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.

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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