Former President Barack Obama has now been in town twice in the last two months, and both times he has enjoyed the food of chef Michael Tusk and his team.

Obama was whisked into Quince Wednesday evening around 7 pm, as the Chronicle is reporting, with Secret Service agents already waiting at the door for his arrival. We don't know how large a group he was dining with inside the Michelin three-star restaurant, but we do know that local philanthropist and Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff walked in shortly before the former president.

This dining experience comes just over six weeks after Obama was last in town and dined at the Quince team's private dining space Officina, which is upstairs from Vesuvio on Columbus Avenue.

Both Quince and Officina, along with the casual restaurant Cotogna and the more French-inspired wine bar/restaurant Verjus, are owned and operated by chef Michael Tusk and his wife Lindsay Tusk.

Why was Obama in town? And what might he have to discuss with Benioff? That is anyone's guess. As the Chronicle notes, Obama was not on the schedule for Climate Week, which is ongoing this week, and for which former VP Al Gore gave an opening keynote address on Monday at the Exploratorium. But that's not to say he wasn't taking part in some non-public fashion.

We do know that Obama and Benioff are well acquainted — they dined together at Spruce in 2015, and the former president later came to town to give the keynote at Dreamforce in 2019.

Obama has dined all over SF both during his time in office and after. We noted this week, upon the closing of Luce at the InterContinental, that that was Obama's preferred hotel back in the day, and chef Dominique Crenn cooked for him at least once when he stayed there. In 2012, while on a fundraising run in the Bay Area, Obama grabbed dim sum at Chinatown's Great Eastern Restaurant. He also dined on other trips at 25 Lusk and Fino Ristorante, and Chef Tusk previously cooked a private dinner for him in the last decade. In 2019, he dined at Ayesha Curry and Michael Mina's restaurant International Smoke with Steph Curry and John Legend.

Top image: Former President Barack Obama addresses the Obama Foundation's 2024 Democracy Forum on December 05, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois. The 2024 Democracy Forum focused on "pluralism" and exploring how diverse communities can work together. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

In a follow-up to a story from a year ago, we're learning that Michelin three-starred San Francisco restaurant Quince quietly dropped its legal fight against SF-based e-commerce company Quince.com, but the financial details are not public.

The 22-year-old restaurant Quince filed a lawsuit against online retailer Quince.com about a year ago, citing brand confusion and other problems with the use of the name — and given that both companies are based here in San Francisco, the restaurant had even begun receiving returned sweaters and other such packages in the mail from confused consumers.

Quince.com came into being in 2020, founded by CEO Sid Gupta, and has since grown in visibility as a purveyor of reasonably priced "sustainable luxury" clothing and other goods.

Quince the restaurant was founded by the husband and wife team of Michael and Lindsay Tusk in 2003, and while it was partly dormant during part of the pandemic, and then closed for a year in 2023 for a remodel, the restaurant has come back and continues to hold three Michelin stars — one of only three restaurants in San Francisco to currently have this distinction.

As SFist noted last year, beyond just the name confusion, Quince.com's typeface and earthtoned branding was oddly similar to Quince's, and the Tusks became more incensed when, as they sought to sell their own retail goods, like knives and kitchenware, they saw that Quince.com was also getting into the cookware business.

And things are complicated by the intricacies of trademark and patent law, with the restaurant holding a trademark for catering and culinary consulting services that's on the "supplemental register" of trademarks, and their application for a primary trademark of "Quince" for restaurant and bar services is still pending. Quince.com also has a pending trademark application for online retail services.

Quince's ownership entity, Quince & Co. LLC, filed suit against Quince.com's parent company, Last Brand Inc., after the latter rejected a $12 million offer to settle the dispute last January. But by June, as the SF Business Times reports, the two parties appear to have quietly reached a settlement that was not made public.

Neither party has commented publicly about it, but the Business Times cites court documents showing that the lawsuit was dismissed "with prejudice," and both parties agreed to pay their own legal fees and expenses.

Meanwhile, quincerestaurant.com and quince.com still share a strangely similar aesthetic.

Previously: Three-Michelin-Starred SF Restaurant Quince In Legal Fight With Retailer Quince.com

Top image: Photo courtesy of Quince, the restaurant

An upstart, San Francisco-based e-tailer that came into being in the last few years selling everything from sweaters and bed linens to baby clothes and luggage appears ready to do battle over the name Quince, which the acclaimed restaurant of the same name, in the same city, says has already caused confusion.

Quince is, as many San Franciscans know, one of the most established and respected restaurants in the city, having just celebrated its 20th anniversary. It was founded in 2003 by chef Michael Tusk and his wife Lindsay Tusk, and grew from a respected neighborhood haunt in Pacific Heights to the high-end restaurant and multi-pronged Jackson Square business that it is now — with a catering arm, a private membership club and event space, an upcoming espresso and gelato bar, and the bustling next-door sister restaurant Cotogna.

That being said, Quince the restaurant, like many others, was not operating at full-throttle through part of the pandemic, and it spent almost all of last year closed completely for a remodel.

The restaurant is back, and still holds three Michelin stars — one of three restaurants in the city with that distinction, along with Benu and Atelier Crenn. It reopened in late November with some fanfare, and with a fully remodeled dining room and lounge area.

