After winning a James Beard Award for Best Chef in California, Gary Danko founded this gourmet mecca, which methodically tops critics’ lists of San Francisco’s finest food. Diners choose several courses from a nightly prix fixe menu that includes delicacies from horseradish-crusted salmon to juniper-flavored venison with chestnuts and cranberries. A small army of expert servers (they know more than most chefs) attends each table. Want a table? Call six weeks in advance.