On Tuesday night, I met up with Adam and Wade (in town for yet another meeting at the North Face head office in the Bay Area). It's great when the boys have time to meet up for dinner, I've been using these times as excuses to try new and notable restaurants that I've been wanting to try. Last time, it was Farmer Brown, and this time, we were heading to SOMA to check out Salt House. Salt House has been open for less than two months, and was done so by the creators of another great and extremely popular SOMA joint, Town Hall. I've enjoyed the food (especially the butterscotch pot-de-creme!) at Town Hall, so I figured that Salt House wouldn't be too shabby.
Salt House, like many other restaurants in the city (eg. Nopa), prints their menus daily, so you've always got the most accurate and up-to-date menu for your perusal. This also makes it handy for me to take one home (I asked first!). Also, another trend is the community table for walk-ins. The room itself had a urban rustic tavern look and feel to it. It was very warm and inviting, with high ceilings, wood beams, and a "weathered" wood floor.
They serve water in these funky milk bottles with their logo emblazoned.
Adam was immediately taken with their appetizer list and had to order:
Salt Cod Brandade, with nicoise olivces and lemon crumbs. This was an interesting dish, not at all what Adam expected it to be. We both had no idea that a "brandade" is a pounded combination of salted or smoked fish, olive oil, garlic, milk and cream. It was actually very tasty, particularly if you got a bite of a nicoise olive as well, which enhanced the taste of the salt cod spread.
Roasted beet salad with smoked salmon, horseradish and rye croutons. Beets are everywhere these days, I see them on everyone's menus and they must be in season (I never keep track of what's in season and when). Yay for me, because I love beets. This salad was a winner for me, as the combination of the smoked salmon (a favorite!) with the horseradish and the frisee was sharp. The beets were damn good too.
Recommended by the server, the Crispy Shrimp with spicy green beans, serrano ham and almonds. The shrimp was very good, very lightly battered and had a nice texture. I usually love spicy green beans, but these had some kick and they almost had too much seasoning/sauce. For me, if the spice was brought in a little, it wouldn't have been so overwhelming.
As usual, I stuck to my guns on ordering something that I don't/can't make at home, so I went for the Muscovy Duck Leg Confit, with persimmon mostarda and celery root. I had never heard of a "mostarda", but it was like a salsa and instead of your typical mango as the main ingredient, the use of the persimmon was genius. It was one of the best fruit salsas that I had ever had. The duck was so tender that it literally fell off the bone. It was delicious and would be a meal that I'd come back for.
Adam ordered the Braised Lamb Shank with farro and parmigaiano crust, which was also a winner. Very tender and the parmigiano crust brought a mouthful of rich flavors that was surprising but very welcome. The portion was generous and Adam could barely finish. Or did he?
Wade chose the New York Steak, with creamy parsnips, cipollini onions and lardons (diced bacon that is blanched and fried). The cut of steak was so tasty, it tasted like a filet mignon. We were all amazed at how great this steak was. I always eat steak and this bad boy was good.
In the end, we couldn't say no to the Bittersweet Chocolate Mousse with cream fraiche and sugar cookies. Thankfully, it was a reasonable little dish that we could all have a taste and not pop the top button on our jeans.
In addition to the milk bottles used for water, there are nice little original touches, like the the hand-pressed logo on the menu, the vintage letterpress letter that was used to keep the bill face down.
This trip to SF is the last before Adam and Arissa's baby makes its big arrival in January, so as a little baby gift appetizer, I gave Adam a little something to take home:
It doesn't matter if they have a girl or a boy, their kid is going to wear these Robeez (best little shoes for babies ever!).
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