Canteen

December 5, 2007

On Wednesday night, Wendy treated me to dinner in advance of my birthday, which will occur when I'm off traveling down under.

We went over to the trendy-loin district to a little place called Canteen. Canteen is not quite two years old and has made waves on the SF culinary scene with chef Dennis Leary's California-French food. Canteen made the Top100 list in its first year.

It's a small space that fancies itself to be a new school diner. Really cute, but no room for big parties, the booths are small and it would be interesting fitting a party of 4 in.

The menu changes weekly (we had Week 127's menu) and there are only 4 choices per course (starter, entree, dessert), and you are requested to order all three courses at one time.

We were treated to a little amuse bouche of smoked salmon with fennel salad and horseradish, which was great, the horseradish spread was a little overwhelming but fantastic all the same.
The Mussels Soup with hot chili and ginger. Dennis Leary is known for his soups, so we had to try it. Surprisingly, no actual whole mussels in the soup, but the soup was delicious.
Squid with white beans, peppers and breadcrumbs. Fantastic, a winner, go try this, Wendy and I loved it.
Porcini Mushrooms Flan with curry sauce and carmlized cauliflower. Wow. Wendy is a huge fan of mushrooms, so we had to try this. It was really tasty, the curry not too overwhelming, the cauliflower delicious. Wendy said she need to eat cauliflower more.
Venison pepper crusted with mashed squash, sauerkraut, and coriander syrup. Also fantastic, the venison prepared perfectly, not tasting gamey at all. The squash was amazing and the sauerkraut a perfect balance. Very interesting colors as well.
Pears in Brik with goat cheese, caramel and walnuts. This was also wonderful, and it's quite the melody to combine caramel and goat cheese. Really nice dessert.

We had a wonderful meal at Canteen, I would highly recommend this restaurant. It would be a great date place.