A tasting menu restaurant spotlighting Filipino flavors through a fine-dining lens is taking over the former Sons & Daughters space in Nob Hill this December, marking a significant moment for elevated Filipino cuisine in San Francisco's competitive restaurant scene.
Restaurant Naides, the debut venture from chef Patrick Gabon and partner Celine Wuu, opens at 708 Bush Street with an 11- to 15-course tasting menu that reimagines Filipino dishes through preservation techniques and fermentation more commonly associated with Nordic cuisine. The restaurant is named after Gabon's mother, according to Eater SF.
A Michelin-Trained Team With Filipino Roots
Gabon and Wuu bring serious fine-dining credentials to the project. The couple met while working at Alexander's Steakhouse in San Francisco before pursuing separate paths through some of the Bay Area's most acclaimed kitchens. Gabon spent time at two-Michelin-starred Sons & Daughters under chef Harrison Cheney, while Wuu took on a leadership role at three-Michelin-starred Benu, as reported by Eater SF.
Their culinary journey then took them overseas to Restaurant Milka in Slovenia, a two-Michelin-starred establishment in Kranjska Gora, where they worked for a year before returning to the Bay Area. According to the Michelin Guide, Milka is known for its contemporary "mountain cuisine" that emphasizes local ingredients, foraging, and fermentation techniques—all elements that appear to have influenced Restaurant Naides' approach.
Rethinking Filipino Food Through Fine Dining
Don't expect lumpia with caviar on top—Gabon and Wuu are quick to clarify they're not going for flashy fusion. Instead, they're deconstructing and reinterpreting traditional Filipino dishes through the lens of their fine-dining training, Eater SF reports. A bread course, for instance, features pandesal with brioche nuances, served with a trio of accompaniments: chicken sisig, chicken liver spread, and atchara (pickled green papaya). "It's a pretty fun course because you could just eat the bread with the liver and the pickles, and then you can combine everything," Gabon explained to the publication.
Another signature dish reimagines sinigang, the tamarind-flavored sour soup typically made with pork or shrimp. Gabon's version features barbecue abalone in a clarified broth made with dry-aged beef stock and seasoned with tamarind, plated with pickled daikon. "I would say the flavor is more on the Filipino side, and I'm very excited about that dish," he told Eater SF. "I think it speaks a lot to what we're trying to do and what we're trying to achieve."
Beyond Wine: An Ambitious Beverage Program
Wuu will oversee both the dining room and beverage pairings, with plans to work with small-scale organic, sustainable, and biodynamic wine producers. But she's particularly excited about the nonalcoholic beverage pairings, drawing on lessons from Restaurant Milka where drinks were created using kitchen scraps and hyperlocal ingredients. The philosophy, she told Eater SF, is about creating flavor profiles that match the food while playing with body and texture—like using fig leaf to mimic coconut flavors when coconut isn't available.
Filipino Fine Dining's Growing Moment
Restaurant Naides joins a small but growing cohort of upscale Filipino restaurants in the Bay Area. Abacá in Fisherman's Wharf, helmed by chef Francis Ang, has been offering contemporary Filipino-Californian cuisine since its opening and earned recognition as a Michelin Guide recommended restaurant. According to The Infatuation, Abacá serves fine dining Filipino food, including tasting menus with caviar add-ons.
San Francisco is home to the second-largest Filipino population in the United States, with vibrant Filipino communities across the city in areas like the SOMA Pilipinas cultural district, Excelsior, and Crocker-Amazon, as noted by The Infatuation. While the city has long been home to beloved casual Filipino spots and turo-turo counters, fine-dining Filipino establishments remain relatively rare.
A Changing Nob Hill Dining Scene
Restaurant Naides takes over a space with serious culinary pedigree. The 708 Bush Street location was home to Sons & Daughters, which earned two Michelin stars under chef Harrison Cheney for its New Nordic-inspired tasting menus featuring fermentation, preservation, and locally sourced California ingredients, according to the Michelin Guide. Sons & Daughters recently relocated to a larger space in the Mission District at 2875 18th Street, the former home of Osito, as reported by the San Francisco Chronicle.
The timing feels significant: Gabon told Eater SF that while he loved his experience working at restaurants like Milka, "now I really want to do nontraditional Filipino food." The chef's journey from learning classic French and Nordic techniques to applying them to the cuisine of his heritage reflects a broader trend of chefs using fine-dining skills to elevate their cultural cuisines without losing their essential character.
December Opening Details
According to What Now San Francisco, co-owners Gabon and Wuu have submitted a liquor license application for the location and confirmed plans to open by the end of the year. The restaurant's menu will feature a 10- to 13-course tasting experience incorporating foraged, preserved, and fermented ingredients alongside Filipino flavors.
For Gabon, the restaurant represents a homecoming of sorts—not to the Philippines specifically, but to the flavors and techniques that first shaped his palate. "We always say it's going back to our roots—that's how we think of this restaurant opening," he told Eater SF.
