Saison

 Thinking back, it all seems so surreal. Much like waking up after a vivid dream only to be left with wispy images no matter how hard you squeeze your eyes shut. Saison did this.

 This event happened exactly 9 days ago. I had ample time to blog and recount my experience at Saison. But, frankly, I couldn't even muster a few phrases that would aptly depict the happenings and emotions of the night. What entails hereafter is a blur of color, taste, and textures that takes too much energy to recall.

But it went something like this....

Yet another obscure entrance -easily mistaken for an alley- leads the way, the only visage of Saison being a brightly lit "S" that initially seems mismatched against the provincial shrub and perennials.

A doll size dining area sits in the courtyard facing the open kitchen.  Only a moment goes by before the server beckons for us to sit and two flutes of amber bubbly magically appear!

.... a foliage with rabbit, foi gras and textures of crunchy grit- the essence of forest in each bite.

An assortment of toasted greens it seems. However, as the server pours a thimble size bonito broth into the plate, the once brittle leaves near the bottom of the bowl transforms into a soup. A soup with a myriad of textures dancing on the tongue.

 A single Santa Barbara prawn dusted with shrimp roe salt partners with one filament of sea urchin. Simple ingredients without razzle dazzle, allowing our amped up taste buds to settle down and pick up the clean notes of sweet and briny.

 

Squid done risotto style enveloped by its ink, Nuvola di pecora; Italian cheese tucked in a brioche ball sitting underneath a wild honeycomb,

and Meyer Lemon custard. I hate all things tart. I should hate the Meyer Lemon. Yet this is a slap in the face. It is almost as if Chef Joshua Skeenes is mocking me, you think you know..but do you?
Basically, it's effin' good. I can try to describe how good. But like squinting through fog:

 hazy.


Ta-Da~ last but not least, we have your Grade-A slab of meat- our star Chef.
Saison
2124 Folsom Street

San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 828-7990

Bar Tartine - a new face

Bar Tartine has gone for a complete makeover, and by that, I don't mean aesthetically. It's the food I'm talking about. No longer can you find paninis and the ubiquitous bone marrow dish. Instead are the barely enunciable gulyas, halasles, and kapusnicas. In case you're wondering, I'm speaking Magyar, or the Hungarian language. The new chef, Nick Balla, has applied his Hungarian roots in the once American fare of Bar Tartine.


          Meggyleves - chilled Hungarian soup of sour cherries and sour cream

The frequent dousing of sour cream vaguely reminded me of my short stint in Budapest. Although, abashedly, I only knew to order goulash, the common place soup of stewed beef and vegetables often drizzled with sour cream. The meggyleves, albeit a ghastly pink color - much like the results of one too many cranberry and vodka - is actually quite refreshing and savory.

Langos - fried potato bread with onion garlic and sour cream

                       Bottarga, grilled bread, butter, radish

                                                  

                                                       toasted rabbit livers, arugula, dill sauce

An audacious move on the part of Bar Tartine to terminate a "safe" menu that, although isn't as lauded as its sister, Tartine Bakery, is still considered an innocuous bet for all-American cuisine. It seems the reaction is a positive one as I tapped in on the next table, "This is way better than before." I agree. The flavors are more dramatic, a colorful fusion of Hungarian with mild Japanese undertones, as expected from Nick Balla who ran an izakaya previous to this stretch. The langos is a respite from the conventional flatbread or pizza. Much like a Hungarian pizza, but more rich, flaky, and simpler in flavors that allows the bread to speak for itself. Do not overlook the Bottarga (salted mullet roe). Bottarga is another dish that isn't seen enough nowadays. Its delicate briny flavors sing harmoniously with the bitter, crisp of the radish. The meal was undoubtedly a memorable one, with each dish justifying a few commentaries after depletion, in spite of the flacid turo cheesecake - nothing Hungarian about that.

Bar Tartine

561 Valencia Street

San Francisco, CA 94110-1114

(415) 487-1600

A speakeasy within a speakeasy - Wilson & Wilson

Password (of the day): Yale Standard  

House Rules:

1. Please Speak-Easy.

2. No standing at the bar.

3. Patience is appreciated.

4. No cell phone use.

5. No camera use.

6. Don't even think of asking for a 'Cosmo'.

7. Smokers, use back door.

8. Please exit Bourbon & Branch briskly and silently.

Hidden deep inside the cryptic rooms of Bourbon & Branch lies another password protected chamber, a password not easily obtained, or so it seems. After a tedious registration, the email confirmation:

Cute, isn't it?

If you've been to the speakeasy Varnish in Los Angeles, then you're familiar with the whole concept of 1920's prohibition theme, which, quite frankly, I'm a sucker for. Wilson & Wilson has taken this to a whole other dimension. Starting from the private detective email confirmation stamped with your name, to the password protected entry, to the flappers costume; I was as giddy as a schoolgirl.

