The World's Best Restaurants · 2026
San Francisco, United States
Saison makes the hearth an organising principle rather than a piece of theatre.
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Saison makes the hearth an organising principle rather than a piece of theatre. Richard Lee, who joined the restaurant in 2019 and became executive chef and co-owner, has carried its open-fire vocabulary toward the ingredients and cultural range of Northern California. Smoke, ember and radiant heat are applied across seafood, vegetables and meat with enough restraint for the product to remain readable. The kitchen's intimacy is matched by a cellar of unusual depth, especially in Burgundy. The strongest current evidence shows a restaurant renewed under Lee, not a historic concept being maintained by reputation.
The hearth shapes preparation, aroma and progression across the menu, but its best work preserves the identity of delicate seafood and vegetables rather than coating everything in smoke.
Richard Lee entered the kitchen in 2019, rose through its senior ranks and now leads as chef and co-owner, joining continuity with clear present-day authorship.
A deep wine programme, built with particular strength in Burgundy, gives the meal another register without turning bottles or rarity into substitutes for culinary precision.
The assessment verifies live operation, current leadership, Lee's seven-year house tenure, the open-fire proposition, service schedule and cellar direction. It also records that his executive-chef configuration began on 29 November 2023 and had not completed three full years by the evidence cutoff. Detailed criticism of weaker courses is retained, while old disputes under prior leadership or at a sister venue are distinguished from the current evaluated operation.
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