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Somewhere in San Francisco lives an extremely prosperous orchestra conductor who eats very well.

Or at least, that’s what the editors of Bon Appétit would have us believe.

On Friday, Feb. 23, the magazine posted an astonishing snapshot of this anonymous musician’s culinary lifestyle. According to his detailed diary, our baton-wielding protagonist spent what may or may not have been a representative week immersed in work meetings, concerts and social engagements, all set against the backdrop of the Bay Area’s cafes and fine restaurants.

The total tab for his week’s worth of dining: just over $3,500.

Fortunately, that doesn’t seem to have put too big a strain on his finances, because he claims that his gross income is currently about $950,000, up from $800,000 last year.

You might be surprised to learn that a conductor could earn that much. I was, too — and by “surprised” I mean “highly skeptical.”

I wasn’t alone.

“Whaaat?!” said Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser, the San Francisco Symphony’s resident conductor of engagement and education, when I told him about this claim. “I don’t think conductors are making a million dollars a year.”

Most are not, at any rate. Superstar conductors? Sure. At the San Francisco Symphony, Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen and his predecessor, Michael Tilson Thomas, have been pulling down annual salaries around $2 million, according to publicly available financial disclosure forms. A small handful of other elite musicians can boast a seven-figure income.

But the income level for mere mortals in this industry is far more modest, ranging between $200,000 and $600,000.

A few years ago, classical music blogger Drew McManus assembled a handy chart of music director salaries at his invaluable (and now sadly defunct) website Adaptistration, and the figures are pretty clear. If this San Francisco gourmand is making the kind of money he says he is, he’s one of the most lavishly paid conductors in the country.

Still, there are ways to make a living as a conductor that can be more lucrative.

“I think it’s entirely plausible,” said conductor Nicole Paiement, general and artistic director of San Francisco’s Opera Parallèle.

“We’ve been looking at salaries across the industry, and to my surprise there are a number of conductors — mostly older, male conductors — who make a huge amount of money through a combination of music directorship and frequent guest conducting. They’ve carved out a lovely little empire for themselves.”

If so, then, it seems as if this foodie conductor’s secret identity shouldn’t be too hard to smoke out. While his name isn’t divulged, the Bon Appétit column includes enough biographical data to help us narrow the search.

According to the magazine, our man is 45 years old. He has an ex-wife and two sons, ages 10 and 8, for whom he pays $5,000 a month in child support. He’s carrying three mortgages, which suggests that his San Francisco residence may not be his primary one.

He also says that when he was a kid, his parents cooked nearly every night, and that their repertoire included ti pang, a Chinese braised pork shank, and mapo tofu. It seems safe to assume, then, that he’s probably Chinese or Chinese American.

That’s an awfully specific profile. If this guy is actually living in San Francisco and leading orchestras at a high level, you’d think someone in the field might have an inkling of who he is.

But … no. I believe that I know, or know about, nearly all the orchestra conductors in the Bay Area, yet I wracked my brain in vain trying to think of anyone matching this description.

I put the call out to a number of local conductors as well. Nobody could come up with an even remotely plausible candidate.

On the other hand, the description of a week’s worth of luxurious eating has the ring of truth. His meals include visits to 7 Adams, Dalida and Starlite, as well as more modest coffee shops and patisseries scattered around the Bay Area.

His repeated visits to Rad Radish, the vegan restaurant on Hayes Street just blocks from Davies Symphony Hall and the War Memorial Opera House, lend the story credibility, said Edwin Outwater, who teaches conducting and directs the student orchestra at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

“There are always music people in there,” he said. “I eat there quite often.”

And yet, if Outwater has ever crossed paths with the conductor in question, he isn’t aware of it.

I suppose there are various ways this story might make sense. The protagonist might have blurred some biographical details to cover his tracks. Maybe he’s not a 45-year-old male conductor, but a 60-year-old female pianist. Maybe San Francisco isn’t his primary residence — although in that case, why is he planting a vegetable garden in his backyard?

