Presentation with San Francisco Chronicle restaurant critic MacKenzie Chung Fegan, in conversation with Monica Levin. Fegan, who was recently awarded the 2025 James Beard “Emerging Voice in Journalism” award, will tell us about her upbringing in a family of restaurateurs and how she became a restaurant critic at the Chronicle. Previously the senior editor of Bon Appétit and a writer for GQ, Wine Quarterly, Vice and more, MacKenzie will answer questions about her approach to restaurant criticism and the Bay Area restaurant scene. Lunch catered by Saul's Deli. Sponsored by Monica Levin and Nancy Igdaloff. Members only. Free. Reservations required by Tuesday, Sept. 9.

MacKenzie Chung Fegan became the San Francisco Chronicle’s Restaurant Critic in 2024. Previously, Fegan was a senior editor at Bon Appétit, and her writing on the intersection of food, drinks, culture and politics has appeared in GQ, Playboy, Vice, Paper, and Wine Enthusiast. Her profile of chef Brandon Jew appears in the 2021 edition of “The Best American Food Writing,” and she won the “Emerging Voice in Journalism" James Beard Award in 2025. As a critic, she tries to experience restaurants like a typical diner, making reservations under different names. She doesn’t accept free meals. The Chronicle pays for all of her research.