This month we interviewed Sons & Daughters, a beloved restaurant in Lower Nob Hill serving elevated Northern Californian cuisine and focusing on warm hospitality. Sons & Daughters holds a Michelin star & has been serving Andytown coffee via syphon since 2019. Read on to learn more!
Please introduce yourself and tell us how you ended up in the restaurant world.
My name is Julianna, a manager at Sons & Daughters. The performing arts played a significant role in my childhood and throughout high school, where I studied theatre tech and stage managing. My first experience in hospitality was during college in Santa Barbara. I helped fill in as a host a couple of nights each week at a family friend's restaurant. Everything - from the preparation of the dining room to the execution of service each night - reminded me of the kinetic and ephemeral spirit of performance and the theatre world. That connection, getting to work closely with like-minded team members and being a part of creating a fantastic experience for our guests made a lasting impression on me. It gave me a glimpse of the expansive potential for hospitality to whisk people away, even if only for just a couple of hours.
What makes Sons & Daughters special and different from other cafes and restaurants?
The intimate size of our restaurant makes it possible for all of our team members to personally greet and interact with all our guests each night – that extra touch really makes the Sons & Daughters experience. Additionally, this team is second to none :) We are a small crew of like-minded, hard-working people with lofty goals and even higher standards. Fostering this environment for one another is rare and really special.
How do you approach hospitality and customer service?
For me, hospitality and service is about being present - observing and listening so you can thoughtfully respond - all with the overall guest experience in mind.
Share one random fact about Sons & Daughters.
You’d never guess by the look of the restaurant today, but before Sons & Daughters came to be in 2010, it had been an Austrian restaurant for just shy of 32 years, called Cafe Mozart. The dining room was heartily adorned with rich velvet drapes, crystal chandeliers, white tablecloths, Persian rugs and was self-proclaimed "San Francisco's most romantic restaurant".
What is your favorite Andytown coffee?
Our favorite is always our current batch! Right now, the coffee we are using for our tableside siphon program is Andytown's Indonesia Natural Sulawesi Tana Torajan Bolokan. The coffee we typically pick for our program is the newest batch of Andytown's natural process coffee because it generally makes for a brighter and fruitier expression, which tends to be well-suited for a tasting menu. It’s also interesting to see how natural process can introduce new and unexpected flavors from otherwise classic coffee regions.
Where is Sons & Daughters located?
We are located at 708 Bush Street, in the lower Nob Hill neighborhood of downtown San Francisco.
What are your socials/website?
You can find us on our website (www.SonsandDaughtersSF.com) or on Instagram (@sonsanddaughterssf).
Thanks for reading!
