#wood-fired-cooking

#wood-fired-cooking

Live-fire cooking defines Robert et Louise, a Marais institution where beef, lamb, and duck sizzle over an open fireplace in the ground-floor dining room. The wood-fired approach delivers generous portions at moderate prices - most mains stay under 30€, with classic French bistro fare like blood sausage, grilled lamb chops, and charred steak. The main floor centers on a crackling brick fireplace where meat cooks directly over flame.

Tower House sits right on the river in a 19th-century clock tower, in what used to be the Pitcher & Piano. It's a big, beautiful building spread over two floors, with a plush design - rich fabrics, deep colours, comfy sofas - plus a terrace that'll no doubt be a bun fight for seats come summer. Like its sister, the menu is Mediterranean, and there are even a few Gold classics on there too. I mean, why not? Once you've struck Gold and all that...

This 300-seat, midcentury-modern-accented spot in Rivermark Plaza centers around wood-burning spitfires and ovens. The chicken is crisp-skinned and juicy and the chicken bacon club sandwich is everything you expect from the classic, but much more flavorful thanks to the attention paid to each ingredient. The pizza crusts are puffy and perfectly charred--go for either the diavolo, with spicy salame, roasted jalapeños, and Calabrian chili-infused honey,

Some places couldn't seem to stop themselves from throwing everything onto a wood fire, whether it was a lemon wedge or a piece of saffron-scented sable fish. We witnessed overloaded restaurants do away with offering reservations. And we were reminded that some things never change-we, like you, also happily waited in an hour-long line for Parachute. But most importantly, we saw the future. Based on some of the trends we picked up on in 2025, here's what we're convinced is coming for SF in 2026.

At Little Mountain, Moya will combine his growing relationships with local farmers with his experience at Lima, Peru's Astrid y Gastón, Paris's Le Comptoir and L'Arpège, and New York City's famed Casa Mono. Though Moya spent the last 25 years cooking in New York, he felt a pull to the West Coast. "I thought about the opportunity to cook out here," says Moya.

The team continues to grow their Hayes Valley footprint with a casual offshoot called RT Bistro. It'll be right next door to their original Rich Table and is their third concept after nearby RT Rotisserie (with another location in NoPa). Expect wood-fired vegetables, icebox pies with roasted fruit, and a burger topped with toma cheese and bacon jam.

McIlwraith is teaming here as co-executive chef with Kaili Hill the pair met while working at Barcino and went on to open another restaurant outside The Absinthe Group umbrella, Alora on the Embarcadero. (Hill previously worked at the Post Ranch Inn, 25 Lusk, and Niku Steakhouse.) The two are now returning to work with their old colleagues, creating a menu that will be "hyper" seasonally driven, centered on a wood-fired hearth, and offering generous plates of roasted meats and vegetables, as well as house-made pastas, both fresh cut and extruded.