Peach (left) and Nikko, dine at Dogue in San Francisco.
Courtesy Sasa Dang
Nikko, a San Francisco resident, is a picky, sensitive eater. But on Sunday, he struck gold at a trendy new Mission District restaurant, where he dined on hand-cut filet mignon tartare topped with a poached quail egg. The chef, who crafts the seasonal menu based on whatās available at local organic farms, even came to his table to say hello after the meal was over.
Nikko, by the way, is a 4.5-year-old Shiba Inu. He went with his best friend, Peach, also a Shiba Inu, to try Dogue, which may be serving the countryās first-ever tasting menu for dogs.
Dogue opened last week at 988 Valencia St. with pastries and ādogguccinosā served during the day and a $75, three-course tasting menu on Sundays. Passersby could easily confuse this for San Franciscoās hottest new all-day cafe. A glass case is filled with elegant pastries, like a rose-shaped cake filled with wild venison heart and a doggy petit gĆ¢teau modeled after the creations of acclaimed French pastry chef CĆ©dric Grolet. (Dogueās version swaps butter and sugar for grass-fed cream and braised chicken.) On Sundays, Dogue transitions into Bone Appetit Cafe, where chicken-mushroom soup is poured tableside ā and then promptly licked up by the eager diners.
Everything is made by owner Rahmi Massarweh, a trained chef who has been feeding his four dogs fresh and raw food since they were puppies. Dogue is part of a growing movement to serve dogs fresh-cooked, nutritious meals rather than packaged kibble rife with fillers. In Florida, a chef started a dog food company after his restaurant closed during the pandemic. A Sacramento chef behind one of the cityās top sushi restaurants also feeds canines professionally.
Itās unsurprising that what is likely the countryās first dog restaurant opened in San Francisco, where dogs reportedly recently outnumbered children, and pet owners can join members-only vet clinics with high-end perks like genetic testing.
A burned-out Massarweh left the restaurant industry years ago and started a doggy day-care center in 2015. He soon offered the same food he prepared for his dogs to his clientsā pets. Dogue now sells this same dog food, with ingredients like wild antelope, duck and tripe.
A rose-shaped pastry from Dogue in S.F., made from wild venison heart and organic beet root.
Rahmi Massarweh
Massarweh tests recipes obsessively, often on his four dogs, who give him exclusively good feedback like any supportive family member would. Thereās Grizzly, a 12-year-old English mastiff; Luna, a hyperactive 10-year-old rescue; Achilles, a 200-pound English mastiff; and Sir Wellington, a young Lhasa apso, a highly regarded breed used as sentinels at monasteries in Tibet. Massarweh worked with an integrative, holistic veterinarian to develop dog-safe food.
For the most recent menu, Massarweh simmered chicken bones for eight hours to make a rich, nutritious broth, served with slices of braised chicken breast and infused with chaga mushrooms. The second course: a chicken-skin waffle perched on a globe-shaped coconut charcoal custard served on a striking charcoal plate. Other dishes heās come up with include a pastured egg yolk nestled in a stunningly green spirulina meringue ācloud,ā decorated with wild flower petals.
āMy approach is to treat this as if it was a human restaurant,ā Massarweh said.
Nikko and Peach were among the restaurantās first customers, along with Captain and Tony, two corgi brothers with more than 24,000 Instagram followers. Nikkoās owner, Sasa Dang, said she was intrigued when Dogue recently popped up on her Instagram feed.
āI was like, āOh, wow. This is omakase for dogs?āā
You dumpster diving Alley Cats could never
@Lord Beerus @Obreh Winfrey @CouldntBeMeTho
and itās going to be a hit. They always leave cats out
My kitten is an orange tabby. This is hitting to close to home 
