Woodward's Garden or Jardiniere?

[nybecca]

My husband and I will be in SF to visit family, and are desperately planning our 1st dinner out, alone, since the baby (who's 10 months old!)

Looking for yummy, romantic, etc. etc. Spendy is fine, especially if we're only eating out alone every 10 months... Form surfing around, it seems Woodward's Garden or Jardiniere may fit the bill? Am I missing something? Favorites in NYC include Craft and Lupa, if that helps, and we're fans of interesting tasting menus.

thanks!

[Warwick]

Been to both... Jardinere wins hands down! No comparison actually.

[dty]

I have to second the opinion that the service was lackluster. By dining there I felt like I was imposing on the owner/waitron.

[susancinsf]

Can you tell us more about why you narrowed it down to those two? They are so different that it is hard to figure out what you are looking for...

[dunstable]

I've not eaten at Woodward's Garden, but it's next door to the Levende Lounge, whose loud, party-minded patrons often spill out onto the sidewalk to smoke cigarettes. If that sort of thing bothers you, you might not want to visit Woodward's Garden on a weekend night, and especially not on Thursdays, when Levende seem to have a very popular DJ night. Or you could maybe ask for a table on the Duboce side of the restaurant, as opposed to the Mission St. side, I dunno.

Only ate at Jardiniere once, but it was one of my favorite meals in SF.

[Grubbjunkie]

Winterland is closed.

[susancinsf]

according to their website (link in Ruth's post above) they are doing tasting menus on Thursday nights.

[Robert Lauriston]

Their answering machine message doesn't mention them.

[Hunicsz]

I've only been to Woodward Gardens once, but I had a rather negative experience. First of all, the service was awful. Our server (one of the owners, I later learned from Check Please) was totally rude. Yes, they were busy & she was harried, but no need to act as if customers are a nuisance. She half-yelled at us when we first walked in to "hold on just a minute!". Then, after we were seated, she walked away in the middle of our drink order! My dining companion had put in her order & I was just telling her what I wanted when she turned around to attend to something else. Weird.

The food was decent, but mine at least wasn't great. My fish (sorry, don't recall what exactly--halibut?) was way too salty. The vegetables that came with where OK, as was the wine, but given the rather cramped noisy dining room combined with the lackluster service killed it for me.

[Ruth Lafler]

Since you specifically mentioned "interesting tasting menus" -- if your visit is going to include a Thursday (the only night they're open at the moment), you might want to look at Winterland. Some of the most creative food in the city, and a quiet, intimate atmosphere (small restaurant a little off the beaten path without a lot of the flash and drama of the other top-tier places).

www.winterlandrestaurant.com

[chaddict]

Yes, yes, and yes!!!!

[Lord Griffin]

i totally missed the fact that they were doing this. i just figured they had totally closed and were moving on. this is great news.

[chaddict]

No, as Susan mentioned below, they are doing dinners on Thursdays. But I haven't checked in a few weeks. Still on their web site though: http://www.winterlandrestaurant.com/N...

[chaddict]

Oops! Maybe not doing the Thurs. night dinners according to "Tablehopper": http://tablehopper.com/main.html

[rtmonty]

You've kind of picked apples and oranges. Both are very good in their own way. Woodward Gardens is very small, 9 tables I believe, a bit crowed but good food. Jardiniere is very upscale, nice bar downstairs, beautiful seating upstairs and outstanding food.

Either place would work for two however I would think Jardiniere might be a bit more romantic.

There is also Boulevard, Ame (we had a fantastic anniversary dinner there) and Le Folie.