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Showing results for tags 'Hayes Valley'.
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Zuni Cafe. The restaurant really shines in the winter months. Braising, root vegetables and roasting are what makes this place so awesome.
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We had dinner at Petit Crenn tonight. House-made brioche, butter, sea salt. Trio of canapes. Top: French breakfast radishes, herb butter. Middle: Gruyere gougères, Bottom: Oysters with shallot and samphire; tuna crudo, radish, shrimp cracker; cured trout, trout roe. Seafood bouillabaisse, with clams, mussels, potato and fennel. Sourdough bread, with butter, crème fraîche and espelette pepper. Pan-seared turbot, celeriac mousseline, pea shoot, with beurre blanc and herb oil. Gnocchi à la Parisienne, beurre noisette, mushrooms. Whole-roasted cauliflower, almond crumble. Endive salad with green goddess dressing, shaved beets and Comté cheese. Valhrona Manjari chocolate ganache, brown butter crumble, grapefruit and orange, lime curd, buttermilk snow. Mignardises. Background: strawberry chambord gelée. Middle: salted caramels. Foreground: strawberry macaron. It was awesome. We'll be back; count on it. If I had a criticism, I would say that the middle course was too monochromatic. And I'm not exactly a fan of whole-roasted cauliflower; the top gets crispy but the middle is decidedly a bit too crunchy for my palate. Service charge is included. With two glasses of wine, tax and additional gratuity, it came out to $125 per person. Petit Crenn 609 Hayes Street (Laguna Street) Hayes Valley
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"Traci des Jardins To Close Jardinière Next Month" by Janelle Bitker on sfchronicle.com -
Cala (149 Fell Street (Van Ness Avenue) in Hayes Valley) has the worst service at any restaurant I've ever been to, and that is saying something. San Francisco has a wealth of good establishments (despite my feelings (mostly because we've been eating at the wrong places)). After today's experience, strike this one off the list and here is why: * We were ignored for 15 minutes after being seated while FOH staff attended to two large parties in front of us who were seated at the same time we were; * Staff described the menu to the aforementioned parties, we received only grudging, perfunctory treatment; * The pickled vegetables that you see in the picture below were just laid down in front of us with no explanation whatsoever. Just as the server was about to walk away, B flagged her down and asked for a description; * A minute after receiving the vegetables - which function as an amuse-bouche, a waiter arrived with drinks for the five and six-tops in front of us. He managed to smash one large goblet - somehow - while setting down the drinks, and in the process, accidentally doused B's clothes with alcohol. Shards of glass all over the carpet. No apologies whatsoever. * After that incident, they didn't automatically reseat us; when we asked to be reseated, the waiter glared at us as if our request was out of the question, then relented. * Most of the food is "meh". That's a pity because the menu reads well. At heart, it's overpriced Mexican food and there are much better elsewhere with a fraction of the preciousness. * We ordered dessert. After handing us dessert spoons, they also laid down the check in front of us even though dessert was on the bill but BEFORE we had gotten them. Confronted with this faux pas, staff justified that by saying he thought I had asked for the "receipt". Also, I ordered mint tea which I never received. They comped the desserts...small comfort. Stay away from here. You'll thank me later. Oh, you want to see pictures of the food. Ok... Left: apple-ginger mocktini with hisbiscus agua fresca.Right: Hisbiscus agua fresca. Dungeness crab tostada, celery root, habanero. Abalone tostadas, trout roe, purple daikon. These were "fine". They're basically corn chips with stuff on top. Sorry to sound harsh but you might say that the evening was already tainted. Camaronillas with bay shrimp and carnitas. Sopes playeros with black beans, crema and ricotta salata. If you like thick corn cakes with no flavor and almost flavorless beans, these fit the bill. Tamal with pork and achiote. Probably the best thing we ate all evening. The tamal was steamed inside a banana leaf. Opah salpicón with puntarella and cilantro, served with warm tortillas. Basically a do-it-yourself fish taco. Second best thing we ate tonight. Printing your dessert menu on dark blue paper is a great idea if you like your guests using pocket flashlights just to read them. Buñelo with apples and ricotta. My mom-in-law loved it. Flan de cajeta. Rich and intense. Perfect, actually. Blood orange sorbet.
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We had brunch earlier today to make up for a disastrous dinner last night at a local Vietnamese place in the Castro (Jasmine Garden, (708 14th Street (Church Street)). The waitstaff didn't hear that I had ordered chicken pho even though I repeated my order a few times. As a result, I never received my entree. The steamed bass that B ordered was somehow mixed in with glass noodles and a thick cloying sauce. Strike another local place off our list which we won't be returning to anytime soon. Brunch was much better, in spades. Monsieur Benjamin 451 Gough Street (Ivy Street) http://www.monsieurbenjamin.com/ It's a beautiful glass enclosed space with an open kitchen, a marble counter, one communal table, several two- and four-tops and an outdoor seating area. The room can get loud. At the time we were there, it was half-full and eventually became three quarters-full. Lots of wooden surfaces, glass surfaces, hard edges and square corners mean that there's no sound absorption. You can hear your partner if he or she is sitting next to you but you might have to speak louder than normal in order to make yourself heard by the staff. That is a valid criticism that we have, so take it for what it's worth. Butter lettuce salad with fines herbes and radishes. Very lightly dressed. B loved it, even with the minute amounts of tarragon that were present in the vinaigrette. Fried frogs' legs en aigre doux, with garlic and lemon. Expertly fried, and greaseless. Great attention to detail. It made me sit up and take notice - this is a place we should return to, for dinner. Oeufs en meurette (eggs poached in red wine), with duck confit, spinach, mushrooms, potatoes and sauce au poivre. Well-made, although the sauce was a tad oversalted. Tarte au chocolat, mint sherbet, shortbread cookie. Was perfect. Can't say much more than that. Total bill came out to $114 ($57 per person). The restaurant adds a 20% surcharge which replaces the need to add a tip.
