Guest Chef

We came here for dinner to try Chef Selome’s awesome menu. The atmosphere was festive and we really enjoyed the variety of delicious Ethiopian food. We wish it could be open for lunch too. Great idea and definitely great concept.

Just so Unilocalers know and to be fair to the final chef and crew, Guest Chef is still OPEN through SUNDAY, JULY 14, 2013. I’m sure because our party of 6 just had a «magnifico» meal there!
While this is sadly the final weekend for this concept restaurant, visiting Chef Adam Zappa & crew of La Cadrega Ristorante are serving up some fabulous meals influenced from years spent living and working in Northern Italy. Our party ordered a majority of the various offerings on the menu and found everything, including the service and live guitar serenata, to be just wonderful!
For those that have not been to Guest Chef before, this College Ave restaurant atmosphere is both relaxing and romantic. What better way to help a young aspiring chef and local entrepreneur than to enjoy a final weekend meal at this unique neighborhood visit to Italia!
BUON APPETITO!

Great concept, and well executed. Small restaurant (seats 25?) that changes chefs every two weeks. $ 60 prix fixe with wine … great value.
Food with our chef (who came over to say hello) was perfect … small plates that were interesting and tasted great. Choices too so that pickier eaters will enjoy.
I’ll be back …

Think the concept is a good one. But for a consumer, it’s hard to judge. Since one night, you might get an awesome chef and another might be just so-​so. I’d give it another try though, but only after someone else tried the current chef first. Don’t really want to waste a good date night on a meh kinda dinner, especially when there’s so many new proven spots to try.

Make a reservation to sit at the bar and observe the Chef up close.
Can I take a moment to rave about our brunch? First time here, but definitely not the last.
This review is a bit overdue so pardon the late post. We dined at Guest Chef several weeks ago when David Tendick of Smokehouse 10 was there. I knew a dinner reservation was going to be hard to book so I opted to go with an early afternoon stop in for Sunday brunch. Venturing out to Oakland is something I’ve been wanting to do. Great concept bringing in different Chefs every few weeks. You can even try your culinary skills as a Guest Chef if you wish.
The place is very small avnd quaint. Good thing we came in when the place was nearly empty.
The menu was pretty simple, offering a taste of southern eats and smoky goodness. We came too late for the fried chicken and waffles. I had the BBQ pork hash topped with a poached egg served with grits. MMMmmmm! My significant other had the basic steak and eggs. I’m told the beef used is not just any beef. It was a ribeye. Not too shabby for being seasoned with just salt/​pepper. I could have sworn there was a secret rub, but that’s what good quality can do for a steak. Pretty decent portions for both meals. The grits were a hit with my significant other and he ended up eating half of them instead of finishing his country potatoes that came with his meal.
The cool thing about Guest Chef is that you can talk with the Chef, ask questions, share info on places to eat and get some background about them and their food. There was a young apprentice assisting that day and he was happy to chat it up as well. It was refreshing to see a young man learning how to prep for the next meal. It was all very good. Instead of indulging in any sweets that came after meal, I inquired about a local Gelato spot that we could hit up later. The hostess gave us a recommendation. I will have to keep an eye out on the offerings at Guest Chef in the coming months.

A unique experience to try a few weeks apart from different chefs, cuisines, with the same ambiance each week or so. Having your meals serve directly from the chefs gives it a more intimate feelings that the chef really compassionate on cooking. You can also tell whether these chefs have been cooking for many years or just some little gatherings, but when it gets busy, the food does take awhile. The chef we had that night has two other assistants, but it just felt like the two assistants didnt know anything or werent able to making their own decisions to speed the food up. I wasnt sure if this was their first night at the restaurants so they were still trying to settle themselves in but it definitely took them awhile just to make us two meals.
I had the lamb shank, which I expected the meat to be soft and falls right of the bone, indeed it sorta fall off the bone, but the meat was definitely not soft enough, I told the chef this and it definitely gave her a heads up that the meat needed to cook a little more longer than she expected. She thought it was fine, but maybe my taste and texture of food experience is different from her. My guest had the filet migon which is good, cook at the right temperature and definitely delicious. Both meals werent something unique or spectacular as what I would expected it was just a nice experience to be up close to the chefs preparing, cooking and serving it to you directly was the only different with the experience.
I find that guest chef is place that gives many chefs extra opportunities to cook for people and also something to announce differently for the restaurant. Its something to try if you want to have the chef and guest experience.

