Quince

The story

Crafted with passion, served with love

A Landmark of San Francisco Fine Dining

Quince has been one of San Francisco's most quietly commanding fine dining destinations since Lindsay and Chef Michael Tusk founded it in 2003. Situated in a 1907 brick building on a tree-lined stretch of Pacific Avenue in Jackson Square, the restaurant carries a particular stillness that sets it apart from the city's busier corridors — a setting that lets both the food and the service speak clearly.

Chef Michael Tusk, a 2011 James Beard Award winner for Best Chef: Pacific, has built Quince around a lifelong pursuit of the highest quality ingredients and an ever-changing menu that reflects the seasons rather than a fixed repertoire. His handmade pastas have drawn sustained acclaim, and the contemporary Italian-Californian approach that defines the kitchen draws equally from Northern Italian tradition and the agricultural richness of California.

The Gastronomy Menu and the Bolinas Bar

The definitive Quince experience is the Gastronomy Menu — a refined tasting menu composed nightly by Chef Tusk and served exclusively in the main dining room. Following a year-long renovation and redesign, the restaurant also introduced The Bolinas Bar, an intimate salon-like space where guests can explore the California Coast & Valleys menu: a four-course celebration of the state's terroir, paired with cocktails and wines selected to complement the regional focus. The bar operates on a walk-in basis for most seating, making it a more spontaneous entry point into the Quince experience.

Lunch is offered every Friday and Saturday from 11:30 am to 1:00 pm — a four-course midday menu that brings the same elegance to a more relaxed register.

Recognition and the Wine Program

Forbes Travel Guide has awarded Quince a Four-Star rating, singling out not only the kitchen but the quality of service — staff who anticipate needs without intruding. The wine program has earned Wine Spectator's Best of Award of Excellence, with particular depth in small Northern Italian vineyards, a natural extension of the restaurant's contemporary Italian identity.

Fresh Run Farm supplies the kitchen directly, grounding the menu in a farm-to-table philosophy that goes beyond sourcing language into genuine agricultural partnership. That connection to the land is visible in both the Gastronomy Menu and the California Coast & Valleys experience — two distinct expressions of the same underlying commitment to place and ingredient.