Seems like there’s no cooking except in the back of the kitchen.
Fermented guava and honey with a bundle of herbs.
The fermented passion fruit jelly was one of the most memorable bites. Never tasted anything quite like it. It was really nice with the “tea.”
The duck liver bonbon was surprisingly good. Got chocolate at first and then the duck liver flavor on the finish.
Really nice caviar. Salsify puree was great.
Sonoma Aligoté, who knew? Very good. I want to visit this winery.
The flavor of the trout dish was great but to me the skin should have shatteringly crisp, instead it was a bit chewy.
Uni toast was one of the top bits of the night. $48 supplement each so $16 per bite. I could have eaten 20 of them but that would have been even more expensive than the prix-fixe.
Apple and ginger palate cleanser was great, reminiscent of pickled ginger at a sushi place.
Pork neck (roulade?) was the most memorable dish. Smoky, fatty, unctuous. Sure wish I’d had some bread to mop up the sauce.
Why do people make wines like this? I guess maybe someone likes them. Not much going on to my taste.
Presentation of the antelope.
Antelope was knd of bland, reminded me of beef tenderloin. The antelope pastrami in the radicchio was great. The tiny bite of heart seemed like it would make a good tartare. I love black truffles but not raw.
Black truffle croissants were solid.
Shaved chocolate ice cream? with crunchy buckwheat bits was great. The funky bowls were freezer-cold.
This was great. One of the layers is missing from the menu and I forget what it was.
These were all really good.
Canelés to take home. Good.
The most expensive meal I’ve ever had if you don’t adjust for inflation, and one of the top five even if you do. The staff to diner ratio was close to 1:1, so on that score, given prices in San Francisco these days, it doesn’t seem unreasonable. On the other hand, for the same money I could have gone to San Ho Won, Burdell, Mijoté, and The Morris.
Thinking back on the meal, only three dishes were really memorable (passion fruit jelly, uni toast, and pork neck). Overall it seemed like a very conservative take on the narrow Michelin two- / three-star contemporary style. Nevertheless I’ll probably go back to try the bar, which I think had open seats all night.