With so many wonderful dining experiences this year, the struggle was real when it came to narrowing them down to just a few especially memorable ones.
I hope my picks inspire you to try some new places or to revisit ones you haven’t been to in a while.
Here are my Top 10 eats of 2025, in no particular order:
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When my husband told a friend at the gym that he was going to dinner at a restaurant where a whole chicken costs more than $100, the response was:
“What?!? Does it lay golden eggs?”
Not quite.
But Cafe Vivant, which opened in late October in downtown Menlo Park, is definitely not your average fast-casual rotisserie or fried chicken joint.
Instead, this unique upscale restaurant specializes in heritage-breed poultry. If you remember decades ago when heritage turkeys started to be all the rage, despite a price tag multiple times larger than your average Butterball, then you get the gist of how these chickens differ.
These breeds, which existed before chickens became an industrial commodity, take longer to raise, are harvested when they are older, and not surprisingly, are in much smaller supplies. The results are chickens raised more purely, with more pronounced flavor and texture.
The restaurant is owned by revered sommeliers Jason Jacobeit and Daniel Jung, who also run Somm Cellars in New York City, which specializes in rare and collectible wines. They have partnered with farmer Rob James of Corvus Farm in Pescadero, who raises a couple of the specialty breeds.
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It’s a big deal whenever a world-renowned chef opens a new restaurant. But even more so when it’s Jose Andres, recipient of two Michelin stars and two James Beard Awards, who was twice named one of Time Magazine’s “100 Most Influential People.” He not only operates 40 restaurants globally, but founded World Central Kitchen, the nonprofit humanitarian organization that is so often first on the ground at major disasters around the world to help feed those in desperate need.
It’s been a long time coming, but Andres has finally opened his first restaurant in the Bay Area. Zaytinya took two years to debut from conception through construction, and was nearly derailed by a short-lived ban by Palo Alto on gas stoves in new construction.
Last week, it opened in the former Macy’s Men’s store site at Stanford Shopping Center to great fanfare to serve Greek, Turkish and Lebanese fare. It is the sixth location of Zaytinya in the country.
Although Andres wasn’t there for the opening, his presence was on display in the form of a monogrammed chef’s jacket hanging at the host stand. He also had veteran staff on hand from his other restaurants in Los Angeles and Las Vegas to ensure seamless service, as I found when I was invited in as a guest of the restaurant last Tuesday.
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Admittedly, when I was invited to dine as a guest of a new downtown San Jose restaurant, one established by the building’s developer who had never opened a restaurant before, I arrived skeptical.
By the time I left, though, I was an avowed convert, because Poppy & Claro far exceeded expectations.
Housed on the ground floor of the former KQED office building (and former Knight Ridder building before that), it’s very much designed for the weekday work crowd, as it’s open only Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. However, it’s available for private events on Sundays and Mondays.
Created by the Jay Paul Company, a Silicon Valley real estate firm, it’s centrally located right next to the San Jose Museum of Art and the winter ice skating rink. There’s even outdoor seating right by the Circle of Palms Plaza.
The restaurant name pays homage to California’s state flower and the wood from the state’s native walnut tree.
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It’s uncommon for a restaurant to garner a Michelin star less than six months after opening.
It’s even more of a rarity to achieve two stars in that short span.
Yet Enclos in downtown Sonoma managed that impressive feat.
Brian Limoges, executive chef of the acclaimed restaurant that opened in December 2024, was caught so off guard that at first he didn’t think he had even been invited to the June ceremony in Sacramento. Turns out the emailed invitation had landed in his spam box.
Sitting in the audience of the awards ceremony, he then had a brief panic when he didn’t see Enclos listed among the new one-star recipients. But good things come to those who wait. And he and his staff were overjoyed to see they had won two stars right out of the gate.
Enclos, French for “enclosure,” is operated by Stone Edge Farm Estate Vineyards and Winery in Sonoma. In fact, you’ll find many ingredients on the restaurant’s tasting menu sourced from that verdant 16-acre farm just minutes away.
The winery is owned by Leslie McQuown and her husband Mac McQuown, a serial entrepreneur who also co-founded the Chalone Wine Group and Carmenet Winery. The couple decided to go all-in on the restaurant, and wow, has it paid off.
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