18374 Thu Jan 17 03:00:47 -0800 2002 11 1 San Francisco Bay Area 0 57838 Thanks to the insight and helpful advice from fellow hounds for helping me decide on dinner. Alborz and Alma sounded like places that would require extra ammunition (read: fellow diners) to cover as much of the menu I would have liked. So I ended up at Anjou. Ruth Lafler's and Mike W's were perfectly accurate. I got a little table at the higher part of the split level room. A good vantage point to check out the going ons in the kitchen and the prep area for salads and desserts. The atmosphere at Anjou is genuine, calm and cheerfully relaxed. Dining here is dining, not theatre; this can be a refreshing change for those who find eating out at flashy places a constant struggle. Mike W hit the nail on the head when he described the place as a notch below Clementine, Chapeau and Fringale. The food is good and simple and that seems to be exactly what the kitchen is aiming for. I had a somewhat Burgundian dinner - snails, seabass seasoned with mustard, and a glass of meursault/pugliny (sp?) which started with a crisp appleness like any personable chardonnay, but somehow took on an interesting minerally quality that tasted like oysters in the latter part of the meal. (Insights, Melanie?) First, escargot served in shells with garlic butter and parsley. As is par for SF, I'm sorry to say, it was ever so slightly overcooked and just a minor bit chewy. I wasn't disappointed, because there was a part of me that expected this. But I secretly wished I could be delighted with a version that was succulently crunchy. Didn't pass the acid test with flying colours, but satisfying nonetheless. The Chilean seabass (which I allow myself to eat only once or twice a year, because I want to be able to continue eating this overfished species) was excellent -- utterly juicy and tender. A very subtle hand with the mustard marinade. What could have been pungent is instead perfumed. On the side, green beans with a remaining last bit of soft snap that is finished with butter and a thin and delicate potato puree which was quite enjoyable. I was torn between the poached pears in sabayon and the warm chestnut cake. Waiter steered me towards the pear, which was very nicely poached and had great pear flavor. The sabayon was nice and rich, but maybe slightly too sweet for my taste. It was warmed in the oven and I would have enjoyed the skin on the top more if it was more evenly formed. Tab came to almost $43 with tax, not counting tip. I think that any of the 3 other french places mentioned by Mike W would have offered a slightly better deal at similar prices. On the whole, not top drawer stuff (and certainly not a value choice), but honest and true in its own way. Thu Jan 17 03:00:47 -0800 2002 0 Limster 1 57933 Maybe the biggest compliment you can give Anjou is that it is, as you describe, "honest and true", while being located near Union Square. That alone deserves some merit, though maybe not a repeat visit. Thu Jan 17 19:42:27 -0800 2002 57838 0 Mike W 1 57935 You got it, Limster: what I enjoy most about Anjou is atmosphere -- I do indeed find "flashy places a constant struggle." So many places these days seem to take pride in being uncomfortable and incredibly noisy. Can't 21st century Americans have a good time without going deaf, or are so many of them already deaf they don't notice the noise? Re: the overdone snails. Have you tried asking when you order them that they be cooked more to your liking? It is probably assumed that Americans would rather have them tough than possibly "underdone," but maybe you can convince the kitchen you want them as the French would eat them. Personally, snails are something I won't eat no matter how many chowhounds are eating them. I feel about snails and slugs the way a mild arachnaphobe feels about spiders -- I won't touch one, let alone put one in my mouth! Thu Jan 17 19:59:37 -0800 2002 57838 0 Ruth Lafler 2 57939 I did think about asking them, but decided to hold back just to see what they would give me - hence the "acid test". Le Charm did a nice job on them snails a few years ago without asking, and I've been curious ever since to see if anyone else did that. Thu Jan 17 20:34:50 -0800 2002 57935 0 Limster 1 58152 A couple questions, Limster - did the white Burgundy start to taste like oysters or oyster SHELLS? And, was it a Meursault or a Puligny-Montrachet? If it had a mineral quality that tasted of oyster shells, odds are that you had a Puligny-Montrachet. The chardonnay-based wines from Puligny tend to show more of this character than the wines from Meursault to the north. The limestone soils give a fineness to the wines and the french believe this terroir imparts a chalky taste to the wine. The other French whites often described as tasting of oyster shells are Chablis, where the grand crus (great vineyards) are famous for their Kimmeridgean soil, a mixture of clay, limestone and fossilized oyster shells. In the Loire region (where Anjou is located), Muscadet is also described as tasting of oyster shells and is a favorite accompaniment to the local bivalves. Sun Jan 20 05:02:35 -0800 2002 57838 0 Melanie Wong 2 58154 Great to be able to pick your brain again! Unless I was mistaken, the wine list read "Meursault/Puligny". (Hence my request for help. I thought it was a blend of some sort. Should have tried to remember the producers name. Maybe I remembers incorrectly.) Oysters or the shells? Hard one for me - I couldn't really tell the two apart. Definitely tasted like oysters on the half shell when I last had them, but it was a whole experience, with me slurping the oysters off the shell. It ws kind of minerally, but not chalky by any means.... Sun Jan 20 05:53:31 -0800 2002 58152 0 Limster 3 58212 Maybe you could call the restaurant and find out. (g) It may have said that on the wine list if the by the glass selection rotates between the two villages. Sun Jan 20 21:53:24 -0800 2002 58154 0 Melanie Wong 2 58158 We had a dinner last year featuring the wines of Matrot, including a couple of Meursaults and a Puligny Montrachet. The P-M was notable for how it changed - it seemed to disappear with the food, lacked body and just retained some mineral flavor. The meursaults, on the other hand, seemed to grow with the food (incidentally these were tasted blind and the group rated the P-M top in a pre-tasting, then bottom with the food). So Melanie's conclusion of probably P-M seems good). Sun Jan 20 09:36:49 -0800 2002 58152 0 Estufarian 3 58211 Lucky you! Sounds like a wonderful dinner. Although, I would say that my experience tends to be the opposite. The fatness of Meursault can get cloying with food, while the acidity and minerality of Puligny-Montrachet wraps around food, especially shellfish, beautifully. Sun Jan 20 21:52:14 -0800 2002 58158 0 Melanie Wong 4 58226 The Meursault I've had were full and very toasty.Sort of like a super version of Chalk Hill. Mon Jan 21 01:34:28 -0800 2002 58211 0 howard 5 58325 There is a fullness and buttery quality to Chardonnay fruit from Meursault that seems to be independent of the oak treatment or use of malolactic fermentation. They are also more flattering young, whereas young Puligny or Chassagne can seem lean and angular. Mon Jan 21 23:33:00 -0800 2002 58226 0 Melanie Wong 6 58335 I'm not a big Chard fan,they're not that food friendly.(Do however like with roast chicken,certain cheeses and to my surprise osso buco) I keep getting the smell and flavor of toast with White Burgondy.(Except Chablis and Macon). The Chalk hill was overoaked. I know Macon's have no (or little) oak but they don't do anything for me.Nautilus makes a light tropical fruit flavored Chard that I like. The last white wine that I've had which really impressed me was an Austrian Riesling from Hirch. The best qualities of two lands, Alsace and Germany. Tue Jan 22 00:20:07 -0800 2002 58325 0 howard