The modern casual fine dining restaurant and bar AQ may reside in a sketchy part of downtown, but this standout San Francisco gem has claimed an impressive culinary status since its opening two years ago. In the foodie world the term AQ means as quoted, referring to specialty food that changes in price depending on availability. Featuring innovative California cuisine with Mediterranean influences, the owners, chef Mark Liberman- of La Folie- and Matt Semmelhack wanted a restaurant where the food and decor coordinate, and that is why they change both every season.
The intriguing small plates are characterized by inventive combinations of new and traditional Mediterranean flavors and cutting edge technology where Liberman uses a huge range of local produce, meats and fish. His masterful hand at blending faraway flavors with Northern California’s glorious bounty is why AQ received three and a half stars from the San Francisco Chronicle’s food critic Michael Bauer within their first three months, along with two Eater awards in 2012. Bon Appetit listed them among their top new restaurants that same year and Esquire raved about them…and then there was that James Beard semi-finalist for Best New Restaurant thing.
Liberman and Semmelhack have three new restaurants slated to open in San Francisco between 2013 and 2015, most notably the much anticipated all-day brasserie Bon Marche, which will be the first restaurant tenant in the commercial section of the nearby Market Square development…otherwise known as the Twitter building. The Mid-Market area is in the midst of a massive overhaul where large scale commercial developments are enticing other companies such as Uber, Spotify, One Kings Lane and Dolby Laboratories to set up shop near Twitter. And it’s good to know they won’t ever go hungry. www.aq-sf.com