So I’m not actually saying the column is fiction. That wouldn’t be smart or generous. I’m just saying, to quote Wikipedia: “Citation needed.”

I’d reach out to this conductor myself, if I had any idea who he is. Failing that, I’ll just have to hope he reaches out to me instead.

If nothing else, I’d like to get a few tips on how to bump my income.

The CDC reports a sharp rise in norovirus cases across the U.S., including in California. Here are the signs to watch for — and tips to avoid getting sick to begin with.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Now that the Brandon Crawford era has seemingly come to a close, the Giants have a vacancy at shortstop for the first time in over a decade. They have a clear successor in mind: Marco Luciano, the 22-year-old rookie who has been widely viewed as one of the organization’s top prospects since he signed as an international free agent out of the Dominican Republic in 2018.

Replacing a franchise icon is no easy task, but Luciano -- the No. 2 prospect in the Giants organization, according to MLB Pipeline -- is taking the challenge in stride.

“I just go out and have fun like I always do,” Luciano said in Spanish. “I play baseball to have fun. Whatever happens, happens. I’m going to give it my best, and they’ll make the decision they have to make.”

The job is Luciano’s for the taking, though the Giants still want him to earn his spot and prove that he’s capable of holding it down this spring. While Luciano currently sits atop the shortstop depth chart, the Giants have a few other young players who will also be competing for at-bats there, including Casey Schmitt, Tyler Fitzgerald and Otto Lopez.

“You never come into camp with a rookie and say this is your job, period,” manager Bob Melvin said. “We want Luciano to grasp it and take it, but he’s going to have to do that. There’s some other guys that can play that position and we’ll see how it goes. As we sit here right now, it’s a great opportunity for Marco.”

Many scouts outside the organization doubt that the 6-foot-1 Luciano -- who said he bulked up to 216 pounds over the offseason -- will stick at shortstop for the long haul, but the Giants were encouraged by what they saw during his 14-game stint in the Majors in 2023.

Luciano hit .231/.333/.308 with three doubles over 45 plate appearances, though he recorded an average exit velocity of 93 mph, which would have ranked 14th among qualified MLB hitters last year. He also took big steps forward defensively, which the Giants hope he’ll be able to continue by working with new third base coach Matt Williams this spring.

“I think a lot of it just comes from what we saw at the end of last year,” president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi said. “I think he showed a lot of poise, both defensively and offensively, when he came up. We’re asking a lot from him just because there isn’t a lot of upper-level experience, certainly not a lot of big league experience. But again, from what we saw, we certainly think he can handle it. Even getting exposed to a new coaching staff, what they’ll bring to the table this camp, I think can just help him get even further.”

To ensure he could hit the ground running this spring, Luciano returned home to play winter ball for the Leones del Escogido of the Dominican Professional Baseball League, where he got to know Lopez and several other players with big league experience. Luciano hit only .170/.339/.255 with one homer and 18 strikeouts in 59 plate appearances across 18 games, but he said he was still grateful for the opportunity to soak up as much knowledge as possible from his veteran teammates.

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“It was a great experience,” Luciano said. “I got to spend a lot of time with players who have experience in Japan, Korea, the Dominican and the big leagues. I think being able to take those pieces from them and apply them to my game is going to make me a better player.

“You never stop learning,” he added. “You’re always trying to improve something. You work on one thing and then you have to work on something else. I think staying disciplined is how you’re going to get results. You have to work hard every single day.”

Luciano missed most of big league camp last year due to a stress fracture in his lower back, but he’s expected to see plenty of action once Cactus League games begin Saturday.

Outfielder Luis Matos, who has known Luciano since they both signed with the Giants as teenagers in 2018, said he’s confident Luciano will seize the opportunity that’s in front of him and establish himself as a core piece for the club in 2024 and beyond.

“I think he deserves it,” Matos said in Spanish. “He’s worked really hard since we signed to be here.”

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Maria Guardado covers the Giants for MLB.com. She previously covered the Angels from 2017-18.