But during the pandemic, another San Francisco business launched and gained momentum, an e-commerce site called Quince.com. As the Chronicle reports, the web business launched in 2020, after CEO Sid Gupta spent two years beta testing a "luxury," direct-to-consumer business called Last Brand. It fully launched as Quince, a name which Gupta says he chose because it's "crisp" and "clean" and "represented a modernity about what we were trying to do."

The Tusks took notice some time later, but particularly, as they tell the Chronicle, when they started receiving returned packages at the restaurant — a mixup that Quince.com now blames on a Fedex snafu after they changed addresses. Since then, the restaurant has also gotten a negative, one-star review on Yelp that was meant for Quince.com.

And, Michael Tusk says, the last straw came when he saw that Quince.com was marketing cookware and chef's knives — in one instance, as the Tusks' attorneys show in a legal filing, a knife was put up for sale on Quince.com that looks a lot like a chef's knife that was branded with Tusk's and Quince's name.

"It went from brand confusion to something that felt much deeper, personal and violating," Tusk tells the Chronicle.

The website, which still seems focused on women's clothing according to its landing page, has become something of a catchall for low-cost "sustainable luxury" of all kinds, including cookware, menswear, toys, and home decor.

An attorney for the website, Zachary Briers, gave a statement to the Chronicle saying, "They sell cashmere sweaters and shearling boots and necklaces and comforters. A restaurant with a single location does not have the right to exclude others from using similar names in completely unrelated industries."

But clearly the cookware thing... not unrelated! And you may notice some typeface similarities between the two businesses' websites above?

Quince.com currently holds a trademark for specific online retail services, which it's held since 2021. Quince the restaurant holds a trademark for catering and culinary consulting services with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, but as the Chronicle notes, this is on the "supplemental register" of trademarks, which does not have the same legal weight as those on the principal register. The restaurant has a pending trademark application for restaurant and bar services on the principal register.

There have apparently been bank confusion issues as well, with a Quince.com customer finding a charge on their account with the restaurant's address and phone number attached.

And the two parties appear to be headed for court, unless some settlement is reached. The Tusks' lawyers offered in January to take a $12 million settlement from Quince.com to let them keep using the name and to compensate for the benefit the web business has gotten from the brand confusion so far. That has been refused, and Briers tells the Chronicle they plan to "vigorously" fight the suit.

There is more to the lawsuit as well. Gupta denies it, but the Tusks contend that he dined at the restaurant before naming his business Quince.

SFist reached out for further comment from the Tusks on the matter, but they've declined to discuss it further.

The Chronicle notes that Quince.com's parent company Last Brand has already faced other trademark infringement lawsuits in its short time in business. These include one from Yeti coolers, for apparently marketing products that looked very similar to Yeti's — that was settled in 2022. And Deckers Outdoor Corporation sued Last Brand over some boots that looked a lot like the popular Uggs.

Related: Quince Set to Reopen In Three Weeks With Smaller Dining Room, More 'Personal' Menu From Chef Michael Tusk

One of only three three-star restaurants in San Francisco, Quince, is reopening later this month following a renovation that was billed as lasting six months, but has stretched on for nearly eleven.

Celebrating its 20th anniversary this year in San Francisco, the acclaimed Quince will once again be welcoming in diners starting November 28. And the formerly moody, gray dining room on Jackson Street has reportedly been made "lighter and brighter," and a good deal smaller — with just ten tables concentrated nearer to the front windows, which are now French doors that open onto the street and the already existing parklet.

The space also features a new mural by artist Galatée Martin.

As co-owner Lindsay Tusk tells the Chronicle, "In its prior incarnation it was quite dark and a little bit austere. We thought if we’re going to continue to operate Quince for the next 20 years, and that is what we hope that we can do, we want to be in a light-filled, joyous space."

Quince has for years been the Bay Area's only three-star Michelin restaurant that leaned toward Italy, with pasta courses from Chef Michael Tusk being a regular highlight of its menus. The Tusks met two decades ago while working at legendary Oakland restaurant Oliveto, and the initial version of Quince that debuted in San Francisco in 2003 was a more humble affair that highlighted Tusk's love of seasonal Italian cuisine.

That was back when the restaurant was in Pacific Heights, in the cozy space that Octavia occupies now. Within a few years, in 2009, Quince moved downtown to 470 Pacific Avenue, becoming a more upscale, more ambitious restaurant — and that was followed in 2010 by the opening of the much-loved, next-door sister restaurant Cotogna.

Accolades have been consistent, with Tusk winning the James Beard Award for Best Chef: Pacific in 2007, and two Michelin stars were followed by a third in 2016.

The Tusks have also been in expansion mode even as this major renovation was underway — earlier this year they opened their private membership and event space, called Officina, a few blocks away in North Beach, and still to come is an espresso and gelato shop at 596 Pacific Avenue, inspired by Cotogna's popular gelato cart. Their wine bar Verjus, meanwhile, remains temporarily closed.

Chef Michael Tusk tells the Chronicle this week that the new Quince will be more "adventuresome" than before, and something more "personal" as well. As Lindsay Tusk tells the paper, "We feel reinvigorated and a little bit freer and looser."

