Chef Heena Patel's Besharam Boldly & Authentically Elevates Comforting Childhood Favorites

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Elevated comfort, kind service, and a warm inviting atmosphere, that is what you'll immediately be welcomed with as soon as you step into Chef Heena Patel's stunning Besharam, and that's not even yet mentioning the impeccable food.

Roughly translating to "shameless," this regional Gujarati restaurant opened in 2018 in the Dogpatch, and has since become one of San Francisco's must-visit dining destinations that boldly embodies their name through Chef Heena's adventurously unabashed combinations of spices and flavors. From the fresh vegetarian menu, to the ingenious cocktail selection and genuine passion that exudes throughout the ambience, authenticity is consistently upheld, which derives from Chef Heena's playfully reimagining of her childhood favorites with modern Californian techniques and trends.

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Born in Gujarat's Balasinore, a thriving area known for its exquisite vegetarian cuisine, Heena developed her love for cooking while growing up watching her mother and aunt perfectly flavor food with a natural and heartfelt vigor. After spending time in Mumbai and London, she arrived to California in 1992 and received a residency with La Cocina, the Bay Area's local culinary incubator program, in 2014.

Her time at La Cocina allowed her to propel even further into San Francisco's vibrant culinary scene, adding experiences from premier restaurants to her resume like State Bird Provisions and Jardiniere. Such opportunities were truly pivotal to the visionary's creativity, growth, and innovation, for when the Minnesota Street Project had an open adjacent restaurant space in 2018, she knew the moment was perfect.

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Heena and husband Paresh fearlessly opened Besharam with custom interior artwork as vibrant, awe-inspiring, and true to her roots as her cuisine, which invites you through the flavors of cities like Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat, and Mumbai. Heena's heritage is proudly displayed on every corner of both the colorful menu and the location- an intimately tucked-away studio in the serene Dogpatch.

The wine and cocktail lists are also expansively cultural, thoughtfully curated with concoctions that feature everyday spices and common kitchen staples, like in the must-try Mumtaz with floral jasmine & rose gin, coconut liquer, and pistachio orgeat, and the warming Right Above it with black tea infused gin, chai masala syrup, and topped with a nostalgic Parle G biscuit.

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Such delicate balancing of contrasting flavors like savory and sweet, and textural components of crunchy and soft, are what Chef Heena tremendously excels at, lending meals into an everlasting dynamic journey of surprising and satisfying smells, tastes, and mouthfeels. The ingredients and cooking approaches themselves are also a perfect union of classic homestyle cooking with contemporary Californian seasonality, evident in the exemplary highlighting and transformations of locally-sourced produce and spices.

The 6+ course Prix Fixe is perhaps the best way to sample Chef Heena's cutting-edge prowess, which begins with a delightfully light Drunken Pani Puri with gin infused tamrind water, followed by crisp and chewy Kanji Wada tapioca fritters and Dahi Wada, where the dousing of cool yogurt and chutneys marry with the superbly crisp dumplings.

The Ringan No Oro and Chole also cannot be missed, which respectively are garlicky fire-charred eggplant, and chickpeas with chili. The spiciness of all the dishes are carefully calibrated to avoid overpowering, though the side orders of diverse chutneys and pickles allow you to customize for those more heat-seeking (adding the pickled turmeric makes for herbaceous, zesty bites!).

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The star of the show may well be the Maska Paneer with housemade cheese, garam masala, and the creamiest spinach sauce, which is just divine when eaten with the cheese-stuffed naan (a Besharam favorite and exclusive).

Saving room for dessert is essential, as the Mawa Beignets with toffee sauce, and Shrikhand Cheesecake with blueberry saffron compote are simply irresistable.

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Seeing Chef Heena's precision in harmonizing uncommonly paired textures, tastes, and ingredients make it clear why she was a 2022 James Beard Foundation Awards Best Chef California semifinalist, and Besharam as Eater San Francisco's Restaurant of the Year 2019.

Besharam truly feels like home, and with the open kitchen, you can watch Chef Heena in her element- lovingly crafting every dish with a careful coolness, even during rush hours. This award-winning venue is located on 1275 Minnesota Street and is open Wednesday to Saturday from 5 to 9pm, and Sundays from 5 to 8. Reservations can be made on their site.

See also: San Francisco's Best Authentic Indian Restaurants