384342 Fri Mar 23 16:51:35 -0700 2007 15 1 San Francisco Bay Area 0 2415712 Is this a good place to meet a small group of friends after work,? Can you have a conversation or is it jammed and noisy? Any idea what the wine flights cost, did not see any prices on their website. Thanks Fri Mar 23 16:51:36 -0700 2007 52212 Lori SF 1 2415751 Great place to meet friends but it's been insanely jammed on Fridays. Other times I've gone it wasn't bad--big place, can hold I'd guess around 150-200 comfortably. You might call ahead and ask. Three-wine taste flights are $14-20. I think the pours are closer to 2 ounces than the usual 2.5. Fri Mar 23 17:05:51 -0700 2007 2415712 11369 Robert Lauriston 2 2415761 oh good thanks Robert. I will give it a try. Fri Mar 23 17:08:55 -0700 2007 2415751 52212 Lori SF 1 2422626 I've been a few times for drinks only and it has been insanely jammed each time. Its really more of a bar than a sit down restaurant. They are still working on developing their wine list, and the wines by the glass are varied and international... not sure how i feel about them. I agree with Robert that the pours were not big enough. Mon Mar 26 14:01:53 -0700 2007 2415712 51559 funmarysf 2 2422762 I really enjoyed the wines. Great sommelier. Mon Mar 26 14:35:24 -0700 2007 2422626 11369 Robert Lauriston 1 2423015 I was very unimpressed on two occassions. Both times they literally ran out of most food items. In addition, their wine lists were almost laughable. Take a look at the Pinot Noir choices for example. Here we are, 100 miles from the Sonoma Coast Appellation, Russian River Valley or Santa Lucia AVA's and they are serving a average Willamette and a very average Burgundy with small pours. Go figure. Mon Mar 26 15:38:22 -0700 2007 2415712 29396 grubber4 2 2424237 I thought the wine selection was great. Takes balls to feature a German pinot noir in these parts. Mon Mar 26 23:35:35 -0700 2007 2423015 11369 Robert Lauriston 3 2424850 I like that many of the wines available are not the tried and true labels that are typically found at other establishments. There is certainly considerable effort made to find wines that you normally wouldn't find or try on your own. District is loud and busy, especially on the weekends. Tue Mar 27 08:10:08 -0700 2007 2424237 11011 Eugene Park 2 2425024 The wine-by-the-glass list is online, though without prices: http://districtsf.com/wine.pdf The currently listed pinot flight includes the 2005 Bethel Heights estate (Oregon), the 2004 Camille Giroud Burgundy, and the 2002 Movia (Slovenia). To me that's an exceptionally interesting selection of $20-25 pinots. Only the Bethel Heights is commonly seen in the Bay Area, and it's by no means your average high-alcohol fruit bomb. Tue Mar 27 08:53:11 -0700 2007 2423015 11369 Robert Lauriston 3 2425838 Takes balls to ignore the small pinot producers of green valley, sonoma coast or santa lucia? More like ignorance and frugality. There are some great small producers in those ava's. If makes no sense to equate obscurity (bethel heights not included since that is not "commonly found" it is universally found with quality. Tue Mar 27 11:55:52 -0700 2007 2425024 29396 grubber4 4 2425924 We have different taste in pinot noir. I find virtually all contemporary California pinot noirs unblanced, overripe, and overly alcoholic, and the occasional exception usually costs well over the $20-25 (retail) price range of that flight. Given the wines in that flight, I suspect District's sommelier, Caterina Mirabelli, feels the same way. She definitely seeks out small California producers of high-quality wines that can hold their own against their European counterparts. That same list includes: Nelson Family Mendocino riesling Cold Heaven Santa Rita viognier Topanga Vineyards Clarksburg grenache blanc Mount Eden Santa Cruz chardonnay Fort Ross Sonoma chardonnay Sonoma Coast Vineyards sauvignon blanc Steele Mendocino zinfandel Green and Red Napa zinfandel Havens Napa cab franc-merlot blend Kunin Santa Ynez grenache-mourvedre-syrah blend Tue Mar 27 12:17:33 -0700 2007 2425838 11369 Robert Lauriston 5 2426126 I have been to District numerous times. It is generally crowded on Friday and Saturday. It seems like they are still trying to understand their demographic. The food is good but $18 for a cheese plate is a bit much for what you get. The wine pours are a bit small. I have even had been given the wrong stem ware. The service is friendly and it is a great room. I believe the capacity is 125 people. The room is stunning and so is the bar. I would say it is a better mid week destination. It is really best to get there early or I have even seen people reserve sections. Tue Mar 27 13:03:14 -0700 2007 2425924 84800 gastronomicdiva 6 2426275 They definitely didn't expect such huge crowds that they'd need somebody at the door to enforce the fire code. Tue Mar 27 13:40:45 -0700 2007 2426126 11369 Robert Lauriston 5 2427041 Precisely, i wasn't interested in your taste. The poster had asked about impressions of District and as I said before, they ran out of food both times i was there, it was very crowded and the wine list was mundane, particuarly the pinot noirs which i felt ignored very good world class, local producers. If you want to support slovenian pinot producers that is certainly your perogative. I prefer suporting local producers myself (many of whom are making burgundian style). Tue Mar 27 17:23:20 -0700 2007 2425924 29396 grubber4 6 2427161 District is deliberately going for a global mix. The list currently on the Web site has 11 California wines, 6 French, 5 Italian, 2 each from Austria and Oregon, and 1 each from South Africa, Slovenia, Spain, and Washington. If you prefer to drink only California wines, there are other wine bars with the same bias, notably California Wine Merchant in the Marina. Tue Mar 27 17:57:25 -0700 2007 2427041 11369 Robert Lauriston 1 2919821 I just recently tried this place for the first time I really liked it. It is primarily a bar and lounge type of place and everyone there at the time seemed like they were mostly there for the wine. But I have to say the food was top notch and very enjoyable. I think it's a shame more people aren't eating it. I was there with a friend and we shared the Kona kampachi, which was sprinkled with tobiko for a neat crunchy texture on top. We also had a pizzeta which is like an individual pan pizza. All the ingredients were really fresh and the pizzeta was nice and warm. You have to get used to the cornmeal thin crust, though. We also had the slow braised red wine short ribs, which was nice and tender. The taste reminded me of other restaurants, but it was still flavorful. I think that was my takeaway about District, every dish we tried had flavor. The wine list is also impressive and the wine flights are priced reasonably. I tried the reds from Austria and Sicily. They were OK, nothing spell-bounding. But it was nice to expose myself to wines from other areas besides California and New Zealand. I also felt our server was really helpful and friendly. They really try to encourage the neighborhood vibe, although it definitely has more an after-business vibe. Here are photos: http://singleguychef.blogspot.com/2007/09/dish-on-dining-district.html Fri Sep 07 10:21:18 -0700 2007 2415712 43882 singleguychef