5. Best splurge: Mister Jiu’s
Chinatowns serve up some of the most delicious food on the cheap, but if you feel like splurging, head to Fegan’s pick: Mister Jiu’s, chef Brandon Jew’s elegant Michelin-starred Waverly Place restaurant. “It’s expensive. It’s fancy,” Fegan said, of the restaurant’s seasonal Cantonese-inspired dishes. “But the food is delicious. It’s creative. It’s modern and traditional merged.”
Fegan, who is a strong advocate for supporting local businesses and the new wave of Chinatown, noted that Chef Jew is part of the latest generation of San Francisco Chinatown chefs.
“His family is from Chinatown, but he is a trained chef himself,” Fegan said. “He cooked in fancy places and he wanted to come home and open a restaurant in his community, [and] people who cooked in his restaurant opened their own restaurants. One example is her former pastry chef Melissa Chow, who runs a bakery downstairs on weekends. This is called the grand opening. You can pre-order [online]and on Saturday and Sunday, she sells her pastries downstairs for Mr. Jiu.
Mister Jiu’s currently offers a modern banquet-style tasting menu, with a mix of seasonal-inspired communal and individual dishes, often featuring an elegant touch of whole Peking duck.
“People come to party,” Fegan said. “Many people have been waiting for this reservation for a long time.”
Website: https://www.misterjius.com/
Address: 28 Waverly Pl, San Francisco, CA 94108
Telephone: +1 (415) 857-9688
Instagram: @misterjius