"We’re looking forward to the other side of San Francisco being what it was and what it can be," Chef Tusk tells the Chronicle, acknowledging the city's current challenges. "By doing this, I hope it will inspire others to stay put."

Quince reopens on November 28 offering a $270 four-course menu, or a $360 lengthier version. A separate bar menu will be offered as well, in addition to an a la carte menu.

The restaurant website has yet to be updated with the reopening, and it doesn't appear that the reservation books have opened yet. Stay tuned.

Image: The Quince parklet, via Google Street View

As Michelin three-star Quince prepares to reopen this summer and celebrate its 20th birthday, owners Lindsay and Michael Tusk have announced the opening of their new private event space and test kitchen upstairs from Vesuvio Cafe in North Beach.

We've known since March, when the SF Business Times broke the news, that the Tusks were taking over the well-lighted upper-level event space formerly known Cookhouse at 253 Columbus Avenue. The place was already outfitted with a professional kitchen and seating areas, and a couple months later it is now reborn as Officina — which means "workshop" in Italian.

It opens tonight, but it isn't fully open to the public. During the daytime it will serve as Chef Michael Tusk's test kitchen for Quince and Cotogna, and at night it will host "regular gatherings" for the Tusks' membership club Quince & Co. Unfortunately for most of us, that membership club is "fully subscribed" and there's a waitlist now.

The 1,200-square-foot loft will also be available for event rentals for up to 20 at seated dinners, or 35 for standing affairs. (Inquiries can be made here.)

As the SF Business Times reports today, Officina will be managed by another husband-and-wife team at Quince, Julie and Matthias Cattelin, with the latter serving as wine director.

The renovation at Quince should be nearly done — in January it was announced as a six-month closure, but you never know with these things. The restaurant website still instructs people to subscribe to the newsletter to get updates on the renovation.

Cotogna, meanwhile, remains open next door, and we learned in February that the team is also working on another project, and gelateria and espresso cafe in the former Station SF space, one block east of Quince and Cotogna on Pacific Avenue.

There's been no word on Verjus, the team's short-lived wine bar, which has not been open since the start of the pandemic. It, too, has been available for event rentals.

Previously: Quince, One of SF's Three Michelin Three-Star Restaurants, to Close For Six-Month Renovation

Top image: Photo by Meg Smith

Fast on the heels of the news that Michelin three-starred Quince is undergoing a six-month renovation, we learn that owners Lindsay and Michael Tusk are planning a new casual off-shoot.

The SF Business Times reports that the Tusks are taking over the space formerly occupied by The Station SF at 596 Pacific Avenue — at the corner of Kearny and Pacific, one block east of Quince and Cotogna. More recently, the place was home to the short-lived David Rio's Chai Bar.

The concept is apparently a gelato and espresso café, though the Tusks have not commented or given any details on the project. But the Business Times has a source that described it as "a creative concept involving health-conscious choices in addition to the Italian ice cream favorite."

Both Quince and sister wine bar Verjus are currently closed — Verjus, which debuted in 2019, has been closed since the start of the pandemic but is available as a private event space. Cotogna, meanwhile, remains open as usual, Tuesday to Saturday, for lunch and dinner.

Quince is expected to reopen sometime this summer.

Originally opened in Pacific Heights in 2003 (where Octavia is now), Quince relocated to the space at 470 Pacific Avenue in 2009, and last underwent a renovation in 2014, prior to earning its third Michelin star. Quince remains one of only three Michelin three-star restaurants in San Francisco proper, along with Benu and Atelier Crenn.

Previously: Quince, One of SF's Three Michelin Three-Star Restaurants, to Close For Six-Month Renovation

Photo: Google Street View

Nine years after its last large-scale renovation, downtown dining destination Quince is closing later this month for six months to undergo another significant overhaul.

Quince, the Michelin three-star stage for chef Michael Tusk and wife/manager Lindsay Tusk, is turning 20 this year. And in an announcement on Instagram, the team says, "the Tusks are embarking on an exciting new chapter and are temporarily closing the restaurant for a renovation to our dining room and bar."

No exact opening date is being given, but the renovation is expected to last six months. As the a spokesperson has told Eater, the goal is to make the dining room "lighter and brighter," and to uncrowd the dining room by spacing tables further apart. Also, they will be installing "a series of floor-to-ceiling glass doors that open onto tree-lined Pacific Avenue."

"When Quince reopens in the Summer, we hope that the renovation will give the restaurant what it needs to succeed and flourish for another 20 years to come," the team says.

Quince is one of only three Michelin three-star restaurants in San Francisco proper, leaving only Benu and Atelier Crenn picking up the slack for high-end Michelin-obsessed tourists in the meantime.

The restaurant last underwent a major renovation in 2014, exposing brick walls, adding more private dining spaces, and decking out the space in soft fabrics and earth tones.

The restaurant began life in 2003 in the space currently occupied by Octavia, at the corner of Octavia and Bush streets, with Michael Tusk earning a reputation for creating high-end California cuisine with a focus on finely made pastas and Italian influences. Tusk won the James Beard Award for Best Chef: Pacific in 2007, and the restaurant's popularity outgrew that original space. The Tusks relocated to 470 Pacific Street in 2009, and opened the more casual Cotogna next door in late 2010 — which serves wood-fired pizzas and meats, as well as pasta out of Quince's kitchen.

