Senior Culture Editor

Astrid Kane

Chef Bradley Kilgore’s Italian-Japanese restaurant at the Transamerica Pyramid is as fancy as fancy gets. But it still has meatballs.

The palatial fusion restaurant Ciaorigato brings a big boost of glamour to a district looking for it.

Bar Shoji delivers a powerful one-two punch: Elegant cocktails and flavor-packed Thai-Japanese dishes unlike anything else in town.

Japantown’s small businesses have thrived in the past year, unlike those elsewhere in SF. Merchants weigh in on the anomaly. 


There’s never been a better time to eat beautifully marbled chutoro on the couch.