Benu | San Francisco Food Photography
Back in November, we gathered a small group of friends and set out to try the newest three-star Michelin restaurant here in San Francisco: Benu. Chef Corey Lee is a French Laundry alum, and the concept at Benu is all about taking that culinary background and adding a strong Asian influence. It’s inset from Hawthorn Street inside its own little courtyard and offers a wonderful dining experience with perfect, complex little bites.
The tasting menu is super long, coming in at fifteen listed items, with a couple extras.
Our fancypants supper club: Justin, me, Vicki, and Tiffany.
On the left: thousand-year-old quail egg (on top of which they poured a warm potage). On the right, one of my favorite bites: oyster and kimchi presented like a mini wonton inside a crisp pork belly wrapper.
“From the pine.”
A monster fork with too many tines. And a photo break for the bread course, which was wonderful, not least because of the honey butter.
Anchovy, lily bulb, peanut. Smoked eel, pumpkin, crosnes, sunflower.
Lobster coral xiao long bao (delicious, probably one of their most recognizable dishes); grilled abalone with chicken liver; jellyfish-wrapped shrimp; frog leg, mountain yam, celtuce.
Horse mackerel, cucumber, sesame, charred scallion; roast quail, chard, chestnut, aged tangerine peel; beef rib, jujube, burdock, oyster leaf.
“Shark fin soup” (which contains no shark– another one of the most recognizable dishes.
The server pours the broth over the faux shark fin soup. And then some homemade kombucha as we round into the desserts. (How very San Franciscan!)
Green apple sorbet with yuzu (another one of my favorites!); Fresh and dried yuba, almond, white chocolate.
And a trio of extras at the end. By which time, we were all absolutely stuffed and happy!
A glimpse inside the very white kitchen on the way out.
Anna Wu is a wedding and portrait photographer based in San Francisco but often jetsetting and eating her way around the world. Read more on her blog or follow her on facebook for more photography and travel adventures.
