Masa's Wine Bar & Kitchen (also known as Masa's Restaurant or Masa's) was a

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French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

restaurant A restaurant is a business that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appearan ...

located in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

, California, in the United States.

Background

Masa's was opened in July 1983 by chef Masataka Kobayashi. The restaurant uses Masataka's nickname, Masa, for its title. Upon its opening, the restaurant had a six-month waiting list for reservations. Kobayashi was murdered in 1984, and

sous-chef A sous-chef is a chef who is second in command in a kitchen; the person ranking next after the head chef, usually the more hands on manager with regards to training staff and organising the kitchen. Duties and functions The sous-chef has many re ...

Bill Galloway ran the kitchen until

Julian Serrano Julián Serrano is a Spanish chef who lives and works in the United States. He first gained attention in San Francisco and is now most active in Las Vegas. Biography Born in Madrid, he studied in Marbella. He worked in several restaurants, Cari ...

became

executive chef A chef de cuisine (, French for ''head of kitchen'') or head chef is a chef that leads and manages the kitchen and chefs of a restaurant or hotel. A chef patron (feminine form ''chef patronne'') (French for ''boss chef'') or executive chef is ...

. He was chef for 14 years.

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then became executive chef, followed by Richard Reddington. In 2004, Gregory Short became executive chef. Alan Murray was master

sommelier A sommelier ( or or ; ), or wine steward, is a trained and knowledgeable wine professional, normally working in fine restaurants, who specializes in all aspects of wine service as well as wine and food pairing. The role of the wine steward in hau ...

. Short left Masa's on February 16, 2013, and the restaurant closed, with intentions to re-open. The restaurant is currently a sports bar.

Cuisine

Masa's original concept mixed

French cuisine French cuisine () is the cooking traditions and practices from France. It has been influenced over the centuries by the many surrounding cultures of Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Germany and Belgium, in addition to the food traditions of the re ...

with

nouvelle cuisine ''Nouvelle cuisine'' (; ) is an approach to cooking and food presentation in French cuisine. In contrast to cuisine classique, an older form of haute cuisine, nouvelle cuisine is characterized by lighter, more delicate dishes and an increased e ...

. Upon his death, sous-chef Bill Galloway took over the kitchen temporarily. The food became less sauce-focused and "lighter," as it was described in the ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. de ...

'' in 1985. Galloway started working with different food distributors, improving the quality of the

seafood Seafood is any form of sea life regarded as food by humans, prominently including fish and shellfish. Shellfish include various species of molluscs (e.g. bivalve molluscs such as clams, oysters and mussels, and cephalopods such as octopus an ...

, and hired a larger

dessert Dessert is a course (food), course that concludes a meal. The course consists of sweet foods, such as confections, and possibly a beverage such as dessert wine and liqueur. In some parts of the world, such as much of Greece and West Africa, and ...

staff. The restaurant had food-focused theme dinners. In February 2013, the restaurant had a five-course

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themed dinner, to celebrate the citrus harvest season, with wine pairings.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Masa's Wine Bar and Kitchen Restaurants in San Francisco French-American culture in San Francisco French restaurants in California 1983 establishments in California Michelin Guide starred restaurants in California 2013 disestablishments in California Defunct restaurants in the San Francisco Bay Area Defunct French restaurants in the United States