William Bradley, the chef-director of Addison, San Diego’s only Michelin two-star restaurant, has invited another two-star chef, Val M. Cantú of Californios in San Francisco, to join him in preparing an eight-course menu. It will be served Nov. 3 and 4 for $425.
The two chefs will alternate courses on the meal, which is the second in a series of three California Collaboration dinners that Bradley is presenting with other like-minded chefs. The first California Collaboration dinners in August, where Bradley cooked with Michael Kammerer of Michelin two-star Harbor House Inn in Mendocino County, sold out almost immediately.
A tasting course on chef-director William Bradley’s California gastronomy menu at Addison resaturant.
(Courtesy of Eric Wolfinger)
Although the menu has not been announced, Bradley said it will celebrate the beauty of California fall ingredients, as well as the distinct culinary perspectives of his cooking in Southern California and Cantú’s cooking in the Bay area. Bradley said last summer that he created the series to have an opportunity to cook with chefs he admires and who share a similar cooking ethos. Bradley’s menu at Addison celebrates California gastronomy. Cantú’s menu at Californios presents contemporary Mexican cuisine through a California lens.
“It’s been exciting for our team at Addison to welcome these talented chefs from across California for our collaboration series this year,” Bradley said in a statement. “I have deep respect for what chef Cantú has accomplished and created at Californios, and we are honored for the opportunity to work alongside him and his team for this special experience.”
Cantú said he’s also excited to be cooking at Addison this fall: “We have admired their cooking for some time and look forward to cooking in San Diego.”
Chef Val M. Cantú at Californios, his Michelin two-tar contemporary Mexican restaurant in San Francisco.
(Courtesy of Adahlia Cole)
Raised in central Texas, where his father ran a small Mexican restaurant and tortilleria, Cantú studied English and business in college before returning to his original passion for cooking. After working at restaurants in Texas, he moved to the Bay area, where he started Californios as a pop-up in 2013. In January 2015, he opened his Californios restaurant in San Francisco’s SoMa (South of Market) district. It was designed by his wife Carolyn Cantú and is managed by his sister-in-law, Charlotte Randolph.
Californios earned its first Michelin star in 2015 and its second in 2017, which is the same year Cantú was named one of America’s Best New Chefs by Food & Wine Magazine.
A tasting course dish at chef-owner Val M. Cantú’s Californios restaurant in San Francisco.
(Courtesy of Adahlia Cole)
Bradley opened Addison in 2006. Over the years, the restaurant has racked up numerous accolades, including being one of just 80 Relais & Châteaux restaurants worldwide. In 2019, Addison earned San Diego’s first Michelin star, and last year Addison picked up its second star. Addison is the first and only restaurant in San Diego to be honored on La Liste, an international ranking system and guide.
Reservations for the November dinners open at noon today at opentable.com/addison-restaurant.
The visiting chef and dates for the third and final California Collaboration dinners have not been announced.