Birdsong is a 2 Michelin star restaurant located at 1085 Mission street(between 6th and 7th street) in SoMa, San Francisco. At the helm is executive chef and owner Christopher Bleidorn.  Chef Bleidorn began his culinary career as a sous chef a Nine-Ten Restaurant in San Diego, following that he moved to Chicago to work under the tutelage of Grant Achatz at the acclaimed Alinea restaurant (3 Michelin star).  Next, Chef Bleiforn gained experience at Benu (3 Michelin Star) where he was the Pastry chef, and then at Atelier Crenn and Saison (both 3 Michelin star) where he was the chef de cuisine.  In 2018 Chef Bleidorn opened Birdsong and managed to get a Michelin star right away, then a 2nd star followed in 2021.

Chef Bleidorn emphasizes seasonality, meaning produce that is in season which in turn means they are at their best and most flavorful. Chef Bleiforn, like may other chefs these days, uses every part of the animal (nose to tail concept) and not the use of only the best cut, which is more common in the U.S. and particularly in high end restaurant. Nose to tail is a revival of sorts in America where people are seeing more offal on the menu.  

 The name Birdsong is a pleasant reference to the beauty of nature and how birds help ecosystems grow and stay healthy, setting a mentality for dinners as they step into the restaurant that wants to slow down cooking and bring back to its roaring fire and pristine ingredients.

The store front. The area around Birdsong is a bit sketchy but the reaturant itself is beautiful.

As soon as you walk in and after check in with the hostess there is a spacious living room/waiting area framed by large windows looking outside onto Mission street.

The interior of Birdsong is a breathtakingly gorgeous space, it feels elegant but natural.

The completely open kitchen is fenced in on two sides by three ripples-edged counter that seat 4 per counter for a total of 12 people making the work area feel like a stage.

Felled ash and Douglas fir trees create glowing flooring, the cabinets and tables match but are accented with pops of teal.

Against the wall are exposed bricks, banquette seats along the wall, wooden table, and two chairs in front of each table. 

Very tall ceiling making the place bright and feels very airy.  The wood used in the restaurant are locally sourced,

Here we are escorted to our table which is right in the middle of the room with a view of the main open kitchen.

Exposed beams and ducts work are exposed giving it an industrial look.

Here you can see the counters area (4 seats per counter), The kitchen area you see is only a part of the kitchen.  There are more behind the wooden and iron posts.

The two counters you see are call "Chef's Tables" facing the open kitchen.  You can reserve the dinning room table or the chef's table. 

View of the open kitchen from our table.

View from our table toward the exit

We were seated in the middle of the dinning room with the view of the main kitchen in front.

Wooden table, with earthy tone and Zen silverware.  Very unusual to see chopstick in an American restaurant.

Simple table set up, Scandinavian and Asian vibes.

Phuc bought two bottles of wine from his collection for the occasion.

Phuc opened both bottles at home so they have time to open up.

The kitchen in action.  Chef Bleidorn is on the far right with the brown apron and red strap around his chest.

The menu.  Note that they added "happy Birthday Phuc & Anne" on top of the menu.

Side view of our table.

Our waitress pouring the first bottle of wine

Cheers!

This how it works at Birdsong when they serve a dish.

There is 1 person in the back with the food on a tray and two waiters, one of each side and they serve Hoa and Phuc first and then they serve us because we are sitting further.

The reason they only allow 4 per table is for that reason.  6 would be too difficult to bring out 6 servings on a tray and they will need to serve the food 3 times instead of twice.

Enjoying our wine as our waiter/waitress are bringing out the first dish.

Note: Chef Bleidorn can be seen in the background between Hoa and Phuc.

Chef in actions in the kitchen

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