i feel there is no better way to come back then to talk about my experience at benu. barely a year old, benu has been talked about, written about and recommended by people reaching as far as the east coast. the famous david chang even said "benu in sf best restaurant in america? if not now then damn soon. corey lee working w flavors that are on point. run don't walk." corey lee, the brains and talent behind benu, has an impressive resume that includes a nine year stint at french laundry. it is no question that his training and talent has cultivated something that is uniquely his, and this is what makes him truly talented.
why the name benu? On the way to the city my friends and i had a discussion about how to pronounce the name. this made us curious as to what benu actually meant. we asked our waitress, and she told us the quest for chef lee to find a name that would start his career anew, a name that would have people judge his work based on his food and not his resume. the benu is actually a mythical egyptian bird that is much like the the phoenix of the greeks. it constantly rebirths itself much like chef lee wanted to do.
the atmosphere and staff there are two seating areas in the restaurant. we sat in the quieter area that had less tables. the design of the restaurant led us to feel like we were somewhere else other than a noisy san francisco. it felt like they wanted to create a setting without any distractions, which they accomplished. the staff was fantastic. we had a main waitress, but each of the wait staff seemed to help out and present us with our food. they were all well versed in the menu. one of my friends decided to do the wine pairing with the tasting menu and the sommeliers seemed to know their stuff. see her review here.
the food i am a true believer that good food doesn't always mean lots of money. i will admit that there are a few exceptions to this rule and benu is one of them. my friends and i decided to do the tasting menu which is definitely worth the money. the tasting menu had 19 small bites. even the ones i liked the least were still amazing. chef lee's dishes consisted of items i had either nver seen before or were new takes on familiar dishes. i definitely want to come back and try out the regular menu. see the pictures below of all our food.
just a few other tips: make reservations- we made ours two months in advance. don't make any other plans for the night if you do the tasting menu- it takes about three hours.
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