Wine bar Verjus, on nearby Washington Street, followed in early 2019. Verjus has remained closed since the pandemic began, serving only as a private event space.

The team says that they will continue to accept private event reservations for Cotogna and Verjus while the Quince renovation takes place, and Cotogna remains open for business Tuesday through Saturday for lunch and dinner, 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Quince, meanwhile, is continuing to accept renovations through January 21.

The Chronicle's restaurant critic, Soleil Ho, has spent much of the last three and a half years on the job spreading the wealth, so to speak, when it comes to reviewing lesser known, less fancy spots across the region — and that's been kind of refreshing! But a big-city newspaper critic has to deal with the big-name, Michelin-starred places eventually, and it seems that Ho's tour of the Bay Area's more acclaimed, pricey spots is finally complete.*

"For most people, a meal at a fine dining restaurant is a heavy investment — so it’d better be good," Ho writes. "It’s here that a critic is most valuable, I’d say, because a bad slice of pizza is much easier to laugh off than a bad $200 meal." So true!

But thus far in the Chronicle food section, since the departure of Michael Bauer, there has not been a ton of attention paid to fine dining, as Ho has devoted review columns to things like cart noodles at Beyond Cafe in SoMa, vegan pork banh mi at Lee's Sandwiches, and the Gumbo Social pop-up stand at the Outer Sunset farmers' market.

As of this week, though, we have Ho's (albeit brief) takes on some of the heavyweights in the Bay Area restaurant scene via this Best Splurge Restaurants list — which is another way of say best fine dining spots. Mixed in are some less fancy, though still splurge-y spots like Animo in Sonoma and Rich Table. But the majority of the list consists of names well known to foodinistas and Michelin Guide readers, like Saison, Benu, Californios, and SingleThread.

But there are a couple of big omissions. Three restaurants that all have three Michelin stars — The French Laundry, Manresa, and Quince — have all been left off the list. And unlike in the old Top 100 days, we're not getting any explanation for the snubs. SFist reached out to Soleil Ho for some elaboration, and Ho replied, "I’ve been to all [three of those restaurants] and chose not to include them. To be honest, a great deal of the restaurants that I check out don’t make it to inclusion — either in a list or some other writeup, for a variety of reasons."

It shouldn't be a surprise, given the opening-salvo review Ho published in early 2019 upon taking the job, that Chez Panisse isn't on the splurge list either.

About Saison, Ho writes, "Imagine you’re in a lodge on some snowy mountain while your friends and family are all skiing outside, your sole companions the crackle of the hearth and the soothing warmth of hot tea. That’s the spirit of Saison..."

About Atelier Crenn, and its now $410 (!) tasting menu, Ho writes, "French native Dominique Crenn’s flagship restaurant embraces a joyful narrative culinary style," noting the 14-line poem that comes with your meal with lines corresponding to each of the 14 courses.

Ho says that Nightbird's food is "simply stunning," and SingleThread's 10-course, $425 tasting menu is "acrobatic." And if you want a casual but haute experience involving caviar in Palo Alto, head to Protege.

In place of the old Top 100, the newspaper and website now have many, many lists that have been published and updated throughout the last year or so — there was a long a break in 2020 for obvious reasons. But the intersection of all the Chronicle's lists is now just confusing.

For instance, Atelier Crenn, Lazy Bear, Mister Jiu's, Nari, and Rich Table all appear on both the "splurge" restaurant list and this other Top SF Restaurants list that was last updated in June. But Benu, Saison, Birdsong, Merchant Roots, Nightbird, and Californios are all worthy of splurges but they don't make it on the Top SF Restaurants list? And don't even get me started on this Top 25 Restaurants thing, which is a totally baffling, quarterly updated snapshot of restaurants new, old, tiny, and large across the Bay Area that is a poor replacement for the Top 100 to say the least, seemingly modeled on the Eater 38, and not very useful.

This likely isn't Ho's doing — the food section editorial team knows that lists are good for business, so why not just make a lot of them? It's just that, for a city's paper of record that should aim to be an authoritative source on things like fine-dining restaurants, the conflicts between these lists raises more questions than answers, and does something of a disservice to great restaurants like State Bird Provisions, Mourad, and Nightbird when they make it on one list and not the other, perhaps never to be found when Googling "top restaurants list sf" if that gets you to that weird Top 25.

Anyway, I'm now extremely curious to read Ho's review of the French Laundry, should they ever publish one. And I guess Quince (which is currently closed for a summer remodel) didn't impress much either!

Congrats to all who made the cut.

Related: Soleil Ho Asks 'Who Is Michael Mina and Why Is His Name Treated Like Gold In This Town'?

Top image: The private dining room at Quince. Photo via Instagram

*Ho clarified that this list was first published in November 2021, and was just recirculated this week with updates.

The entire restaurant world may be at a near standstill — takeout orders excepted — but the James Beard Awards will live on in September, and the finalists were just announced this week. As usual, the Bay Area is well represented, and we even have a contender for Best New Restaurant this time around.

