One of San Francisco’s most lauded restaurants has announced its reopening date after a lengthy renovation ahead of its 20th anniversary.
Closed since January for what was described as a six-month reservation, Michael and Lindsay Tusk’s Jackson Square California-Italian restaurant Quince is once again accepting reservations. A spokesperson confirmed to The Standard that the restaurant will open on Nov. 28 but was not able to provide further details on the renovation by publication time.
Tables don’t come cheap at Quince, where the tasting menu is $360 per person. Supplemental beverage accompaniments run from the $150 nonalcoholic “Fruit & Vegetables” option to two wine progressions, the $290 “Classic & Appellation” and the $440 “Rare & Unique.”
With tax and gratuity, dinner for two can easily top $2,000. This is par for the course at that level of hospitality, with top-tier San Francisco restaurants like Benu and Atelier Crenn commanding $420 and $475 per person, respectively—although Atelier Crenn’s website specifies that that figure includes the service charge.
A four-course, à la carte menu at Quince requires a $270 deposit per person, with the same beverage pairings at slightly lower price points.
Quince is one of only three restaurants in San Francisco to hold three Michelin stars, a distinction it has held since 2013. It won its first star in 2007—when Michelin first published a guide for the Bay Area and California Wine Country—and its second in 2014. Michael Tusk also won a 2011 James Beard Award for “Best Chef—Pacific” and has since been nominated two other times.
The restaurant’s return restores some of San Francisco’s fading glamor at the very top level of the industry, which has diminished after a string of high-profile closures.
A welcome-back message on Quince’s website states its intentions and implies an awareness of the reaction against the elite, Michelin-chasing system.
“First, we want the new Quince to embody the flavors and sensations of Fresh Run Farm, our partner farm in Bolinas and a place that has a profound influence on our cuisine,” it read. “Second, we hope to create an environment where world-class cooking can be inviting rather than imposing.”
For much of 2023, the Tusks have been involved with another project called Officina, in the second-floor space above famed North Beach bar Vesuvio. Italian for “workshop,” it’s a test kitchen by day and a private dining venue by night.
The couple also owns Cotogna, an Italian restaurant next door to Quince that’s highly regarded in its own right, as well as the restaurant and wine bar Verjus, which opened to great acclaim in 2019 and has since become an event space with a lower profile.