Created Here Steph Chan

Melissa Perfit is the Executive Chef and a Partner at Popi’s Oysterette, a seafood restaurant that opened just over a year ago in San Francisco’s Marina district (and also a restaurant where Dr. Jill Biden dined on her last visit to the city).

Right out of culinary school, Melissa started her career at Bar Crudo before gaining experience and rising in the kitchens at SF staples such as Hog Island Oyster Co, Bar Tartine, Hard Water and Niku Steakhouse.

In 2022, the owners of Tacolicious Joe Hargrave and Mike Barrow approached Melissa with the idea of leading Popi’s Oysterette - as both the executive chef and a partner at the restaurant. In this episode, Melissa shares the lesson’s she’s learnt from over two decades in this industry that have shaped her success today, her hopes for Popi’s Oysterette in a city rich with seafood history, and whether or not she’ll do another cooking show like Top Chef again.

'Created Here' is a short ode to San Francisco’s restaurant scene, where each episode is about a different restaurant and the people behind the places that feed and fuel our communities today.

Colleen Booth is a partner and chief operating officer at Lazy Bear, a two Michelin star restaurant in San Francisco’s Mission district that describes itself as a modern American dinner party. Started by Chef David Barzelay in 2009, Lazy Bear very quickly went from being a pop-up in his apartment to one of the hardest dinner tickets to get in San Francisco.

Colleen first joined Lazy Bear in 2015, and helped lead the restaurant to its second Michelin star. Throughout her career she’s led, consulted and grown several restaurants and restaurant groups in the Bay Area including three Michelin star restaurant Atelier Crenn, the Zeppelin Hotel, True Laurel, and Airbnb’s food & beverage service.

In this episode, Colleen gives us a wonderful glimpse into her life: what led her to move to San Francisco, her passion for the industry she works in, the complexity of operating a restaurant, and how she’s harnessing her position as a leader in this industry to help mentor, lead, and create opportunities for others.

'Created Here' is a short ode to San Francisco’s restaurant scene, where each episode is about a different restaurant and the people behind the places that feed and fuel our communities today.

Heena Patel is the chef and owner of Besharam, a casual fine-dining restaurant featuring Gujarati food from India, that opened in San Francisco’s Dogpatch neighborhood in 2018. While Chef Heena has cooked for her friends & family her whole life, it was not until 2011 when her children had grown up that she decided to pursue her dreams of bringing her bold flavors to a wider audience.

Running Besharam, which means “shameless”, is the “most celebrated chapter of my life”, according to Patel. Every part of the restaurant is intentional and a reflection of how Chef Heena (and her husband Paresh, who is the co-owner) has poured everything into earning the guest’s trust and creating a unique experience.

In this episode, Chef Heena shares many things: her life story of immigrating to the US, how entrepreneurship has always been who she is, how she challenges herself & her team in the kitchen — but the most important takeaway is her belief in herself, and the living lesson of going after what you want.

'Created Here' is a short ode to San Francisco’s restaurant scene, where each episode is about a different restaurant and the people behind the places that feed and fuel our communities today.

Eric Wolfinger is a James Beard award-winning photographer, director and creative, who is well known in the food industry for the visuals & storytelling that he has brought to more than 20 cookbooks (“Tartine Bread”, “Making Chocolate: From Bean to Bar to S’more”, “American Sfoglino: A Master Class in Handmade Pasta”) and restaurants, especially in the Bay Area where he lived and worked for 18 years.

Eric sat down to talk about how through many twists and turns, his gravitation towards food, writing and photography shaped his journey, his background working in kitchens, and his (sometimes years long) process of working with chefs to bring their visions to life in cook books.

Eric has also worked with brands such as Whole Foods, William Sonoma and Peet’s. You can find out more about Eric and his work at https://www.ericwolfinger.com/

'Created Here' is a short ode to San Francisco’s restaurant scene, where each episode is about a different restaurant and the people behind the places that feed and fuel our communities today.

Chef Jeong-In Hwang is the Executive Chef of San Ho Won, the Korean charcoal BBQ restaurant located in San Francisco’s Mission District, that is a collaboration between himself and renowned Chef Corey Lee (French Laundry, Benu, In Situ).

San Ho Won opened in 2021 and has been fully booked every night it’s been open. The Michelin Star restaurant presents a new format for Korean bbq and aims to introduce new flavors to visitors such as the Kimchi Pozole.

Born in Korea and having moved to the US in 2016, Chef Jeong-In sat down to share more on his culinary journey, how he met & began collaborating with Chef Corey, the techniques used at San Ho Won, and how he’s hoping to lead the restaurant into the future. Chef Jeong-In is also the executive chef for the restaurant group that includes Benu.

'Created Here' is a short ode to San Francisco’s restaurant scene, where each episode is about a different restaurant and the people behind the places that feed and fuel our communities today.

Matt Ho is the founder and owner of Bodega SF, a modern Vietnamese restaurant in San Francisco's Tenderloin district that is the sequel to Matt's family's restaurant Bodega Bistro (which closed in 2017). Matt, alongside his business partners Eugene Kim and Adrienne Fornier opened Bodega SF in 2022 to raving reviews and success, and recently opened Felix, a cocktail bar below Bodega SF. As they embark on year two of the restaurant, Matt sat down to share the history of the restaurant, how it remains a family business, and his vision for the restaurant group's future.

'Created Here' is a short ode to San Francisco’s restaurant scene, where each episode is about a different restaurant and the people behind the places that feed and fuel our communities today.