San Francisco is about the most exciting US city to eat in right now with a heady combination of young chefs and an obsession with pastry, coffee and innovation. Add to that a culture built on the paddock-to-plate philosophy that Alice Waters first espoused here over 40 years ago and you have a very fine place to eat indeed. Sky-rocketing rents fuelled by the tech boom do however threaten some of the earthier elements of San Francisco’s food scene, so there’s no better time to go than now – especially as Qantas has brought back direct flights to San Francisco from Australia.

Benu (22 Hawthorne St, CBD/Union Square) is a polished gem of a restaurant. Formal without being stuffy, this three-star ranks among my favourite fine diners in the world. While the decor is restrained the same cannot be said for Corey Lee’s delicate but totally delicious degustation menu, which gives the lightest of nods to his Korean heritage. Stunning pairings from Benu’s master sommelier, Yoon Ha, elevate almost all Lee’s dishes to even headier heights. Joshua Skenes’ restaurant, Saison (178 Townsend St, South Park), started as a pop-up in 2009. It has since not only found a home in this old warehouse but also three Michelin stars for a menu that is creative, and more than a little in love with local seafood (and butter!). Try their sublime ‘liquid toast’, sourdough toast topped with a tongue of sea urchin roe, the underside dunked in an emulsion of soy, brown butter and egg yolk. This warm, sodden gooeyness is the perfect foil to the sea foam freshness of the cool sea urchin. Unbelievable!

At Californios (3115 22nd St, Mission), a tiny 24-seat restaurant with a shimmering luxe interior, Val Cantu’s multi-course tasting menu takes familiar Mexican ideas and flavours, and reassembles them as a series of pretty but intensely flavoured jewels that have an almost Japanese precision about them. Roasted corn comes with the creamy maritime richness of uni (sea urchin), the smoky heat of chipotle and the surprising lemony bite of young kinome (prickly ash leaf), while refried beans arrive as a delicate little soup that unfolds in the mouth with a succession of textures, each heroing the flavours of three different heirloom beans. Carolyn Cantu runs the floor with a lovely mixture of genuine warmth and professionalism, making Californios an instant recommendation.

Commonwealth (2224 Mission St, Mission) is an unclothed but buzzy space, and a great find. It offers good value, market-driven cuisine featuring local ingredients like ember-roasted sablefish, sea urchin tongues and horseradish tofu paddling in a verdant veloute of green beans, or pickled redwood shoots and crispy buckwheat with a burnt butter froth swaddling a bowl of king trumpet mushrooms and slow-cooked egg. Gonzalo Guzman’s food at Nopalito (306 Broderick St, The Panhandle) is all about vibrant, modern Mexican using sustainable and organic produce wherever possible – whether in a refreshing salad of pickled shredded cactus, or excellent carnitas, pork braised with orange, bay leaf, milk, cinnamon and beer, that you stuff into blue corn tortillas, served with a cabbage slaw and a peppy fresh tomatillo salsa. Wash it all down with an almond milk horchata (a traditional drink made with ground almonds) or any number of their tequila-based cocteles (cocktails). Nopalito also has loads of excellent options for vegos.

At Liholiho Yacht Club (871 Sutter St, west of Union Sq), a huge photo of chef Ravi Kapur’s mum beams down on the dining room from behind the bar at this buzzing eatery that nods to Ravi’s Hawaiian homeland. The food here shares the warmth of her smile in spite of a stripped back interior, whether it’s steamed buns filled with the perfect balance of kimchi and soft beef tongue, sweet toast under a creamy swathe of duck liver parfait with the sweet acidity of pickled pineapple, or tuna poke with nori crackers. Finish with Ravi’s Hawaiian take on baked Alaska which has become California’s most Instagrammed dish.

Fillmore has become quite the hipster haven with some cute boutiques and designer stores but when it comes to food, the Californian yum cha of State Bird Provisions (1529 Fillmore St) and the broader menu of its sister, The Progress (1525 Fillmore St), have locals and tourists alike queueing from mid-afternoon. Think halibut ceviche or a creamy, golden tomato polenta. The next up-and-coming San Fran suburb is Bernal Heights and Old Bus Tavern (3193 Mission St, Bernal Heights) is the most vibrant sign of this rebirth. It usually has a handful of guest beers as well as half a dozen housemade beers on tap, while the restaurant runs with a menu of very beer-friendly food like house-pickled quail’s eggs on crispy leeks and a sensational bowl of chilli.