This is a unique restaurant. They change out the chef every week or two. This is my first time here.
This week, they have Ikeena Reed in the kitchen. (See my earlier review of Keena’s Kitchen). Just like her catering business, the food is nothing short of amazing. I started with the potato leek soup. My friend started with the tomato Napoleon. Both were scrumptious. The potato leek soup was a rich delicious thick creamy goodness finished off with a delightful sour cream swirl and fresh chopped leek tops. The tomato Napoleon was alternating stacks of fried heirloom tomatoes and goat cheese with a side of tomato jam and a delicious remoulade.
For our main courses, I ordered the lamb and my friend ordered sliders. The lamb was nothing short of A-​MAZ-​ING. It came with greens that had been sautéed with mushrooms, onions, and spices. The greens were fresh, crisp, and tangy. Also on the side were two wonderful corn muffins. The lamb was so tender you could cut it with a butter spreader. It was even more delicious than it was tender.
My friend tells me the sliders were also delicious.
For dessert we split an order of egg pie and one of the cranberry cobblers. Both were fantastic and beautifully presented.

Came here for Fortnight by chef Nathan Britton and JB O’Brien and we couldn’t ask for a better meal. We tried 8 out of 10 savory dishes that they offered. Everything was so good. Our favorites are …
1. Agnolotti: We just came back from Piedmont in Italy. We were really surprised by how good this dish is even compared to what we had in Italy.
2. Foraged Mushroom Hash: Genius. What a perfect combination. The poached egg really takes it to another level.
3. Crispy Sweetbreads: We usually don’t like sweetbreads but this one changed our mind. The texture is perfect. Crispy on the outside, soft and buttery inside.
Overall, we love the concept of both Guest Chef and Fortnight. Looking forward to try new chefs here!

This is too much fun. Our chefs were Nathan Britton and JB O’brien with their concept Fortnight. We almost ate everything on the menu. Best thing ever is the Agnolotti, which was beautifully filled and in a truffle sayboyan, we wanted to lick the plate and did. Also on the top of the list were Crispy Sweetbreads that were luscious. I would leave the fall vegetable salad from Eatwell behind because they were miniature doll sized and replace them with the Foraged Mushroom Hash, which the folks at the next table were raving about.
The front of house were super nice and accommodating, the portions a little small, the price a little high but the experience (hit or miss) is worth it. One of these guys or gals could be the Keller. We will be back.

Darn, I was so ready to love this place… well, that’s expectations for ya.
The chef was John Farias with his Indigenous Edibles. I have to say the menu looked marvelous — bf and I LOVE game meat. We ordered the oyster appetizer along with the cactus fries. Oysters were good, but the cactus fries were way under salted, plus it too a loooong time to get them.
Our entrees were the venison and the sturgeon. Sturgeon was perfect but the venison was a total disappoinment. It was overcooked, leathery, not that tasty and the dish was barely warm. The berry cobbler for dessert was very good.
Love the concept of the restaurant, but I see now that it will be a hit or miss experience.

Came here to try Chef Ronny’s Azorean inspired menu with a group of friends and had a really great time. The open kitchen was nice as we could watch the chef in action. The service was good and the food was even better. The timing of courses was perfect, everything was cooked well, and the flavors were amazing. I liked everything I ate and after hearing that Chef Ronny was changing the menu for the second week, I went back with a different group of friends.
I think Guest Chef is a really great concept and I’m eager to try the next chef!

