Sun Moon Studio is a Michelin-starred restaurant in Oakland, California, United States. Owned by co-chefs Sarah Cooper and Alan Hsu, it opened in 2024.
Sarah Cooper and Alan Hsu opened Sun Moon Studios in summer 2024.[1][2] Its name reflects contrasts including their opposed schedules when they met while working at Blue Hill at Stone Barns in New York,[3] as well as their sharing the building with a variety of craftspeople and artists.[2] After moving together to California, they had originally planned to open a restaurant and inn on a farm in the Pacific Northwest, but the purchase fell through.[1]
Sun Moon Studio is in West Oakland, on a block dominated by industry.[1][3] It has a capacity of 12 seated at 4 tables.[2][3][7] The restaurant serves a 13-course tasting menu four nights a week, Thursday through Sunday, increased from two at opening;[3] the cuisine is Californian, described by Cooper and Hsu as "farmer and producer-driven",[2][4][8] with dinner ending with fresh fruit.[1]
Cooper and Hsu work alone in the kitchen, with Hsu being baker and patissier as well as co-chef. They also grow their own salad greens, grind their own bread flour, use gaiwans made by Cooper to serve a tofu dish, and initially washed their own linens and took bookings personally via e-mail.[3] The restaurant opened with one employee, Übi Solorio, with whom they worked at Pomet restaurant in Oakland, who was responsible for front of house and beverages;[1]as of August2025[update] Michael Stephenes was also front of house staff.[2]
Reception
The chief restaurant critic of the San Francisco Chronicle, McKenzie Chung Fegan, named Sun Moon Studio as the best new restaurant in the Bay Area in 2024.[3][9] The Michelin Guide describes the restaurant's style as "pared down and technically precise, letting products shine while adding a spark of personality."[8]
Sun Moon Studio was included in The New York Times's 2025 list of the nation's 50 best restaurants[10][11] and in Bon Appétit's 2025 list of the nation's 20 best new restaurants;[7][12] a reviewer for The New York Times named it her favorite restaurant of the year, calling the dining experience there "joyous",[10][13] and the reviewer for Bon Appétit wrote that Cooper and Hsu's approach made the restaurant feel like a "collaborative culinary experiment" to "[f]ind the most passionate food people in the Bay Area [and] celebrate their work."[14]
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