330562 Mon Oct 02 02:56:10 -0700 2006 6 1 San Francisco Bay Area 0 1915505 Wanted to fill out the missing pieces in the partial report I gave on our dinner at Bistro 1689, the new French-Californian bistro in outer Noe, in another post: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/show/328930?user_name=&query=joey%27s We went on a weekday night, and it was fairly empty and quiet. The decor is nice, though on the dark side (I guess some would call it romantic); I wouldn't have recognized it from the old Long Island days....We were seated at a comfortable table: despite the smallness of the place it is possible to get a well-spaced two-top. there was a pleasant looking bar along one side, but beer and wine only. The wine list is fairly short and literally all over the map, but with a nice range of prices and a fair number of bottles under $30. We had: heirloom tomato and grilled grilled peach salad: nicely, lightly dressed, but both peaches and tomatoes lacked enough fflavor. Little Gems salad: looked and tasted like regular romaine to me, and only ok, although again, nicely dressed. Lamb chops, with roast 'confit' potatoes, caramelized celery and lemon thyme jus: As I mentioned in my other post, $24 for this dish seemed too high, until it came out and was five delicious and fairly big chops, perfectly cooked medium rare, with just a taste of thyme, basically a rack. The potatoes were also delicious, and a very generous serving. The celery did nothing for me, I didn't think it was really carmelized, but I am not sure I would have enjoyed it even if it had been (not being a huge celery fan). Roast duck breast with roasted figs and spinach: again, a very generous serving, and perfectly done as ordered. Hubby was very pleased. The flavors of house made ice cream on offer sounded interesting, but the server encouraged us to try the warm apple fritters with a Cointreau chestnut milk shake. Bless him. This was one of the best desserts I've had anywhere in a long time: perfectly fried and still hot fritters that really tasted of apple, served with the 'milkshake' in a bowl just made for dipping the fritters: crunchy, sweet, creamy, delicious. Try these! (and if the rest of the desserts are this good, I look forward to trying them!) Service was professional and mostly smooth, although it seemed to take a long time for our salads to come out: after that the rest of the timing seemed much better. Others have asked (including in the post linked above) if it perhaps isn't a bit overpriced. I said I thought no for the quality, but otoh, after hearing that entrees are under $20 at Pescheria (Joey and Eddie's) across the street, I'm not sure. I will be very tempted by the full bar at Pescheria, and of course, La Ciccia is impossible to beat for delicious food at truly reasonable prices. Still, I thought the cooking at Bistro 1689 was quite solid, and when we want a quiet, easy to get into spot, I am sure we will be back. Especially for those apple fritters! Here is the website: http://www.bistro1689.com/ Mon Oct 02 02:56:10 -0700 2006 10158 susancinsf 1 1915573 Thanks for the post. To be honest, it looks like a wonderful menu and I cannot wait to go. I look forward to reporting back when I Finally get a chance to go~ Mon Oct 02 03:48:40 -0700 2006 1915505 14119 Doodleboomer 1 2013285 Deceptively cutting-edge for a neighborhood restaurant, Bistro1689 is competitive with, but perhaps still a notch below Incanto and Range. The chef claims to want to keep the menu "rustic", but this is very edgey San Francisco fare, not regular bistro fare at all. The French Onion Soup I rated as better than Absinthe's...and there's nothing better at Absinthe. This is classic and not at all edgey. Then I had the Duck confit, which was absolutely the opposite: Which the duck itself was a classic preparation, it sat amidst a smokey-flavored, Cardamom-scented pinapple puree (much like an Indian chutney, but not as sweet) and atop napa cabbage (chopped, thankfully, rather than the getting-so-old trend of making you squeak your knife or chew for 15 minutes so the wilted greens "look" trendily crude) with had very pungent gigante parsley on top. It doesn't sound as edgey as it ends up being. Then the hoary old lamb shank (edgey ten years ago) came out as Flinstone Food on steroids: an enormous bone laden with Niman pork, an apple puree and some herbs. Braised with mustard for a few hours, it was mostly tender and moist, not too stringy, but certainly an excavation project. This is NOT the dish to serve your petite lady date...it's man-food, and even I had to bring much of it home. The wine list is developing it looks, above average certainly but still (even post-Claudio) in the shadow of neighbor Incanto. Incanto, of course, was virtually a wine bar for two years while they struggled to find a concept culinarily, now they're one of the best places in town overall (even though the $2billion Wynn Las Vegas stole their world-class sommelier). Bistro1689 is starting way ahead of the game on the menu, and the wine program is easy enough to catch up once they have some budget to do so. The chef is anything but timid, and would be summarily panned in any city other than this. Michael Bauer is certain to rape this place, which is your sign that you should attend. It's hard to know what to make of it, and in many ways a shock, but the difference between "cutting edge" and "pretentious" is whether you pull it off. Bistro 1689 does pull it off. Sat Nov 11 06:44:56 -0800 2006 1915505 52475 peeder 2 2013694 Thanks for the update. Now that winter is coming, I think I am going to take my sister next time she is in town, as she loves a classic French Onion Soup. Though I must say, I found nothing about the restaurant or the menu to be either cutting edge or, for that matter, potentially pretentious, even in a subtle way. Perhaps the difference is in what we ordered, but it really did have the feel of bistro fare, well-prepared. (other than that dessert, which did make me sit up and take notice.) Sat Nov 11 16:40:53 -0800 2006 2013285 10158 susancinsf 2 2034267 Funny thing, we ate here last night and had the pork shank and I joked to my wife that I felt like Fred Flinstone eating this thing. She had ordered it, too. I finished 90% of mine, she about 20% of hers. It was beautifully prepared and great tasting, but what a waste. I wish they would've have warned us just how much we had ordered (we also had soup and a tart to start). We could've easily split the pork shank. I'm still full the next day. The place seems a little uncomfortable for no explicit reason. Maybe they're trying too hard. Won't be back too soon. Just too many other choices around. Sun Nov 19 20:51:40 -0800 2006 2013285 11737 NoeMan 1 2102351 I just noticed on Bistro 1689's website that they have a $39 prix fixe dinner on Mondays and Tuesdays with a "bottomless glass of wine." Hmmm. http://www.bistro1689.com/reviews.html Fri Dec 15 15:06:03 -0800 2006 1915505 10658 Atomica 2 2102583 i've been. it's fun if you have nothing to do the following day. Fri Dec 15 16:15:56 -0800 2006 2102351 19408 potatoe