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Benu

San Francisco

Creative dining representing San Francisco’s dense diversity

From the beginning: Quietly located off an alley in San Francisco's SoMa district, Benu has earned countless awards since opening in 2010. Korean-American chef Corey Lee has racked up more than 25 years in the business, including many years as chef de cuisine working with legendary chef Thomas Keller at The French Laundry. Since breaking into The World's 50 Best Restaurants in 2019, Benu has shown up on the list multiple times, with Chef Lee being voted by his peers as the winner of the Estrella Damm Chefs' Choice Award, as part of North America's 50 Best Restaurants 2026.

It's really about SF: Lee's Seoul roots show up in his inspired East-meet-West cooking, where innovation and bold flavours are met with restraint. It's easy to glorify California's incomparable produce. And he does. But as Lee says, his tasting menus are centred around San Francisco and its rich cosmopolitanism, all in only 7x7-sq. miles.

What's on the plate and in the glass? Though the set, ever-changing menus feature meat, Benu goes heavy on seafood and vegetables, reflecting the best of local bounty. Lee's iconic faux shark's fin soup has been known to fool even food legends like Cecilia Chang. Benu has more than 300 wine labels focused on France, California, Germany and Austria, alongside sake and beers, curated by general manager Sinéad Quach.

If you like this, you'll love: Lee's other restaurant, San Ho Won, remains one of SF's tough-to-snag reservations since opening in 2021. His casual-but-upscale take on Korean BBQ – using lychee wood charcoal produced just for the restaurant – has gained an impressive following.

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