Exhibition kitchens: In the hot seat

"Top Chef" has ended, and many other competition shows are in reruns, so what's a person to do? How about going live with the cooking? The Bay Area pioneered the idea of open exhibition kitchens, which continue to heat up many restaurant dining rooms. There's a variety of cuisines from which to choose, in all price ranges.

Here's a front-row seat to some of the best.

A16

If you want to know how the staff produces some of the best food from Campagnia, sit at the counter to watch chef Liza Shaw and her crew sauce those famous meatballs or slide the pizza into the super-hot pizza oven. You'll even be able to warm up from the inferno's occasional blasts of heat.

2355 Chestnut St. (near Divisadero), San Francisco; (415) 771-2216 or a16sf.com. Lunch Wed.-Fri.; dinner nightly. Main courses $16-$25.

Boulevard

Nancy Oakes' line works like a finely tuned ballet as the chefs move around each other to complete the complicated plates, such as a duo of pork chop and cheek, roasted and slow braised and served with mashed potatoes, spiced quince and creamed nettles. It's one of the best counters around for single diners.

1 Mission St. (at Steuart), San Francisco; (415) 543-6084 or boulevardrestaurant.com. Lunch weekdays; dinner nightly. Main courses, $29-$40.

Nopalito

You might be able to learn secrets to producing pristine, organic Mexican food by watching the chefs' press out tortillas, dish up chunks of goat stew with chocolate and chiles, or add extra crispiness to carnitas. Seeing them spoon out the fragrant pozole is enough to make strong people swoon.

306 Broderick St. (in Falletti Plaza), San Francisco; (415) 437-0303 or nopalitosf.com. Lunch and dinner daily. No reservations. Main courses $10-$14.

Corso

Wow, that's a big steak that chef Rodrigo da Silva oils, salts and tosses on the grill to complete the bistecca alla Florentina at this Berkeley trattoria. Counter diners can hear the sizzle and see the flames as the steak begins to brown. I'll be there to learn the secret of the chicken breast cooked in butter.

1788 Shattuck Ave. (near Delaware), Berkeley; (510) 704-8004 or trattoriacorso.com. Lunch and dinner daily. Main courses $10-$32.

Commis

Eating at the counter of this Oakland restaurant lets diners watch James Syhabout, one of the most talented young chefs in the Bay Area, artfully craft plates for his nightly menu. It's like watching a compelling silent movie as the staff moves from stove to plate, tweezers in hand to get everything right.

3859 Piedmont Ave. (near Rio Vista), Oakland; (510) 653-3902 or commisrestaurant.com. Dinner Wed.-Sun. Three-course menu $59.

Bungalow 44 Ten people can sit along the kitchen and observe Robert Price making down-home fare in Mill Valley. Artichoke fritters and fried chicken come out of the fryer, Kobe hamburgers come off the grill, and short ribs braise on the stove.

44 E. Blithedale Ave. (at Sunnyside Avenue), Mill Valley; (415) 381-2500 or bungalow44.com. Dinner nightly. Main courses $16.95-$27.75.

Michael Bauer is The Chronicle's restaurant critic. E-mail him at mbauer@sfchronicle.com, go to sfgate.com/food to read his reviews, and follow him on Twitter at @michaelbauer1.

This article appeared on page O - 18 of the San Francisco Chronicle