World > U.S. > California

Canteen

• 2008 Go List

<p>Comfort food is taken to new heights at this retro-hip diner, run by wunderkind chef Dennis Leary in the neighborhood known as the TenderNob (where upscale Nob Hill meets down-at-heel Tenderloin). Here, in a tiny kitchen wedged behind a lime-green Formica counter, Leary whips up constantly changing menus of hearty, inspired dishes: recent choices include pork-shank confit with chickpeas and mint; roasted duck breast with red cabbage, quince chutney, and lentils; and chestnut soup with porcini oil. The wine list is short and sweet, with six whites, five reds, and one sparkling, and there are usually only a few desserts to choose from (if it's available, don't miss the heavenly, light vanilla soufflé)—but nobody leaves here unsatisfied.</p> <p><strong>Tip:</strong> Prepare to wait for a seat—there are only 20.</p>

AS FEATURED IN...

From Food & Wine , JUL 2006

Leary appears happy to be cooking—not a leisured happiness but the happiness of rock climbers and chess players, the happiness of challenge and absorption—as he prepares a series of brilliant dishes: halibut gravlax with cucumber sorbet; mussel soup with green garlic and pureed artichoke; sweetbreads with poached rabbit over frisée salad; spring-lamb stew with asparagus and leeks; mild fennel-seed cake with whipped cream....MORE>>

– Andrew Todhunter Chefs' Counter Culture

From Food & Wine , OCT 2005

Dennis Leary's new restaurant might be in a former coffee shop next to the boutique Commodore Hotel, but he's no short-order cook....MORE>>

– Sara Deseran Where to Go Next: San Francisco

From Travel + Leisure , SEP 2005

What was once a worn-out coffee shop has been transformed into an haute diner by wunderkind chef Dennis Leary, with apple-green counters and canoodle-friendly booths for two....MORE>>

– Lynn Yaeger San Francisco's New Heights

From the From the May 2008 Food & Wine Go List

Last updated May 2008