Tuscany. For their second serious restaurant, Craig and Annie Stoll looked to Rome for inspiration. Locanda’s glossy interior carries a whiff of Marcello Mastroianni: geometric white tiles and ’60s-revival light fixtures. Get the pizza bianca with whatever the topping is, a plate of carbonara, and anything from the offal section of the menu. The wine list is filled with obscure, not-too-pricey Italian labels, and the bow tie-wearing bartenders mix maybe the best negroni in town. $$$; 557 Valencia St.; www.locandasf.com.
Nico. Bill your restaurant as a “modern bistro,” and you give yourself permission to be a lot of things. At their Pacific Heights hot spot, French-born Nicolas Delaroque and his wife, Andrea, take advantage of that creative leeway with a menu that comes off as at once rustic and refined. A gathering of peas makes a showing in a bath of its own jus, with white peaches, fromage blanc, and nutty quinoa. Chile pepper cod, topped with frothy fish foam, takes on the earthy flavors of artichoke barigoule. In keeping with the cuisine, the dining room is elegant without feeling fussy, its blocky wooden tables left uncovered for cooking that is worthy of white cloths. $$$; 3228 Sacramento St.; nicosf.com. WHERE TO STAY The Buchanan. Union Square may be close to the city’s Mid-Market buzz, but consider the perks of positioning yourself in a more Zen outpost like Japantown: no cable car gridlock, minimal tourists, and a short walk to neighborhood superstars like Kabuki Springs & Spa and Out the Door. Such is the case with The Buchanan, a sweetly understated 131-room inn that feels more like a quiet apartment than a hotel complex. The decor nods to its neighbors, with Japanese-print pillows set against a neutral backdrop and a Japanese whiskey-bottle sculpture dangling in the lobby. And instead of a bathrobe, guests get a sleek kimono. $$$; 1800 Sutter St.; thebuchananhotel.com. Hotel Zephyr. Don’t be surprised if you imagine a ship resting at port at Fisherman’s Wharf’s maritime-themed Zephyr, a former Radisson turned into a refreshingly modern boutique hotel with a sense of humor. Porthole windows look to Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge, while Pacific blue walls and steel gray floors add to its vessel-like feel. The decor nods to nautical pop figures, rowdy sailors, and mermaid wall art, illuminated by exposed Edison bulb light fixtures in the lobby. In the back, an area called The Yard features a 10,000-square-foot hangout space with a firepit and games. $$$; 250 Beach St.; hotelzephyrsf.com. Hotel G. In Union Square, where the chaos knob can feel like it’s stuck on 11, it’s sometimes difficult to find a restful place to … rest. The Hotel G has 151 surprisingly mellow rooms that seem more like a stylish apartment building than a downtown hotel, decked out with simple homey decor and brightened with Etsy accessories that transport you away from the urban hubbub. Art from Mission-based Creativity Explored hangs on the walls and the preserved turn-of-the-20th-century building reminds you of the neighborhood’s pre-H&M era. $$$; 386 Geary St.; hotelgsanfrancisco.com.