The finalist list — the actual nominations — usually comes out a month or so after the long list, or semi-finalist roster, comes out. But this time the coronavirus got in the way, and after deciding to reschedule the awards ceremony from May 4 to September 25, the nominations were just released this week. Perhaps it was an effort to allow some of the shock and devastation of the pandemic to sink in/wear off. But it still seems bizarre to be thinking about an "Oscars of the food world," as the ceremony is called, at a time when cities could very easily see a third or half of their restaurants never reopen.

As New York chef and James Beard Award winner Gabrielle Hamilton put it beautifully in a piece for the New York Times Magazine last week, "It would be nigh impossible for me, in the context of a pandemic, to argue for the necessity of my existence. Do my sweetbreads and my Parmesan omelet count as essential at this time?"

But restaurants will live on, and perhaps with the buzz of a James Beard nod, the places on this long list will have a leg up when state governments decide they can open their doors again. And yes, we will always need the pleasure and comfort of good food, and for many of us, nothing will feel "back to normal" until we have mask-less servers and crowded-in tables once more.

Cheers to the Quince team for landing both in the Outstanding Restaurant and the Best New Restaurant categories with wine-bar offshoot Verjus. And to Swan Oyster Depot which received a surprise honor — in the company of Saison — in the Outstanding Hospitality category.

Also, Chronicle critic Soleil Ho, who had barely been on the job a year when the long-list of semifinalists came out, was nominated in the Craig Claiborne Distinguished Restaurant Review Award category in the media awards alongside NYT critic Pete Wells. That honor named a trio of her reviews, including her rookie-week pan of Chez Panisse, and her takedown of Le Colonial.

Anyway, the full list is here, and here in the Bay Area, these are this year's nominees in the chef and restaurant categories:

Best New Restaurant
Verjus

Outstanding Restaurant
Quince

Outstanding Chef
David Kinch, Manresa, Los Gatos
Corey Lee, Benu, San Francisco

Rising Star Chef of the Year
Gaby Maeda, State Bird Provisions

Best Chef: California

• Brandon Jew, Mister Jiu’s, San Francisco
• Mourad Lahlou, Mourad, San Francisco
• Joshua Skenes, Angler, San Francisco
• Pim Techamuanvivit, Kin Khao, San Francisco

Outstanding Bar Program
Trick Dog

Outstanding Pastry Chef
Juan Contreras, Atelier Crenn

Outstanding Baker
Avery Ruzicka, Manresa Bread, Los Gatos

Outstanding Wine, Spirits, or Beer Producer
Cathy Corison, Corison Winery, St. Helena
Lance Winters, St. George Spirits, Alameda

Outstanding Hospitality
Saison
Swan Oyster Depot

Earlier this week we caught wind that Quince had started serving a truffle dish atop iPads displaying a video of the dogs used for truffle hunting in Italy. Though this was not the first time a restaurant had employed the tech gadget as an animated plate for food, the photo was tweeted out by local chef/Twitter pundit Richie Nakano and subsequently made the rounds of Laughing Squid, the Daily Dot, and others, drawing some laughter on the internet. Now, Quince chef Michael Tusk has responded with some clarification about the dish, and why he decided to incorporate this piece of tech in the service at his Michelin three-star restaurant.

Chef Tusk says that first and foremost he was looking to educate people about how truffles are found and harvested, to bring diners closer to the ingredient itself, and to provide "a humorous/whimsical start to the meal." And, "At the end of the day it is a little bite to get the meal started and tell a story and put the guest at ease."

He also explains that no food is served directly on the iPad itself. The device slips into a custom made wooden box — made by local woodworker Luke Bartels — with a plastic sheath upon which the food sits, which gets washed after each use.

The dish, dubbed "A Dog in Search of Gold," has been on the menu two years, and began without the use of the iPad, featuring both white and black Perigord truffles, along with other elements including an edible "soil' made with Jerusalem artichokes. There's is also a croquette of ricotta, chickpeas, and Parmigiano Reggiano that's dusted with an edible ash and meant to look like a black truffle — and other elements and garnishes have been used for the dish depending on the season.

The idea for the iPad video, he says, came in part from want to give a playful nod to "techie" San Francisco, as well as to show people how the modern truffle hunt occurs. "The idea was simply about taking the guest on a voyage to being out truffle hunting and then having a moment when the truffle is dug from the ground." And, he adds, "A lot of both my staff still have visions of large pigs hunting for truffles in photos from decades past, not small and nimble dogs."

And when the dish is put in front of guests, he says, the response has been overwhelmingly positive, especially from dog owners. "We have actually had multiple guests who have Lagotto Romagnolo dogs and they love it."

The iPad boxes have been used as well for a potato dish, when it's not truffle season, with a video showing potatoes being pulled from the ground. "It’s as if you dug the potato and then were able to rub its skin off and have it at your table with that sense of immediacy that makes it so exciting to bite into," he tells us.

And, as Chef Tusk Instagrammed earlier this year, they used the screens to show frogs beneath a dish of frog's legs with watercress and sorrel.

The traditional plate, as Tusk is also quick to point out, has kind of fallen by the wayside in fine dining establishments as chefs continue to try to wow diners with new and different modes of presentation. (It's a phenomenon that has, of course, spawned a mocking Twitter account called We Want Plates.) "If you dine out at restaurants around the world, the days of eating on a certain style of plate are over with," Tusk writes. "Plus during a meal at Quince you will have plates made locally, from Spain, France, and as far away as Kyoto. So throwing in a local touch was very appealing to me."

