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Benu

San Francisco

Creative fine dining that represents 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 earned a reputation over more than 25 years in the business, including his years as chef de cuisine at The French Laundry. Since breaking into The World's 50 Best Restaurants in 2019, Benu has shown up on the list multiple times, hitting No.28 in The World's 50 Best Restaurants 2021.

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.

Seafood and veg dominant: 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.

Drink up: 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 a rabid following.

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