Legendary Giants third baseman Matt Williams sees a bit of himself in up-and-coming infielder Casey Schmitt.

Williams -- now serving as the Giants' third-base coach on new manager Bob Melvin's staff -- explained during an interview with KNBR's Brian Murphy and Markus Boucher, why the beginning of Schmitt's San Francisco tenure is eerily similar to the early stages of his storied MLB career.

"When his name came up, my comment was, 'It's like looking in the mirror,' " Williams told Murphy and Boucher. "He's a strong kid, he's got all the tools you possibly could need, he's got the ability to actually move to shortstop and play, which was kind of my scenario.

"It's a question of him finding himself. Understanding himself. What he can and can't do. What are his strengths? What are his weaknesses? Defensively, he's supremely confident. He's got a great skill set, his glove works well, he's got enough arm strength, all of those things.

"It's a question of him getting reps. So Bob [Melvin], I'm sure, will give him every opportunity this spring to get as many at-bats as he can. But it's a process, he's still a very young player and it's a process for him to find himself.

"He'll do that over time, and hopefully, the hitting coaches can help him find himself as quickly as possible -- once he does that, his natural talent will take over, and he will be just fine."

Schmitt revealed how he appreciated Williams making the comparison to himself, detailing the benefits of having the ability to work hands-on with the Hall of Famer during spring training.

"Yeah, he's told me he's seen himself in me, so that's really cool to get that comparison," Schmitt told Murphy and Boucher. "I've just been working with him, out there on the field, during spring training get a chance to talk to him and talk through some stuff.

"The adjustment period -- there was an adjustment period last year and I feel really confident with where I'm at."

Williams was a five-time All-Star during his 17-year career, including 10 seasons with the Giants.

However, the first three seasons of Williams' MLB career included struggles at the plate, as he posted a .198 batting average in 693 at-bats from 1987 to 1989 before a breakout season in 1990 -- where he earned his first All-Star nod.

Schmitt faced a similar speed bump during his rookie campaign in the 2023 MLB season, posting a .206 batting average in 253 at-bats for the Giants.

Despite the early struggles at the plate, Schmitt -- like Williams -- flashed an incredible amount of talent with his glove, which might be the ticket to buying the time required to adjust to hitting major league pitching.

There’s certainly no shortage of excellent food to be found in San Francisco and the Bay Area — but there’s plenty worth skipping, too. Luckily for you, Eater editors dine out several times a week (or more) and we’re happy to share the standout dishes we encounter as we go.

Here’s the best of everything the Eater SF team has eaten recently. Check back weekly for more don’t-miss dishes.

Pork culet sando at Piglet & Co

The fact that I thoroughly enjoyed my recent meal at Piglet & Co in the Mission will likely surprise no one at all. I’ve been a fan of chef Chris Yang since before he and partner Marcelle Gonzales Yang opened their debut restaurant, which Eater also named one of the best new restaurants in America in 2023. But somehow, last week marked my first time having brunch at Piglet & Co, which means it was also my first time encountering this massive pork sandwich. Given the restaurant’s name, I should have known it would be a banger, starring a pork cutlet thicker than a deck of cards and perfectly cooked throughout. Around the outside, a light and crispy batter clung to the meat, absolutely bursting with piquant black pepper and the perfect amount of salt. It came between two halves of a pineapple bun baked at Mission Donuts just across the street, over a bed of slaw, and under a gloriously messy fried egg. This sando requires two hands and a minimum of two napkins as your hands will end up covered in runny yolk. But the truth is, you probably won’t be able to put it down or leave even a crumb behind so really, the mess is more than fine. Piglet & Co, 2170 Mission Street, San Francisco