Previously: Peak San Francisco: Michelin Starred Quince Is Now Serving Food On An iPad

pic.twitter.com/Q5vrsoZB44

— Richie Nakano✨🚀🛰🌙 (@linecook) December 27, 2016

San Francisco's Quince made news this October when it was awarded a third Michelin star, but in a sign that even the most prestigious restaurants are struggling to maintain their cutting edge we learn today that its chefs have cooked up a bold new plan to grab the Instagram-ready eyes of customers: Dishes served on iPads. And to make matters even lamer, they didn't even come up with the idea themselves.

Chef and local firebrand Richie Nakano tweeted out the news this afternoon, and a quick Yelp search confirms the existence of the questionably plated "a dog in search of gold" dish (we called the restaurant for further details, but they were closed).

Described as "white truffle croquettes on iPads playing videos of water dogs on the truffle-hunt" by whoever sent the photo to Nakano, the plating raises some obvious questions. Namely, does the San Francisco Department of Public Health have an acceptable washing method for iPads? And, this being San Francisco, how long until someone reprograms one of those things to display one-star Quince reviews on Yelp?

According to the Daily Mail, chefs serving up dishes on iPads has been a thing in the United Kingdom since at least 2015. In other words, Quince's idea isn't just bizarre — it's a rip-off as well.

Related: Michelin Stars Are Out, And SF Has As Many 3-Star Restaurants As NYC

The "congrats" tweets are pouring in to Bay Area restaurants blessed with Michelin stars today, and, one imagines, the champagne and tears are flowing readily. Observe:

State Bird Provisions, as the above tweet indicates, earned its second star for decorated chef/owners Stuart Brioza and Nicole Krasinski, who also snagged a first star for their sister restaurant the Progress. Eater had the early word on Mister Jiu's first star and Lazy Bear's second. Those two are particularly unusual in that Brandow Jew's new school Chinatown restaurant has only been open since April, and Lazy Bear, David Barzelay's Mission restaurant with its communal tables and dinner party vibe is a far cry from the usual Michelin script.

Two stars from @michelininspectors!!! Congrats to the whole team!

A photo posted by Lazy Bear (@lazybearsf) on Oct 25, 2016 at 10:28am PDT

The full list of winners has just emerged, which includes big news for Quince. The Jackson Square restaurant of Michael and Lindsay Tusk joins a small coterie of three-star restaurants in the area: Benu, the French Laundry, the Restaurant at Meadowood, Manresa, and Saison. There are just over 100 three-star restaurants in the world according to Michelin, and now the Bay Area has six of them, the same number as a little town called New York City.

San Francisco sushi restaurants Ju-ni and Hashiri each earned a star this year, although Kusakabe lost its star. Oakland was essentially overlooked: Commis kept its existing star, but that's it. Farther afield, San Jose portuguese restaurant Adega earned its first star.

The snubbed list, as far as the Chronicle sees it, includes In Situ, Cala, Petit Crenn, and Camino, although In Situ might simply be too new, and chef Corey Lee holds onto his three stars for Benu. Meanwhile, Atelier Crenn and Petit Crenn Chef Dominique Crenn also maintains her two stars, although as Eater points out, no woman chef currently holds three Michelin stars.

Below, the entire list, with new star awardees bolded. Last week we learned of the "Bib Gourmand" winners, a group who were not awarded stars but who were recognized by the Michelin Guide as good value bets.

Three Stars
Benu, San Francisco
The French Laundry, Wine Country
Manresa, Peninsula
Quince, San Francisco
The Restaurant at Meadowood, Wine Country
Saison, San Francisco

Two Stars
Acquerello, San Francisco
Atelier Crenn, San Francisco
Baumé, South Bay
Campton Place, San Francisco
Coi, San Francisco
Commis, Oakland
Lazy Bear, San Francisco

One Star
Adega, San Jose
Al’s Place, San Francisco
Aster, San Francisco
Auberge du Soleil, Wine Country
Aziza, San Francisco
Bouchon, Wine Country
Californios, San Francisco
Chez TJ, South Bay
Commonwealth, San Francisco
Farmhouse Inn & Restaurant, Wine Country
Gary Danko, San Francisco
Hashiri, San Francisco
Ju-ni, San Francisco
Keiko à Nob Hill, San Francisco
Kin Khao, San Francisco
La Toque, Wine Country
Lord Stanley, San Francisco
Luce, San Francisco
Madera, Peninsula
Madrona Manor, Wine Country
Michael Mina, San Francisco
Mister Jiu’s, San Francisco
Mosu, San Francisco
Mourad, San Francisco
Nico, San Francisco
Octavia, San Francisco
Omakase, San Francisco
Plumed Horse, South Bay
The Progress, San Francisco
Rasa, Peninsula
Solbar, Wine Country
Sons & Daughters, San Francisco
SPQR, San Francisco
Spruce, San Francisco
State Bird Provisions, San Francisco
Sushi Yoshizumi, Peninsula
Terra, Wine Country
Terrapin Creek, Wine Country
The Village Pub, Peninsula
Wako, San Francisco
Wakuriya, Peninsula

Previously: Ahead Of Michelin Guide Update, 11 New Bay Area Restaurants Receive 'Bib Gourmand' Nod

A month ago we had the so-called "long list" of semi-finalists for this year's "Oscars of the food world," a.k.a. The James Beard Foundation Awards. And today we bring you the short list of actual nominees, in which San Francisco's been blackballed from two of the big national categories for the first time in quite a while.

