Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/537687
july 2015 / the tasting panel / 93 If BBQ pastrami is too orthodox, head to Mission Chinese. And, if you can't find it because the sign outside actually says Lung Shan Restaurant, call and they'll deliver. Ask for the Kung Pao Pastrami. Kung. Pao. Pastrami. Loaded with cubes of tender, seared pastrami, hot red peppers, crunchy peanuts and enough onion and celery to provide the illusion of healthfulness, it's the best Kung Pao dish I've ever had. But San Francisco's new food movement goes much, much deeper than simple substitutions. "What we cook in our restaurants is what's happening right now in the Bay Area," Stuart Brioza tells me. He and his wife, Nicole Krasinski are chef proprietors of State Bird Provisions and The Progress. "It's the next evolution. Mediterranean food has definitely been dominant, but look at the people who actually live here." "Anybody that grew up in California in the past 40 years grew up with a variety of flavors, a lot of different ethnici- ties," Brioza says. "I grew up in Cupertino, and there were strong Japanese, Chinese and Vietnamese communities; south of us, in San Jose, was a strong Mexican community. I was exposed to these flavors from a young age, going to the house of a friend who was Chinese, eating noodles in a Vietnamese friend's house . . . You see that now in our cooking." State Bird Provisions isn't "new," but the 2013 James Beard Best New Restaurant Award-winner is always booked more than 10 weeks in advance. There is no sign out front, just the address and a long line of people waiting for those seats the restaurant holds for walk-ins each day. With this clamor, you'd expect white tablecloth dining. But State Bird looks more like an art college's dining commons than a Michelin-starred restaurant. Servers roam the aisles with carts offering up inventive dishes, dim-sum style, but the food isn't Chinese. Instead, unexpected combinations of ingredients, cuisines and cooking styles meld into delicious bites. "What State Bird did when it opened was cook with freedom and flexibility," Brioza explains. "That was the only premise. We knew we wanted to cook whatever we wanted, not have a cuisine or style. We also think about efficiencies, using everything, and mak- ing it easy for people to eat foods they wouldn't normally order. Food looks better in person, up close, than it does written in words." Hence the dim sum approach. Their chawanmushi—Japan's silky and umami-laden egg custard—features guanciale. There are bite-sized sourdough pancakes filled with sauerkraut, pecorino and ricotta. Smoked trout-avocado "chip and dip" is a literal mashup inspired by guacamole and the whitefish spread beloved by Michigan natives. For dessert, try a Szechuan pepper ice cream sandwich. Dishes can change nightly, as does the small, fun list of low-production wines. Next door at The Progress, which opened in December and grabbed a James Beard Award nomination this year, there's a dinner party vibe with industrial-chic decor and a world-class wine list curated by Wine Director Jason Alexander, previously of Gary Danko and Cyrus. But, the overall philosophy behind the menu is the same: Creative works of food methodi- cally concocted from a world of ingredients grown locally. "We don't do anything just to do it," Brioza says. Diners choose six or more family- style courses to be shared with friends. Recent options include tomato curry roti with ricotta and fava hummus, wood oven roasted morels with smoked hollandaise and lamb merquez with yel- low eye bean, octopus and crispy squid. Shaved romanesco, herbs and pig fries never leaves the menu. A dim sum cart of seafood dishes at State Bird Provisions. PHOTO: ED ANDERSON Nicole Krasinski and Stuart Brioza, chef proprietors of State Bird Provisions and The Progress. PHOTO: DYLAN + JENI