Presentation with San Francisco Chronicle restaurant critic MacKenzie Chung Fegan, in conversation with Monica Levin. Fegan, who recently received 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, MacKenzie will also 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 and was recently awarded the prestigious 2025 James Beard “Emerging Voice in Journalism” award. She will share stories about her large family, which brought authentic Chinese Hunan province cuisine to San Francisco in 1974 via Henry’s Hunan restaurants. Her writing on the intersection of food, drinks, culture and politics has appeared in Wine Quarterly, Wine Enthusiast, Vice, GQ, Playboy, Paper and more. MacKenzie’s profile of chef Brandon Jew was featured in the 2021 edition of “The Best American Food Writing.” As a critic, MacKenzie tries to experience restaurants like a typical diner, making reservations under different names. The Chronicle pays for all of her research and she doesn’t accept free meals.