The Counter at Hayes Valley
Twelve seats around an open kitchen, one seating a night, and a menu that changes so often they don't bother printing it. I went in skeptical — I've been burned by a lot of chef's counters that are really just theater with a markup — and left texting three people that they had to go.
What the Meal Feels Like
There's no big reveal, no dry ice, no server explaining the chef's childhood. Someone hands you a plate and tells you what's on it in one sentence and then leaves you alone with it. Eight courses over about two hours. By the fourth one I'd stopped taking photos, which is the highest compliment I can give a restaurant.
The Standouts
A raw scallop with green almond and a spoon of its own liquid — three ingredients, nothing hiding. A grilled artichoke that tasted like it had been over the fire for an hour. And a slice of buckwheat cake with cultured cream that I have thought about probably weekly since.
The Value Conversation
It's $155 before wine, which is a real number. Here's how I think about it: it's roughly two mediocre dinners with drinks, and I remember every course of this one. That said, the pairing pushes it near $250 and I don't think the wines justify that. Order two glasses off the list instead and you'll eat just as well for meaningfully less.
Getting In
Bookings drop on the first of the month at 10am for the following month and are gone in under a minute. Solo diners have much better luck — I've walked in twice on a weeknight and gotten a seat.
What I ate, dish by dish
Scored the same way as everything else on this site — honestly, and with the understanding that not every plate deserves your money.
- Raw Scallop, green almond9.7
Three ingredients and its own liquid. The course that reset my expectations for the night.
- Fire-Grilled Artichoke9.5
Tasted like it lived over coals for an hour. Eaten with fingers, no apology.
- Buckwheat Cake, cultured cream9.6
I think about this weekly. Nutty, barely sweet, faintly sour cream on top.
- Dry-Aged Rockfish Course9.0
Skin like a chip. The one course where the plating showed off, and it earned it.
- Eight-Course Menu$1558.8
Two hours. Worth it. The $95 pairing is not — order two glasses off the list.
