Coffee Isn’t an Afterthought at These San Francisco Fine Dining Restaurants (2024)

The night is nearly perfect: That caviar course might rest sumptuously atop a crispy tater tot and the quenelle is as well-curved as those Will Poulter shaped in The Bear. But as things wrap up and you ask for a post-dinner espresso before the drive home, a ruddy cup of watery swill comes to the table, interrupting the swelling symphony. Which is to say, it’s incredibly disappointing when a nice restaurant’s after-dinner coffee is noticeably less-good than the rest of the experience.

Thankfully, however, there are places doing the drink the honor it deserves, where the coffee is just as thoughtful as the rest of the affair. At some of San Francisco’s Michelin-starred restaurants, post-dinner coffee isn’t an afterthought. And why not? New York’s Eleven Madison Park broke everyone’s brains in 2017 with $24 cups of coffee, and Geyserville’s Cyrus sells a triumphant ube coffee milkshake. These are fine-dining restaurants where coffee rises to the same level as the intricate wine, beer, and cider pairings.

In San Francisco, Michelin-starred Nob Hill restaurant Sons and Daughters has the kind of coffee program that turns heads and stops the presses. Michelin’s inspectors even focused on the siphon brewer service in the guide’s brief write-up of the restaurant. “Consider partaking in what surely ranks among the best coffee services of any restaurant in the Bay Area (and perhaps beyond),” the blurb reads in part.

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Beverage director David Kolvek oversees the venture. The restaurant has held a Michelin star since 2012 and current executive chef Harrison Cheney and Kolvek both joined the team in 2014. The coffee service, which highlights the Sunset District’s Andytown Coffee, has been around since before then and takes five to eight minutes to execute. The team comes tableside with a handsome tray and all the gear ready to go, including a butane burner to brew the coffee. That flame goes beneath the siphon, a brewing device that runs coffee from a lower chamber into a top chamber to extract a cleaner final cup than other methods. The device and style of brewing provide a long-form, interactive experience for guests. “We’re fine dining without the stiff formality,” Kolvek says. “Siphon coffee provides not just taste but an interesting, new experience for guests. People are often amazed.”

He says that, anecdotally, about half of guests end up ordering coffee after dinner. Many have never seen siphon coffee before, he says, or tasted the clean, light cup that is its final result. Many also haven’t experienced new Nordic dining, either. In fine dining, the team plays off of guest expectations; a robust and surprising final beverage is another elevated chance to subvert and delight. Ending with such an ornate experience is a charming prestige to the larger act at Sons & Daughters. “There’s always a sense of discovery throughout,” Kolvek says. “The coffee is almost a bowtie of wonder.”

Kim Alter of Nightbird in Hayes Valley says her team uses Grand Coffee after meeting co-owner of the Mission District roastery, Adrian Lopez, at Rintaro. He came in to demonstrate the proper way to do tableside pour over. She describes her restaurant as very Portlandia in that staff can tell the stories behind every ingredient if customers want. This coffee story is about a woman-run cooperative in Guatemala; Grand roasts their beans, so serving the business’s Axolá Women’s Cooperative coffee is a chance for Alter to align Nightbird’s woman-led values through something as deceptively simple as post-dinner coffee.

Alter starts her day with a mason jar of the brew before she even gets to the restaurant and feels it’s just another way to elevate service for guests. Some order coffee right off the bat, but most opt for it after dinner. Nightbird serves a blood orange amaretto after service, but coffee drinkers are left to their brew so as not to confuse flavors. The restaurant has a server who loves coffee, stopping to describe the various growing conditions and share the larger story of the women farmers with guests. “When we’re in the weeds I’m like, ‘Do you have to sell coffee right now?’” she jokes.

But not all programs are so straightforward. Take SoMa’s Birdsong where chef Chris Bleidon’s love of the drink turned into a full-on commitment to craft coffee inside the restaurant. The coffee station — which stocks coffees from Saint Frank and teas from Red Blossom — is a part of the kitchen; there’s no cart service, and the equipment is high-end. Guests can order pour overs and flat whites, and choose between robusta and arabica varietals, which are ground to order. “We have a pretty legit setup,” Bleidon says. “We offer the same coffee experience you’d get from a high-end coffee shop in the city.”

Birdsong serves its coffee with one of Yesenia Castanon’s incredible chocolate chip cookies. Bleidon says when he first tried her creation — given to him by Castanon alongside a cup of coffee on his birthday a few years ago — he knew it had to go on the menu. To this day, it’s the only item he’s served without any changes. Within short order, guests came in speaking of a secret menu item they had to try. “I just love chocolate chip cookies and coffee,” Bleidon says. “And it was the best cookie I’ve ever tasted in my entire life.”

When wondering why a restaurant would or wouldn’t execute such a high level of coffee fandom, Bleidon turns the idea back on its head. In fine dining and at his restaurant, everything the team does, even how the staff walks through the kitchen, is the result of layers of detail. He’s even going further to get his Birdsong roast made with Saint Frank to better complement the meal. “I think the question is why wouldn’t I care,” he says. “We’re not going to just do our best, we’re going to try to be the best. And to keep on elevating.”