The three-month-old State Bird sister restaurant The Progress made it onto the short list in the Best New Restaurant category, beating out the other listed semi-finalist, Lazy Bear — although however great The Progress may be, it stands little chance of winning given that chefs Stuart Brioza and Nicole Krasinski won in this category just two years ago for State Bird Provisions, and the politics of these awards work similarly to the Oscars that way. (Eater National has a pretty fun set of charts showing which cities have taken home which awards over the years, and New York trumps all given that a) the event traditionally takes place there, though this year it's going to Chicago, and b) much of the voting block of over 500 are previous winners, many of whom came from New York.)

And San Francisco, having been in the spotlight in some of the major categories for a couple of years running, is missing completely from the national categories of Outstanding Restaurant and Outstanding Chef, but SF took the Outstanding Restaurant category twice in the last three years, for Boulevard in 2012, and for Slanted Door in 2014. Again, politics.

SF beats out LA 3 to 2 in the Best Chef: West category (which Coi chef Daniel Patterson took home last year), with nominees Corey Lee (Benu), Matthew Accarrino (SPQR), and another nomination for Stuart Brioza and Nicole Krasinski, who graduated to this category last year.

Also somewhat unique to these awards is that once you have been nominated in a given category, you tend to be re-nominated every year until you win — see the example of Boulevard, which was nominated seven years in a row before taking home the Outstanding Restaurant prize, and Daniel Patterson, who was nominated six times before winning.

And also of note, Manresa chef de cuisine Jessica Largey is nominated in the Rising Star category, Quince gets another nomination for Outstanding Service, and the bakers behind Craftsman & Wolves (William Werner) and b. patisserie (Belinda Leong and Michael Suas) are nominated in the Outstanding Baker category.

Inside Scoop has the complete list of nominees, including those in the broadcast, cookbook, and journalism categories. Below are the chef and restaurant nominees. Winners will be announced on May 4, 2015 at a ceremony in Chicago.

The 2015 Restaurant and Chef Award Nominees

Best New Restaurant

Bâtard, NYC
Central Provisions, Portland, ME
Cosme, NYC
Parachute, Chicago
Petit Trois, Los Angeles
The Progress, San Francisco
Spoon and Stable, Minneapolis

Best Chef: West

Matthew Accarrino, SPQR, San Francisco
Stuart Brioza and Nicole Krasinski, State Bird Provisions, San Francisco
Michael Cimarusti, Providence, Los Angeles
Corey Lee, Benu, San Francisco
Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo, Animal, Los Angeles

Outstanding Chef

Michael Anthony, Gramercy Tavern, NYC
Sean Brock, Husk, Charleston, SC
Suzanne Goin, Lucques, Los Angeles
Donald Link, Herbsaint, New Orleans
Marc Vetri, Vetri, Philadelphia

Outstanding Restaurant

Blue Hill at Stone Barns, Pocantico Hills, NY
Highlands Bar and Grill, Birmingham, AL
Momofuku Noodle Bar, NYC
Per Se, NYC
The Spotted Pig, NYC

Outstanding Baker

Joanne Chang, Flour Bakery + Cafe, Boston
Mark Furstenberg, Bread Furst, Washington, D.C.
Jim Lahey, Sullivan Street Bakery, NYC
Belinda Leong and Michel Suas, B. Patisserie, San Francisco
William Werner, Craftsman and Wolves, San Francisco

Outstanding Bar Program

Arnaud’s French 75 Bar, New Orleans
Bar Agricole, San Francisco
Maison Premiere, Brooklyn, NY
Trick Dog, San Francisco
The Violet Hour, Chicago

Outstanding Pastry Chef

Dana Cree, Blackbird, Chicago
Maura Kilpatrick, Oleana, Cambridge, MA
Dahlia Narvaez, Osteria Mozza, Los Angeles
Ghaya Oliveira, Daniel, NYC
Christina Tosi, Momofuku, NYC

Outstanding Restaurateur

JoAnn Clevenger, Upperline, New Orleans
Donnie Madia, One Off Hospitality Group, Chicago (Blackbird, Avec, The Publican, and others)
Michael Mina, Mina Group, San Francisco (Michael Mina, RN74, Bourbon Steak, and others)
Cindy Pawlcyn, Napa, CA (Mustards Grill, Cindy’s Back Street Kitchen, and Cindy’s Waterfront at the Monterey Bay Aquarium)
Stephen Starr, Starr Restaurants, Philadelphia (The Dandelion, Talula’s Garden, Serpico, and others)

Outstanding Service

The Barn at Blackberry Farm, Walland, TN
Marea, NYC
Quince, San Francisco
Restaurant August, New Orleans
Topolobampo, Chicago