So here I am, in front of the speakeasy entrance, Bourbon & Branch. Not a single sign. Just a bleak doorway with the only indication of it being anything besides a doorway is the doorbell. Once the doorbell is pressed a flapper comes out to greet you and asks for the password. We enter the dark mahogany bar only to be led to another locked door.

We now have Wilson & Wilson, which is exactly how I would imagine a speakeasy to be.

The drink menu is as extensive as a pharmacology textbook. Pages and pages of whiskey, cocktail, absinthe outline the tattered menu. With the pri-fixe menu, you get a choice of an aperitif, a "main course", and a digestif. As you can imagine, the drinks were en pointe, innovative, with enough kick to make you wish they served food. Alas, the only drawback, nothing to nibble on.

 

With an allotment of only 20 guests per evening, one feels like a Fitzgerald until you get ushered out after 1.5 hours which is the exact time you're allowed there. And punctual they are. No worries. Once the flapper escorts you out, the soiree continues into another room, the Library Room. It never ceases to amaze!

A few friendly suggestions:

Come with a full belly.

Order the pre-fixe menu.

Allow Wilson & Wilson to take you back into an era where bootlegging, covert rooms, and jazz come to life.

Wilson & Wilson
http://www.bourbonandbranch.com/?caseid=main

The Plate Shop - Sausalito

"Farm to table, nose to tail..."

That's the buzz lately on the locavore restaurant, The Plate Shop. Having never been a locavore follower, I've always found the whole Chez Panisse movement, dare I say it, boring? (There. I said it. Lynch me.)

But TPS sheds a whole new light on the concept of locally produced goods. It is the embodiment of farm fresh, with the progenitor of the immaculate poached egg just a few feet away clucking without a worry.

Tucked away in the picturesque town of Sausalito lies a hidden gem, The Plate Shop. And well hidden it is. With barely a sign, one can drive by many times without even noticing this tiny shop, as we did. The decor is whimsical, modern with a tinge of rustic. Service is impeccable.

The Plate Shop articulates with the seasons. Not only are the ingredients from their own garden, a few steps from our table, each bite bursts with flavors of summer. Freshly plucked sprigs of rosemary flavor the tender ribchop and the poached egg that adorn the rabbit livers was just laid by the hen I was chasing around in the garden.

                                                

                                                           Toasted Rabbit Livers, Poached Egg, Pancetta

                      Assortment of warm olives imported from Spain

                                                                          Ricotta Gnocchi, browned butter, hazlenuts

Ribchop, coleslaw

With that said, I'm here to stress this: All movements come and go, be it nose to tail, locavore, MoGa,  or street food. So please drop by and have some warm Spanish olives or better yet, sip on one of their artisanal cocktails, as I would like to see this one stay.

The Plate Shop

39 Caledonia 

                     Sausalito, CA 94965                    

                                                                      (415) 887-9047
                                                                   http://www.plateshop.net/

Limon Rotisserie

It feels like ages since my last "good" meal. I've been drowned in the mediocrity of Peninsula food, the Peninsula being the San Mateo area and such. Sushi is subpar and what Peninsula people stamp as the best sushi (Sushi Sam) is in reality...depressing. A few weeks ago I had an itching for chirashi, sashimi atop a bed of sushi rice, and J pronounced, "I'll take you to the best this side of town has to offer." The chirashi, disappointingly, contained PRE-CUT sashimi that tasted of wet mop - 3 days old wet mop. A few bites of the wet mop were forced in for good effort. But inevitably, I grumbled, "I... can't..I'm sorry" and meekly pushed the chirashi away.

Was the culprit really Sushi Sam's pre-cut sashimi? Or is this sushi snobbery stemmed from being pampered by LA's abundant supply of fresh and elaborate bowls of chirashi. I have a sneaking suspicion it’s the latter. But that’s my reality, right?

So after that episode I had lost my appetite, and hope, for good food. Finally, after what felt likes months, I was inspired to stick my head out the door, so to speak, and give it another shot.

Limon Rotisserie is Peruvian cuisine that emphasizes on its spit fire free range chicken. Word has it the secret recipe is the cumin garlic dry rub. There are around 7 ceviches to choose from but we opted for the Ceviche Mixto: tiger shrimp, fish, and Peruvian corn. Refreshing, tangy, a perfect ceviche.

Ceviche Mixto

With the name Limon Rotisserie, one would expect the chicken to be flawless. Strangely, it came out a bit dry. The silver lining were the 3 "aji" sauces that accompanied it- a chimichuri of herb and garlic; recoto mayo and aji amarillo. And the thick cut yucca fries top any gourmet truffle duck fat fries you can find. No joke.

Rotisserie Chicken

Limon Rotisserie should contemplate changing its name to Limon Short Rib because they really have this Seco de Costillas down to a science. The boneless short ribs fall apart at the nudge of a fork and its marble of fat and lean braised to a perfect umami makes this dish near un-wordly.