Bakery-cum-cafe Tartine Bakery (600 Guerrero St, Mission) is a fave for its wonderfully puffed-up almond croissants or the lightest of tangy lemon cream tarts with a crisp, tanned pastry shell. San Francisco’s most famous bakery morphs through the day, from commuters stopping in for a Blue Bottle coffee and Tartine’s morning bun (a cross between a brioche escargot and a sugar-dusted Chelsea bun), to ladies lunching on wedges of quiche with a warm, wobbly custard filling, and debating whether they really need a fluffy coconut cream pie. Yes, of course they do! There is much to love at Craftsman and Wolves (746 Valencia St, Mission), William Werner and Sarah Logan Werner’s baby that was part of the small-patisserie explosion of a few years back. A mille-feuille version of a pain au chocolate, brown butter financiers and thin, crisp half-pipes of speculoos (Dutch ginger biscuit) filled with seasonal fruit are just a few. Don’t leave without trying their housemade ham muffins that hide a surprise – a soft-boiled egg that is still runny when you cut it open. Afterwards check out the wonderful artisan chocolate a few doors down at Dandelion (740 Valencia St). Former Manresa pastry chef Belinda Leong has created her own slice of Paris in B Patiserrie (2821 California St, Lower Pacific Heights) famous for its sticky Bostock buns (sweet bread soaked in syrup and spread with frangipane), sexy little cakes in flavours such as rose rhubarb, and about the best kouign amann (Breton cake) you’ll find outside Copenhagen. Across the road at B on the Go (2794 California St), Belinda’s partner and baking guru Michel Suas has perfected a bread that you can slice thinly and fold over without it cracking – genius! – perfect for one-piece sandwiches like their mushroom and cheese melt. Saint Frank (2340 Polk St) is my favourite place for coffee in San Fran. The interior is all blonde-wood minimalism, the ristrettos are caramelly and velvety and they don’t shirk effort with their milk-based drinks either. If you need something sweet, walk south to Bob’s for old-style doughnuts (1621 Polk St), or to Mr Holmes Bakehouse (1042 Larkin St) for a cruffin – filled muffins made with croissant dough.

Linea Caffe on the edge of the Mission (3417 18th St) is the cute little home of pioneering San Fran barista Andrew Barnett and his excellent coffee that is less acidic than most San Fran roasts.

Head to the shipping container that is home to Smitten Ice Cream (432 Octavia St) for one of Robyn Sue Fisher’s nitrogen-frozen ice creams made to order. Very smooth, very dense and almost buttery, the seasonal flavours here range from winter’s maple brown sugar pumpkin or blood orange with pistachio cookies to summer’s strawberry with a drizzle of white balsamic gastrique. If that’s all too Jetsons for you then a visit to The Ice Cream Bar in Cole Valley (815 Cole St), a ‘30s soda bar complete with white cap-wearing soda jerks, might be more your speed. Beware as the soda and milkshakes here can be taken to some very adult places!

San Francisco has a fine bar culture. At the top end, they range from the swank and soaring high ceilings of Trou Normand (140 New Montgomery St) where you can sip vintage calvados and graze on some excellent charcuterie, or search out the unmarked doorway on Mason Street that leads to the tiny hidden cocktail lounge of Benjamin Cooper Bar (386 Geary St). Brian Felley and Mo Hodges are serious about the bartender’s craft, as shown by their short list of grown-up $12 cocktails that skimp on the sugar, but not the booze. At the other end of the scale, things range from the friendly, Bond-theme kitsch of Holy Mountain (680 Valencia St, Mission), which has the sort of comfortable atmosphere where you can easily find that you’ve drunk your way through the list and will now have to navigate the stairs back down to street level. Or maybe just down off your bar stool! At Emperor Norton’s Boozeland (510 Larkin St, The Tenderloin) dogs are welcome and there’s a pool table and shuffleboard to divert you. Heading into dive bar territory – and San Franciscans love a dive bar – one of my favourites is Zeitgeist (199 Valencia St, north of the Mission) with its grungy, rock-sodden interior, craft beers on tap, a decent Bloody Mary, and a beer garden.

At laidback Marlowe (500 Brannan St), a brunch of devilled eggs, buttermilk pancakes and a reviver cocktail will help put the day back into focus. But beware, as it’s easy to find that brunch has effortlessly merged into a relaxed lunch with their burger, brown butter Brussels sprouts, and a leisurely ramble down their cocktail list, helping to push the day out of focus again.

San Francisco is so focused on the bay it’s easy to forget that its West is fringed by broad sands and rolling swells of the Pacific Ocean. Head to laidback Ocean Beach to buy great tees from Mollusk Surf (4500 Irving St) and browse the hip stores of Judah Street. Start your visit with an espresso, a young coconut and a fat doorstop of cinnamon toast at the rather eclectic cafe, Trouble (4033 Judah St) – that’s all they serve! And have brunch at Outerlands (4001 Judah St at 45th Ave), an excellent cafe lined with weathered old boards that prides itself on its baking.

The tech boom has seen house and rental prices in San Fran rocket and it’s also impacted hotel rooms, which are some of the most expensive in the world. While you’ll find a number of cool revitalised motels between the Golden Gate Bridge and Fisherman’s Wharf, if you are looking for something with more of a boutique hotel vibe in the area then the new Hotel Zephyr (250 Beach St) is a good choice with a prime location overlooking the Bay and Alcatraz, plus a cool communal courtyard of giant Jenga sets, table tennis tables and fire-pits. If you want something more central, then try the new Hotel Zeppelin (545 Post St), which takes decor inspiration from San Fran’s rock past and keeps prices down by minimising frills.

A visit to the Saturday farmers’ market in the Ferry Building should start with a Blue Bottle coffee and a waffle at 9am. Browse the produce – there’s everything from purslane, and pea tendrils to obscure heirloom figs and ridiculously sweet oranges, depending on the season. Graze on porchetta rolls, the “best damn cheeseburger” from the 4505 Meats pop-up, or a cone of salumi from Boccalone.

Get tickets to watch the Giants play baseball and make like many other fans by warming up at Red’s Java House on Pier 30 before the game. This 80-year-old diner still maintains an authentic grungy charm, but sit on the friendly waterside deck out back for pitchers of weak beer and distinctly un-gourmet hot dogs and hamburgers. It’s totally beguiling.