— Lauren Saria, Eater SF editor

Simon’s garlic chicken at 606 Broadway

San Francisco fried chicken is first and foremost something not often discussed and second, most often slides into a conversation about those daily lines outside San Tung. Newcomer 606 Broadway, right on the precipice of both North Beach and Chinatown, is not looking to dethrone the fried chicken royalty. But the next-gen family business punches above its weight already, starting with this garlic chicken recipe. This $18 dish has the most important effect of proper fried chicken: I wanted to eat all of it right away. No pausing would do, even taking the time to dunk each piece of pounded and battered bird into a dish of scintillating sweet and sour-esque sauce offered a trial in patience. The texture of the chicken was more chewy than crispy, less shattering than slightly crunchy in a comforting, inviting way. Garlic really does shine through as the strong, single note from the meat itself. Plus, gratefully, the plate is tremendous, getting ahead of my usual issue surrounding well-sourced and prepared food in how little of it comes to the table. 606 has way more going for it than just chicken, by the way; the Hong Kong-style tea is dense and delightful in its bitterness and creaminess, the shrimp-stuffed tofu is a triumph. Grabbing a seat in this historic restaurant for an order of Simon’s garlic chicken, though, is the new Chinatown choice du jour. 606 Broadway, 606 Broadway, San Francisco

— Paolo Bicchieri, Eater SF reporter

Meyer lemon pizza at Goldridge Organic Farms

Those who still remember the blistered pizzas of now-closed Zero Zero in SoMa will be pleased to know that chef Bruce Hill is baking up a small selection of pies at Goldridge Organic Farms in Sebastopol on select dates. On a recent rainy Saturday, locals in the know trekked to the hillside farm to try Hill’s pizza, backed by produce grown on the grounds. This lovely pie was a favorite, featuring a duet of thinly sliced Meyer lemons and mandarinquats — a hybrid of mandarin and kumquats — among a mix of red onions and finely chopped herbs. A drizzle of Goldridge olive oil completed the slice, and it was a bright, citrusy bite that cheered up an otherwise dreary day. The rain kept diners from enjoying their pies on the gorgeous outdoor patio, but makeshift tables and eating spots kept the vibe cozy and inviting enough to encourage a repeat visit to Hill’s next pizza-making event. I’m keeping my eyes peeled for good weather and the next time I can grab another slice of this rarified pie. Goldridge Organic Farms, 3387 Canfield Road, Sebastopol

— Dianne de Guzman, Eater SF deputy editor

The forecast earlier in the week pointed to another weekend of rain in the San Francisco Bay Area, but the latest information from meteorologists reveals that the region is expected to have mostly dry weather Friday through Sunday night.

In fact, mostly clear skies and unseasonably warm weather are in the forecast on Saturday with temperatures in some locations likely seeing highs in the 70s, according to the National Weather Service. It should be a great day to get outdoors, whether for a hike, walk or bike ride.

Brayden Murdock, a forecaster with the weather service, explained that a low-pressure system that was originally forecast to bring a chance for rain as early as Friday morning is now expected to stay well off the coast of the Bay Area. The next storm isn’t expected to approach the area until Sunday night and it will likely be a weak system.

This is great news for anyone who is tired of the rain. The region has been soaked in recent weeks with few breaks in between storms.

The dry spell begins on Thursday with no chance for rain across the region. Daytime highs today are forecast to rise into the low-to-mid 60s, the weather service said.

High clouds are expected to push into the region on Friday with low pressure off the coast. While the morning is likely to start out chilly, daytime highs on Friday are likely to be in the mid-to-high 60s, the weather service said.

Saturday is expected to be the warmest day of the week with afternoon temperatures soaring into the mid-60s to mid-70s. Downtown San Francisco is predicted to hit a high of 67 degrees on Saturday, Santa Rosa to hit 72 degrees and San Jose 75 degrees, Murdock said.

“Some areas could see humid conditions on Saturday, at least humid for California,” he said.

The weather service said Sunday will be cooler than Saturday and a chance of light rain enters the forecast Sunday night. Rain chances continue into Monday. Murdock said rainfall totals across the region from Sunday night into Monday are likely to be a few hundredths of an inch.

“Monday with the chances for rain, we see a lot of areas settle into the upper 50s to low 60s” in the afternoon, he said.

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