Outstanding Wine Program

A16, San Francisco
Bern’s Steak House, Tampa, FL
FIG, Charleston, SC
McCrady’s, Charleston, SC
Spago, Beverly Hills, CA

Outstanding Wine, Beer, or Spirits Professional

Sam Calagione, Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, Milton, DE
Ron Cooper, Del Maguey Single Village Mezcal, Ranchos de Taos, NM
Ted Lemon, Littorai Wines, Sebastopol, CA
Rajat Parr, Mina Group, San Francisco
Harlen Wheatley, Buffalo Trace Distillery, Frankfort, KY

Rising Star Chef of the Year

Tanya Baker, Boarding House, Chicago
Alex Bois, High Street on Market, Philadelphia
Erik Bruner-Yang, Toki Underground, Washington, D.C.
Jessica Largey, Manresa, Los Gatos, CA
Cara Stadler, Tao Yuan, Brunswick, ME
Ari Taymor, Alma, Los Angeles

Best Chef: Great Lakes

Curtis Duffy, Grace, Chicago
Jonathon Sawyer, The Greenhouse Tavern, Cleveland
Paul Virant, Vie, Western Springs, IL
Erling Wu-Bower, Nico Osteria, Chicago
Andrew Zimmerman, Sepia, Chicago

Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic

Joe Cicala, Le Virtù, Philadelphia
Spike Gjerde, Woodberry Kitchen, Baltimore
Rich Landau, Vedge, Philadelphia
Greg Vernick, Vernick Food & Drink, Philadelphia
Cindy Wolf, Charleston, Baltimore

Best Chef: Midwest

Paul Berglund, The Bachelor Farmer, Minneapolis
Justin Carlisle, Ardent, Milwaukee
Gerard Craft, Niche, Clayton, MO
Michelle Gayer, Salty Tart, Minneapolis
Lenny Russo, Heartland Restaurant & Farm Direct Market, St. Paul, MN

Best Chef: Northeast

Karen Akunowicz, Myers + Chang, Boston
Barry Maiden, Hungry Mother, Cambridge, MA
Masa Miyake, Miyake, Portland, ME
Cassie Piuma, Sarma, Somerville, MA
Andrew Taylor and Mike Wiley, Eventide Oyster Co., Portland, ME

Best Chef: Northwest

Greg Denton and Gabrielle Quiñónez Denton, Ox, Portland, OR
Renee Erickson, The Whale Wins, Seattle
Blaine Wetzel, The Willows Inn on Lummi Island, Lummi Island, WA
Justin Woodward, Castagna, Portland, OR
Rachel Yang and Seif Chirchi, Joule, Seattle

Best Chef: NYC

Marco Canora, Hearth
Mario Carbone and Rich Torrisi, Carbone
Mark Ladner, Del Posto
Anita Lo, Annisa
Ignacio Mattos, Estela
Jonathan Waxman, Barbuto

Best Chef: South

Vishwesh Bhatt, Snackbar, Oxford, MS
Justin Devillier, La Petite Grocery, New Orleans
Jose Enrique, Jose Enrique, San Juan, PR
Slade Rushing, Brennan’s, New Orleans
Alon Shaya, Domenica, New Orleans

Best Chef: Southeast

John Fleer, Rhubarb, Asheville, NC
Edward Lee, 610 Magnolia, Louisville, KY
Steven Satterfield, Miller Union, Atlanta
Jason Stanhope, FIG, Charleston, SC
Andrew Ticer and Michael Hudman, Andrew Michael Italian Kitchen, Memphis
Tandy Wilson, City House, Nashville

Best Chef: Southwest

Kevin Binkley, Binkley’s, Cave Creek, AZ
Aaron Franklin, Franklin Barbecue, Austin
Bryce Gilmore, Barley Swine, Austin
Hugo Ortega, Hugo’s, Houston
Martín Rios, Restaurant Martín, Santa Fe
Justin Yu, Oxheart, Houston

Previously: Daniel Patterson, Slanted Door Win Big At James Beard Awards

Quince is getting a makeover.

The two Michelin-starred, Jackson Square restaurant will close on July 25 and reopen September 19 to renovate its design and decor, including the addition of a new Champagne Bar & Lounge. In the interim, Quince will run a ticketed, pop-up dining series called curATE, located at Hedge Gallery (501 Pacific Avenue) from July 30 through August 30.

The new Quince, according to a press release, will feature a private entryway, two private dining rooms, a semi-private dining room, and additional chef's counter seating. The Champagne Bar will offer hors d’oevres starting at $25 and an á la carte menu, plus an extensive champagne list focused on small producers selected by Wine Director Jai Wilson. The bar and lounge will be open to walk-ins.

Owners Lindsay and Michael Tusk have tapped local designer Douglas Durkin for the remodel. Durkin’s vision is inspired by “the nostalgia many guests feel for Quince’s original location on Octavia Street” and the architecture of Quince’s current 1907 historic building, all while adding “intimacy and comfort” to the space.

The press release waxes poetic about “accoutrements,” “patinated metal,” and a “burnt orange and brown” color scheme, but this is Quince, so what do you expect?

The interim pop-up will serve five-course menus, in a series of five managed by different curators. Check out the menus here. Tickets start at $199, which you can buy here, and there’s an option to attend a $50 wine-and-canape reception before each dinner.