Californios

Val M. Cantu's two-Michelin-star Mission tasting menu reframes Mexican cuisine as fine-dining art without losing the heart that makes it Mexican — single-origin masa nixtamalized in-house, regional moles built over days, a tequila and mezcal program that reads like a history lesson. Sixteen seats, one nightly menu, the kind of intimate room where the chef walks each course out himself. One of the most quietly serious dining rooms in San Francisco.