Top Female Chefs In The San Francisco Bay Area

Few culinary superstars have risen as fast as San Francisco chef Dominique Crenn. After bringing her five-course tasting menu and intimate small dining room experience to the Marina District with Atelier Crenn in 2011, she opened up Petit Crenn in Hayes Valley in 2015.

The first female chef in the U.S. to earn two Michelin stars and author of the cookbook, Atelier Crenn: Metamorphosis of Taste, French-born Crenn is famous for her attention to detail on both the dinner and brunch menus, the latter featuring stand-out items like the Brittany Coast-style buckwheat crepes filled with lobster mushrooms, aged goat cheese and eggs. 

Born and raised in Bangkok, Pim Techamuanvivit has single-handedly upped the game on Thai food in San Francisco at critically acclaimed Kin Khao (which means “let’s eat”).

Items like Khao Mun Gai (chicken fat rice, ginger-poached chicken and Pim’s own secret sauce) created from produce and meats sourced from local farms have helped to win Kin Khao a Michelin star. The coconut and black rice pudding dessert is also a crowd pleaser.

Michelin-star winning chef/owner of both Frances in the Castro and Octavia in Pacific Heights, Melissa Perello is a star of San Francisco’s competitive fine dining scene.

Her seasonally changing menus are creative and expressly influenced by the Pacific Rim, with items like tagliatelle with sea urchin butter, jolly tomatoes, and shishito appearing on the menu. In 2016, Perello was a semi-finalist for the James Beard Award for “Best Chef West.”

With two locations of their San Francisco institution Osha Thai, as well as Lao Table in SoMa (which specializes in Laotian fare), sisters and co-owners Lalita Souksamlane and Wassana Korkhieola have been pleasing taste buds across the city for decades.

From Dungeness Crab Rangoon to beef wasabi rolls, the menu at Osha is as open-ended as San Francisco itself, though it is grounded in Southeast Asian specialties.

Belinda Leong's career as a pastry chef started during her time at San Francisco's Gary Danko back in 1999. Following a successful stint at the restaurant, she traveled to Europe to train at renowned restaurants and patisseries in Paris, Barcelona, and Copenhagen.

Belinda returned to the Bay Area to work at Manresa Restaurant in Los Gatos, California, a two-star Michelin establishment, before eventually creating her own space, the celebrated b.Patisserie. Locals and visitors alike line the block for their excellent kouign-amann (an almost flower shaped, flakey pastry that tastes like a carmalized croissant), financiers and incredible tartines. Honestly, you can't go wrong with anything on the menu. 

One half of the husband-and-wife team that created the much adored State Bird Provisions and The Progress, Nicole Krasinski is in charge of their pastry program. Both restaurants are praised for their equally experimental and delicious menus, which serve beautiful small dishes on rolling dim sum carts.

Krasinski's attention to detail is incredible, and it shows in the cakes, mousses, and other delectable creations alongside savory courses. Krasinski and her husband, Stuart Brioza, won the James Beard Foundation's Best Chef: West Award in 2015.

Melissa Perfit joined the lauded Bar Crudo in its early days, when she was fresh out of culinary school. After briefly leaving to learn from other chefs, she returned to revamp their menu and became executive chef.

After seeing the acclaimed seafood spot through its first decade, she left to run the kitchen at Popi's Oysterette, a buzzy new seafood restaurant making waves in the Marina. 

A Louisiana native, Chef Brenda draws inspiration from her diverse cultural heritage and her upbringing, when she was surrounded by the abundance of local seafood and produce in New Orleans.

After earning a BFA in Painting and Drawing, she decided pursue her passion for cooking in New Orleans, where she honed her skills in fusion cuisine. In San Francisco, Brenda made a name for herself as an Executive Chef at the famed Oritalia and earned numerous accolades.

Eventually, she opened her first restaurant, Brenda's, specializing in French soul food, in the Tenderloin. She also has Brenda's Meat and Three, a casual, lunch-y offshoot of the original. Make sure to order beignets at whichever location you end up at!