November 4, 2007
In my excitement to have my weekends back now that the club frisbee season is over, I planned a bunch of stuff for this weekend.
On Friday night, Will, Wendy and I headed down to
Bacar for some happy hour, a quick drink at Hotel Utah with Heather, and then cabbed over to the Tenderloin to try out a new restaurant called
Fish and Farm with Abe, Robert, Katharine and Key. In my mad rush to get out of the house and down to happy hour, I forgot to grab my camera battery that was charging and therefore, have no pictures from the night (rookie mistake!).
Fish and Farm opened a couple weeks ago, and adjacent to the Mark Twain Hotel. It's a small space, a long room in Tiffany blue with dark brown accenting. Fish and Farm's mantra is that they are locally eco-conscious and sources all their fresh, organic ingredients within 100 miles of San Francisco.
Here's a picture of the interior that I borrowed from their website:
We actually sat at the round table featured in this picture. It was cozy for 7 people.
Fish and Farm has a fun selection of specialty cocktails, the crowd favorite was a pomegranate martini. I had the wonderful 2006 Selbach “Kabinett” Zeltingen-Mosel Riesling to drink.
As we were enjoying our drinks and waiting for the appetizers, the server brought us all an "amuse bouche" which were shot glasses of a cold roasted beet and fennel soup, which was delicious.
The group ordered a variety of the following appetizers:
- Fish & Farm Plate (a selection of house-cured fish and meats accompanited with the chef's garnishes)
- Grilled Monterey Squid with braised butter beans, harissa and preserved lemon
- Grilled Monterey Bay Sardies with roasted fennel, caper, olive and lemon vinaigrette
- Pan cooked Local Seafood Chowder (clams, calamari, oysters, smoked bacon, and house-made crackers)
- Braised Boar Ribs with brown sugar glaze and celery salad (featured appetizer)
For dinner, I had the Sauteed Sablefish with mustard-braised cabbage, chanterelles and roasted fingerling potatoes. Although not aesthetically impressive, I was really impressed with the flavors of this dish. The sablefish was done perfectly, showcasing the buttery texture and flavor of the fish. The cabbage was a mix of red and white cabbage, the red bringing some color to the dish, and served with a buttery sauce that obviously made me want more. A couple of us had this dish.
Other folks ordered:
- Fish and Chips (local rock cod served with aged malt vinegar, house-made tartar sauce and salt-brined fries)
- Pan-Seared Corvina, with sweetbread and mushroom ravioli, baby spinach and a porcini jus (chef's version of surf and turf?)
We didn't have much time for dessert as we had to get going to our next destination (and we were stuffed), but a peek of the dessert menu looked promising. When I read about the executive chef, Michael Morrison, I was impressed to see that he is a self-made chef with no formal training, but who has worked with some big names in the business (Hiro Sone at Ame, Loretta Keller at Bizou and at Michael Mina). The menu was pretty creative and it's great to variety to the various items that fall outside the typical cookie-cutter must-haves for a menu. Check it out sometime.
From dinner, we walked just over a block away to
Bourbon & Branch, the trendy speakeasy that has been voted one of the best bars in the country and is now one of the worst-kept secrets in the city. With no official signage other than a decoy "Anti-Saloon League" sign outside, there's also an unmarked door buzzer and a required password in order to gain entry inside. The house rules are reinforced on their website:
1. Please Speak-Easy.
2. No name-dropping.
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.
I got us a reservation for a table for 1.5 hours (minimum on weekends) and we were seated at a booth that was cozy for 6 people (Katharine skipped on drinks). For those without reservations, you can be escorted to the back room, a "secret" library with standing-room only.
Here's a picture of the main room that I "borrowed" from the Yelp:
The decor is dark, sophisticated and I really liked the small details (eg. fixtures, door handles, etc.).
I tried a drink called the Lonsdale (gin, apple juice, basil, lemon juice) which was very tasty, and followed up with the Pineapple Ginger Daiquiri (pineapple juice, ginger and rum), also tasty but dominated by the ginger. In general, it seems like the mixologists are talented and have created a very fun and adventurous menu of libations. B&B seems like a great mid-week place to have a drink with one or two people, but is a little outside my little box of being able to grab a spontaneous drink on any given night.
By the time we got home (sometime before 1 am), I was very ready for bed and amazed that we had packed so much into a Friday night. No wonder I don't do this very often...
I drove Olivia back home and as typical of 4-5 year olds, I experienced an onslaught of questions about everything in life and beyond. The kid asks a lot of questions (e.g. "where does rain come from?", "what's a sigh?", etc.etc.)
And the hits just keep on coming. This time, it's Abe who's packing up and heading off to live in Whistler, B.C. with Kenny over the winter, and then embarking on some travels after to Australia, New Zealand and Indonesia. To say liquid goodbye, we went to Rye bar in the Tenderloin. In keeping with the trend of hand-crafted cocktails that have double-digit prices, Rye has quite the list of specialty cocktails. I especially enjoyed the basil gimlet.
