Our Story
wine spectator
Best of Award of Excellence winner SSAL combines Korean fine dining with Californian influences. Chef Junsoo Bae opened the restaurant in 2019 with his wife, Hyunyoung, and has garnered acclaim for his menu of thought-provoking but refined flavor …
Glug 50
In the 1970s, California became the birthplace of a quiet culinary revolution. A new wave of chefs, led by figures like Alice Waters and Jeremiah Tower, rejected the rigidity of French haute cuisine in favour of hyper-seasonal produce, unfussy technique, and a distinct sense of place.
Virginia Miller: Medium
Fine Dining’s Latest Wave in San Francisco: It’s Casual, Playful & Bold
One Michelin Korean Deserves Two Stars: SSAL
Take 2: Getting to know the story behind Michelin-rated restaurant Ssal
Ssal owner and chef shares his family values and recipes with the Mornings on 2 crew.
fine dining lovers
At his fine dining restaurant in San Francisco, Bae bridges generations through heirloom sesame oil, tasting menus, and weekly market trips with his son. When Junsoo Bae first declared at age 14 that he wanted to be a chef, his father immediately rebuked him…
eater
San Francisco’s Korean dining scene shouldn’t be slept on, and there’s perhaps no restaurant that better embodies the city’s unique perspective on the cuisine than one-Michelin-starred Ssal. Here, chef Junsoo Bae pulls inspiration from his childhood in Korea but swaps in…
SF Mag - 7 Chefs Making Moves
South Korean native Junsoo Bae wanted to be a chef since he was a teenager. Only after years of proving himself did his father allow him to attend culinary school in New York. Today, he’s living his dream…
Vera Magazine
SSAL, in the heart of San Francisco, is a modern Californian restaurant rooted in Korean traditions that offers a single nightly tasting menu in its open-kitchen dining room. The menu develops spontaneously, guided by seasonal market availability.
Noblesse Magazine - Korea
Flavor starts here, San Francisco
BestofKorea.com - All the Michelin Star Korean Restaurants in the US
Hyunyoung and Junsoo Bae have ample fine dining experience but were inspired to strike out on their own to fill what they saw as a void in San Francisco’s Korean restaurant scene. The result is this tasting menu that draws upon familiar flavors but sets itself apart with a sense of refined simplicity.