Izakaya Rintaro — Spot-On From Start to Finish
Ribeye (back) and King Trumpet mushroom (foreground) yakitori at Izakaya Rintaro.
Rare is the restaurant where you sit down to an entire meal and never experience one mundane bite.
Izakaya Rintaro in San Francisco’s Mission District is such a place.
That was my experience a week ago, when I tried the Japanese small plates restaurant with my husband, where we paid our full tab at the end of a delightful dinner.
Izakaya Rintaro was opened two years ago by Chef-Owner Sylvan Mishima Brackett, who was born in Kyoto. Early on in his career, he was Alice Waters assistant at Chez Panisse. When I was a food writer on staff at the San Jose Mercury News, I would call him incessantly, in need of quotes regularly from Waters, which he remembered.
The front of the restaurant.
Chef Sylvan Mishima Brackett manning the grill.
At his izakaya, you’ll find the usual staple dishes and more. What truly sets them apart are the top-notch ingredients, detailed techniques, and flat-out care with which they are executed.