Seco de Costillas

Profiteroles

At 8 bucks a dish, you can get away with a 4 course meal for less than $30 a head. A rare find nowadays especially in the bay area. What it lacks in damage, it doesn't lack in flavor. Thus, earning its name in the pantheon of San Francisco's favorite dishes of 2011.

Limon Rotisserie

1001 South Van Ness

San Francisco

415-821-2134

Uni at Ame

Ame at the St. Regis

Uni is on my mind.

Uni on sushi. Uni tossed in pasta. And now uni on crostini with thin filaments of shaved lardo, cured Italian pork fat, hugging pillows of fluffy uni.

The myriad of textures and flavors – crispy, velvety, unctuous, smoky then briny – at this moment, seem to best the common nigiri. Why is it the Italians always have to up the ante on my favorite dishes. First it was bottarga, cured mullet roe, which I initially thought the Taiwanese version of thinly sliced bottarga stacked on slivers of radish to be the one and only version, until I had the bottarga pasta.

                                    Sea Urchin and Bruschetta with Lardo, Lemon and Sea Salt

And now this..

Now when I think of uni, it’s images of gossamer thin lardo enveloping sacks of urchin roe instead of the usual sushi that comes to mind.

Chawan Mushi with uni and lobster



Chilled Capellini Pasta with American Sturgeon Caviar,
Lightly Smoked Ocean Trout



My first instance of encountering this sinful creation was at Ame in San Francisco. But I’ve gotten wind that a small Italian eatery in New York also has kept this dish a permanent member on its ever changing menu. As for LA, you’re missing out.

 



Ame

689 Mission Street

San Francisco, CA 94105-4126
(415) 284-4040

the first day of spring in san francisco

The first ray of spring has stealthily found its way out of heavy clouds and damp fog. The temperature is now a bearable 68 degrees and the cold harsh wind has let up some. This is the time you find San Franciscans awaken from their hibernation and stumble out blindly as their eyes meet a strange light - sunlight.

Wanting to share in this wakening of spring, brunch on a lazy Sunday morning seem most appropriate. Bar Tartine, I hear, is the perfect setup to for this occasion. The scuffed window pane walls allow for people gawking and  basking in the late morning light.

French Toast - toasted walnuts, bananas

Eggs Benedict - brioche, smoked ham, arugula

Sunbather in Mission District

Nothing fell short of expectations besides the french toast. It much resembled biting into a wet mop, not that I've experienced it, but you get my drift. The word on the street is the foi gras panini is to die for, which sadly, sold out. Maybe next time, Bar Tartine. As of now, I'm content. Life is good.

Wayfare Tavern, my place

I have a thing for the traditional gentleman's only club of dark mahogany constructed steakhouses littered with men in black suits. This was realized last night when I happened to stumble into Wayfare Tavern. There was a palpable buzz of energy the moment I opened the bulky oak door. You have your archetypal steakhouse interior, with a massive bar of whiskeys and what not, and an assemblage of bankers and attorneys babbling about the latest acquisition, mergers and adultery cases.

The food is more or less traditional steakhouse fare, but scaled up a bit and slightly Parisian. Deviled eggs, steak tartare, escargots...and of course steak frites.

delicious complimentary popovers

 Fortunately, we got a seat right at the epicenter, 1 feet away from where the action is. It is way more theatrical sitting at the bar watching an interplay of sous chefs, chef de cuisines and line cooks than at a one-man sushi bar, I can tell you that.

Of course, I had to try their roasted bone marrow. And, of course, it was unctuous. Really hard to eff up bone marrow. I have yet to try a butchered bone marrow.

This will definitely be a place where I get my fix for bone marrow, steak tartare, and men with powertrips. I do intend to try the deviled eggs, escargot and many more.

Now on to my packing....

Wayfare Tavern
Financial District
558 Sacremento St.
www.wayfaretavern.com/


*reservations highly recommended*

Christmas Lunch - Yamo

I have a soft spot for cardboard box joints hidden amongst the uber-mod, glistening, nouveau restaurants that are popping up faster than pimples on a pubescent teen. Up and coming chefs seem to be in a feeding frenzy trying to come up with the newest concoction of uni ice cream or shark fin pearls. Whilst these meals result in ooh's and ahh's, but can this be a daily thing? Would this be our deathbed meal?

Didn't think so. 

Yamo would be the antithesis of all the ritz and avante garde dining, the antonym of Gary Danko and its kind. An eight seat bar, with rusty stools and rice cookers as old as my grandmum are the norm here. Patron's face are buried deep in a bowl of steaming aromatic Burmese Chicken Noodle Soup. Oh, did I forget to mention Yamo being a Burmese eatery?

The Tea Leaf Salad is just as good, if not better than Burma SuperStar's.

There is the characteristic crunchy bits in the noodles, rice, soup and salads. One seats himself, orders promptly and slurps the al dente noodles with a few exchanges between Mama Yamo, and finds that less than 15 minutes have gone by before the bill comes. So is the way of Yamo.

Burmese Chicken Noodle Soup

 

Yamo
3406 18th Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 553-8911