Tag Archives: Nicole Krasinski

Time for (the) Progress

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The famed half duck at Michelin-starred The Progress.
The famed half duck at Michelin-starred The Progress.

The duck is all that. But don’t sleep on the seaweed noodles, either.

Not at Michelin-starred The Progress.

It’s hard to believe that it’s now a dozen years since this restaurant opened in the Fillmore district, the follow-up to its game-changing big sister, Michelin-starred State Bird Provisions (right next door) that dared to take the idea of dim sum-style carts and apply it to global, tapas-style share plates.

Husband-and-wife chefs Stuart Brioza and Nicole Krasinski then added The Anchovy Bar around the corner six years ago.

If the Fillmore has turned into their kingdom, then there’s no shortage of loyal subjects. When I arrived a few minutes before 5:30 p.m. on a Saturday at The Progress, there was already a lively crowd dining at The Anchovy Bar; and sizeable lines outside both State Bird Provisions and The Progress, filled with folks like myself who had a reservation and others hoping to snag a walk-in seat.

With Bay Area diners always flocking to the hot new thing, it says a lot that these places still command such eagerness and excitement.

It's right next door to sister-restaurant State Bird Provisions.
It’s right next door to sister-restaurant State Bird Provisions.
The dining room.
The dining room.

With their eclectic dishes that spotlight local ingredients and are just plain fun to share, Brioza and Krasinski have definitely hit on a winning formula.

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The Progress Report

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Who would have ever imagined kiwi and ricotta would make such a magical dish?

Who would have ever imagined kiwi and ricotta would make such a magical dish?

How do you follow-up a smash-hit restaurant that proved a game-changer in the dining world?

If you’re Chef-Owners Stuart Brioza and Nicole Krasinski of the red-hot, James Beard Award-winning State Bird Provisions in San Francisco, you do it with The Progress, which opened next door in December.

The Progress was originally going to be the couple’s first restaurant. But when they realized the extensive renovations the former movie house and century-old building would require, they wisely decided to open the smaller State Bird Provisions first in 2012.

That restaurant brought to bear the age-old concept of dim sum-style service to an eclectic array of global small plates — a concept now copied by others on the heels of State Bird’s success.

An overhead view from the mezzanine.

An overhead view from the mezzanine.

The open kitchen at the back of The Progress.

The open kitchen at the back of The Progress.

Whereas State Bird grabs hold of your attention by parading the majority of its dishes out into the dining room on carts or trays for you to see before you choose what to eat, The Progress is wrapped in a little more mystery and requires a peaceful consensus among your table mates.

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