What Restaurant Trends Emerged in California This Year?

Earlier this year, The New York Times released its choices for the 25 best restaurants in Los Angeles and San Francisco.

These lists reflect something many readers may not realize: The Times has food journalists all around the country, including in California, who are constantly trying out new restaurants and paying attention to what’s emerging and changing in the world of food.

I spoke with Brian Gallagher and Eleanore Park, editors on The Times’s Food desk who live in the Bay Area, about the year in food trends. We chatted about the evolution of “third culture” cuisine, the spread of high-quality restaurants beyond California’s biggest cities and how A.I. could change dining.

Here’s our conversation, lightly edited:

What food trends from this year are you most excited about?

Eleanore Park: At one point, a lot of restaurant dining focused on authenticity. Like: “Is this authentically Thai? Is this authentically Korean?” But on the Food desk lately, we’ve talked about “third culture” cuisine — food that’s not necessarily authentic to a specific region, but rather to a person’s or group of people’s experiences.

So it could be like a Los Angeles chef we wrote about, whose menu reflects her upbringing as a Korean American adoptee. Or I saw a new restaurant pop up in San Francisco that is Venezuelan Chinese. There’s just a lot more fluidity, which I’m really excited about.

Brian Gallagher.: It’s like there stopped being a need to present “the food of your culture,” and instead you can just make the food that you love and eat and want to create. This is especially happening in places where you have really diverse communities, like the Bay Area.

We recently published an article about how Sacramento has become a great restaurant city. How does that fit into larger California food trends?

Brian: You’re seeing a lot more noteworthy restaurants outside of Los Angeles and San Francisco. There’s Sacramento, and also more interesting restaurants in places like Los Olivos, Paso Robles, and in Orange County and San Diego as well.

Eleanore: A lot of restaurants in beautiful coastal towns have been able to, in some ways, get by on the sheer attraction of their locations. But in 2023, the Michelin Guide gave more accolades to restaurants in towns like Carmel, Monterey and San Diego, which typically have had restaurants that have been able to be kind of cozy and comfortable without being super-exciting in terms of food.

You see a lot of chefs who were working in major cities, who ended up getting priced out or just wanted to do something completely different. At Dad’s Luncheonette in Half Moon Bay, for example: The chef, Scott Clark, had done fine dining and tweezer food in San Francisco, and now he’s making some of the best burgers in the Bay Area out of a train caboose.

Are there any food trends that you’re less excited about?

Eleanore: I have known people who have ordered delivery from A.I. restaurants. This website gets an input from the consumer of what they want to be eating, and then it walks a line cook through how to create that dish.

Maybe I should be more excited about this, but what I love about food and restaurants is the human aspect of it: You’re experiencing someone’s conceptual framework through food or through a menu, and this is kind of like the complete opposite of that.

Brian: It definitely seems strange to be automating what is supposed to be one of the most human, tactile, enjoyable experiences, which is eating in a restaurant.

Where we’re traveling

Today’s tip comes from Deborah Stucker, who recommends a trip to Pescadero in San Mateo County:

“Drive the Pacific Coast Highway and turn inland to find the tiny coastal town of Pescadero. The main drag is a modest two-block affair chockablock with interesting stores and art galleries showcasing local artists’ take on Northern California life.

The jewel of Pescadero is Duarte’s Tavern, a multiroom wooden mainstay of town life since 1894. The food — Portuguese crab-filled cioppino, olallieberry pie, and creamy artichoke and green chili soup — takes the chill off the morning marine layer. With produce straight from the garden outside, Duarte’s was doing farm-to-table cuisine almost a century before Alice Waters pulled on her first apron.

The full history of how and who founded Duarte’s (pronounced “Doo-arts”) can be found on the extensive menu. But the only way to plumb the contradictions and pleasures of this little outpost midway between San Francisco and Santa Cruz is to step off the sidewalk and settle in for an extended exploration of Duarte’s great food, curated drinks and quirky company.”

Tell us about your favorite places to visit in California. Email your suggestions to [email protected]. We’ll be sharing more in upcoming editions of the newsletter.

Tell us

How do you celebrate the holidays in California? With a chilly walk by the beach, a batch of tamales or stargazing in the desert?

Email me at [email protected] with your Golden State holiday traditions. Please include your name and the city in which you live.

And before you go, some good news

The city of San Jose entered board game canon last month when the makers of Monopoly released a San Jose edition, to the delight of Bay Area residents and business owners.

The San Jose version follows the same basic principles as the original and has the same configuration, but it replaces classic Monopoly properties with San Jose landmarks. Boardwalk and Park Place, two of the most valuable properties in Monopoly, have been swapped for the Winchester Mystery House and Original Joe’s, two San Jose mainstays with more than 150 years of history between them.

Other notable city infrastructure made its way onto the board as well, including the plumbing company $15 Sewer and Drain, which stands in for one of the board’s utilities spaces, and the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, which replaces one of what are typically railroads.

The new game was announced last month with a ceremony at the Winchester Mystery House, The Mercury News reports, with appearances from local business owners, Mayor Matt Mahan and, of course, Mr. Monopoly.

Thanks for reading. I’ll be back tomorrow. — Soumya

P.S. Here’s today’s Mini Crossword.

Maia Coleman and Briana Scalia contributed to California Today. You can reach the team at [email protected].

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