Well, after having this place Unilocal bookmarked for months, I finally got to Guest Chef. Not at ALL what I expected. I thought that we diners were helping chefs flesh out a great menu and great recipes. Nope. It’s like a regular restaurant, but with some misfires, and NO opportunity to give feedback. I was thinking that it would be more, you know, interactive. Like we’d end with a survey maybe: what worked? what didn’t? what was your favorite dish tonight? etc. Nope. I mean, this could have been a lot more fun and more helpful for the chef, right? Sigh. My foodie dining partners were even more disappointed than I was. Oh, well. Now we know.

I really like the concept of this restaurant. The space is nice and cozy, I like the open kitchen concept and the hostess was very kind and helpful.
We came for Rhonda Wilcox’s Saavik’s Bistro.
A LivingSocial deal brought us here. $ 18 for a three course meal of spinach salad, roast chicken and crème brûlée for dessert. Awesome deal! I spotted a different main that I really wanted to try so I asked the hostess who asked the chef, Rhonda, whether I could substitute, she said it wasn’t a problem. Of course I had to be difficult… but it looked so good! The bouillabase was very tasty and I’m so happy I could try it. My boyfriend stuck with the chicken which was also very tasty, I would have been very happy eating that as well.
The spinach salad was standard, just spinach with a few slices of tomato and poppy seed dressing, but fresh and tasty nonetheless. Sadly, the crème brûlée was cold inside, although the top was nice and crispy… and we both thought it lacked a little flavor. Not bad, but not great. Overall we had a good experience eating here. I would have come here had I not had the LivingSocial deal, and we’ll probably be coming back to try other chefs as well!

July 28^th — yuck — boxed potatoes … really
Dry aged new york steak special… really again … key word here is DRY — thing turned into sawdust in my mouth — just stay away from here until this chef goes home —
maybe next time will be better

My second time at Guest Chef for The Dinner Belle — Betsy Nevins’ two-​week stint — even better than the first! Chef Nevins outshone herself. Six of us ordered practically everything on her excellent, fresh and well-​executed menu.
For starters we had the scallops over potato chip on a bed of minty pea purée — divinely decadent. the scallops were creamy and perfectly accented by the luscious peas. We also got the lemon/​thyme/​fennel mousse with toast points — super delicate and subtle. I think our fave was the roasted grapes, roqueforte, pesto and focaccia. such a great combination of flavors and textures.
In our own silliness, we all ordered the same salad course — the fat asparagus and egg mignonette. Fresh and springy! each serving had I believe 4 or 5 asparagus, drizzled with the yummy hardboiled egg/​vinaigrette mixture.
for mains, we had the salmon, the duck, and the lamb. the salmon was an herbed and seared piece of perfectly cooked sweet fish, lovely over its bed of israeli couscous, and paired with a sweet/​tart roasted tomato. i wish we could post pics here of the dishes, they were all so beautiful, too!
the moroccan lamb was out of this world. so deeply flavorful and comforting. last time I tried it, it was served over a root veggie mash, which i loved. this time, it came with raviolis, and i forget what was inside them, but they were delicious! the raviolis held their shape even while engulfed by the warm, cumin-​scented lamb. a wonderful dish.
my duck was beautifully fatty and unctuous over a bed of maple/​bacon lentils. a woodsy, satisfying dish that I’d get again for sure.
Desserts were the goatcheese cheesecake, nut-​coated, the orange water panna cotta — TO DIE FOR — and a salted chocolate cakey thing. all wonderful. as a parting gift, Chef Nevins gave us a lovely roasted sweet/​tart apricot split and topped with i believe crème fraîche and walnut piece. Perfect little ending to a great meal.
There was a great selection of wines by the bottle and by the glass. Very affordable, too. Service was spot-​on and warm, and the place itself is adorable — light and airy with beautiful wood throughout. A great little space.
The concept of this restaurant is genius: A new chef and new menus every couple of weeks. What a great way to showcase the Bay Area’s budding chefs. I’ll definitely come back to try other chef’s menus.

