Coi to Host High-Profile Chefs From Spain and Sweden

Just a day in the life of chef Magnus Nilsson, photo by Per-Anders Jörgensen

By Meesha Halm

One of the best places to taste sample some of the world’s most cutting edge cuisine is right here in good ole North Beach, courtesy of chef-owner Daniel Patterson, who has just announced the names and dates of the two new guest chefs that he plans to welcome as part of his ongoing visiting chefs series at San Francisco restaurant Coi.

First up, on September 28, will be chef Josean Alija, executive chef of Nerua at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao in Spain (and winner of the Chef of the Future awarded by the International Academy of Gastronomy), who will be collaborating with Patterson to present a special tasting menu that blends the chefs' two styles. We’re told Alija is known for his minimalist cuisine and strives to connect diners with familiar elements in food while at the same time challenging their palates with unexpected textures, flavors, and aromas. The eight-course menu will be offered at $165 per person (not including tax and gratuity), with wine pairings available for an additional $105.

On October 20, Patterson will join forces with acclaimed Swedish chef Magnus Nilsson to create an eight-course tasting menu in honor of the release of Nilsson’s first cookbook, FAVIKEN. The 28-year old chef, whose 12-seat restaurant Fäviken Magasinet is located on a remote 20,000-acre farm and hunting estate in Northern Sweden not far from the Arctic Circle, grows almost everything on property and is most inspired by nature and his surrounding environment. His restaurant is ranked as one of the World's Top 50. The eight-course tasting menu will be $250 (not including tax and gratuity), which includes a signed copy of FAVIKEN; wine pairings are available for an additional $105.

Despite their fat price tags, we can assure you that both dinners will sell out ahead of time so if you’re inclined to experience either one, call the restaurant tout suite. Reservations for either dinner must be made by calling the restaurant directly at 415-393-9000; online reservations will not be taken.

Photo by Per-Anders Jörgensen via The Guardian; see more photos of Nilsson posing for Jörgensen at the photographer's new magazine Fool.