Anomaly SF

Anomaly SF is a small tasting-menu restaurant at 2600 Sutter Street on a quiet block of Lower Pacific Heights, opened by chef-owner Mike Lanham in January 2023 after nearly five years of running the concept as a word-of-mouth pop-up; the permanent buildout was funded in part through Kickstarter. Lanham trained at the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone and cooked at Spruce, the Michelin-starred Commis and Bird Dog before going out on his own. He describes the food as "Southern-Inspired Modernism" — Georgia-rooted cooking rebuilt with modernist technique, in dishes such as hash brown ice cream with truffle parmesan foam — served across roughly twelve courses in a room of about twenty seats. The restaurant received a Bib Gourmand in the 2024 California Michelin Guide, and service runs Tuesday through Saturday only.

The non-alcoholic pairing at Anomaly is bespoke rather than fixed, which is rare at any price point. General manager and beverage director Francis Kulaga sells it alongside the wine pairing at comparable cost — roughly $99 — and rather than pouring a pre-set sequence of zero-proof drinks, he talks to each guest about what they like and assembles the pairing course by course from that conversation. The backbone is dealcoholized and spirit-free product chosen for how closely it tracks the wine it stands in for, leaning on Free AF, Proxies and Leitz Sparkling, with a few standalone spirit-free cocktails available to guests who would rather have one. 7x7 covered the programme in January 2025 in a survey of San Francisco tasting menus with serious alcohol-free pairings, writing that "beverage director Francis Kulaga conspires with Anomaly SF's chef Mike Lanham to create non-alcoholic pairings driven by individual tastes." The practical consequence for a non-drinker is that the full twelve-course experience is available without substitution or apology, and that the pairing is different for each guest rather than a fixed list everyone receives. Because the restaurant is small and the pairing is built to order, it is worth flagging the request at the time of booking rather than on arrival.