Went for 5:30 reservations for 2. My friend and I were excited to try this place. Harley richter was cooking. We ordered the chartrucheri plate, salad for me, pea soup for my friend and we both ordered the cassoulet for our main. Also ordered scalloped potatoes. The order of serving was a bit off. We ordered beers expecting to enjoy with the chartrucheri, but my salad came first. They did not bring my friends soup, so I offered to share my salad. Then they brought the soup. Then the chartrucheri. Then the potatoes, a very small portion that we shared. The cassoulet seemed to need salt and pepper. We each had 2 beers and the total was $ 120.
Left feeling like it was ok, but not worth $ 60 per person.

We went to sample Joe Humphrey’s menu a few weeks ago and it was one of the best meals I’ve had in the Bay Area. Seriously.
I like the concept a lot but I bet this thing could be a little bit hit-​and-​miss; however with thoroughbreds like Humphrey I hope this place will attract chefs that are nearer to his caliber.

I do like the concept for Guest Chef. I will start with that out of the box. It’s a pretty little restaurant and a good size for the concept.
That said, it seems to me that the menu of the Guest Chef would be a key driver of when you chose to go right? So that’s what we did — the website said Vera Ciammetti Appearing January 24 — January 29^th (I just cut & paste that from their website) — and that the next chef starts on ¹⁄₃₁. So, one would be led to believe she’s cooking on January 29. Wrong. You would think that they would make this clear on their website if she wasn’t cooking on ¹⁄₂₉ — or call the people with reservations if she had to cancel at the last minute.
The food was fine by whoever cooked it, but there was a very limited selection, particularly since I don’t eat meat, which is one of the reasons why I would want to know what was being cooked ahead of time.
The restaurant seems to be served by one person provided by the restaurant, and anyone who the chef brings along. There was some pretty straightforward communication between front & back of house that didn’t happen, i.e., there were a lot of interruptions to our meal conversation that bordered on bothersome over the course of the meal.
I won’t go much into our meal since I can’t remember the name of the chef and I don’t know if he’ll appear in the future. It was Italian and generally pretty good — as I said, it was very limited menu, which I understand, but again, why I’d want to know in advance. Also, the plating was just plain awful. Someone at our table had the baccala and it was a rather small portion floating on a very large plate. Pasta came in a bowl. Appetizers (halved artichokes and a lightly fried cauliflower) were both just plunked on salad size plates. Pricing was generally pretty decent, a little on the pricey side for what was served.
Net-​net I would not go for a full «restaurant» experience here. Go to try new chefs and keep expectations set to moderate for the rest. May or may not go back — maybe if some chef seems really intriguing.

I am seriously conflicted because there are several factors making up the stars here.
We dined again last night and had Vera’s food. First, let me note: Vera is a warm, lovely, motherly woman. She is «mama» in the kitchen and in the dining room. She reminds me of my friends grandmother and mother (Italian) — who both love to feed people. It is in her DNA to feed and care for people at her table. The food: It was ‘okay’. Nothing stood out to us as «wow we have to eat that again» except maybe the deconstructed Kale Cesar salad — it was very good and I will make it at home. Yum. The rest of the meal was okay. So if that were my first experience I probably wouldn’t come back so soon. We lucked out and had two stellar dinners last week courtesy of Joe Humphrey’s Dixie. So we are big fans of this place because we know the potential!
I am keeping it at 5 stars because I love the concept. I love the idea of trying something new and different.
What I would recommend (as I will be doing this now) is to wait a week or at least a few days and check out the reviews and pedigree of the next chef prior to making rezzies. $ 100 ++ for a meal that is «okay» is a let down. But we gambled on it and the buzz and excitement leading up to it was fun and the anticipation of «what we might get» was entertaining.

Vera’s food is amazing, extremely glad we stopped at Guest Chef for lunch. What a cute spot. I had the pizza, kale Caesar, polenta cake and more. I can’t wait to go back for dinner while Vera is still in the kitchen –her food blows me away! It is simple, locally sourced and absolutely delicious.