Bachelorette Party for 7--Report

[Pei]

Thanks to all who gave suggestions to my various question about planning a fun evening for a group of seven young women. I think overall the places we went were all a big success. Here's a short summary of the group's favorites.

SILK SF
Okay, it's a nail salon, not a restaurant. But on Saturdays, Silk SF puts out a large spread of food for its customers to enjoy. There was fruit salad, granola, bottled water and juice, Asian bakery pastries, cookies, a few cheeses, and celery and carrot sticks with dip. The drying stations each had a covered bowl of either m&ms or Jelly Bellies. The salon also let us BYOB and were very gracious about pouring and serving the champagne to minimize our time out of the chairs.

JACK FALSTAFF
I was surprised to see the restaurant so empty on a Saturday night. We were there from 7-9 and I don't think more than five tables were filled at any given time. The winning dish of the night was the halibut, nicely seared and served over a bed of very good sweet corn. I had the duroc pork, which included four beautifully seared, rare (yes, rare) piece of pork over a "ramen" in gingery/bacony broth. The broth was a little salty for my taste, and the ramen was overcooked spaghetti. The pork deserved better.

ORSON
For me, the winning stop of the night. There were eight desserts on the menu, and the table's three favorites were:

--Rosebud Remastered: a rose creme brulee with saffron and pistachios. WOW. I'm going back soon to eat a whole servign myself. Creamy, densely flavored, decadent without being heavy, with an airy thin burnt sugar top and rose petals (?) in the center. This was everyone's favorite hands down.
--chocolate mousse cake. Very nicely balanced flavors and delicious accompanying gelato, but I forget the name
--granita in a citrusy soda float, topped with soft meringue. I don't know if this is my favorite style of dessert, but it was beautiful, unique, and the only dessert I would describe as light and refreshing. It's also a godsend for any lactose intolerant dessert lovers out there, because almost everything else was paired with ice cream.

Cocktails were all good, but the one that stood out was the Lady from Shanghai. It was like no cocktail I've ever tasted before. The gin was barely detectable; it blended with the grapefruit juice and osmanthus foam to become something that reminded me of summer in Asia. Other good cocktails were the Pisco Punch and Passionista.

BONUS POINTS FOR ORSON: Elizabeth Faulkner is truly a class act. Not only was every member of her staff gracious from the moment I called for a reservation to the moment we left the restaurant, she came out to say hi, congratulated the bride, let us take a picture with her, wrote a congratulatory message for the bride in chocolate on one of the desserts, and comped us a dessert when the 7 of us couldn't decide which of the 8 desserts to forego.

[rworange]

Yeah, I like Orson a lot. That rose dessert sounds great.

Just curious ... but if you are getting nails done ... just how do you eat?

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Jack Falstaff Restaurant - CLOSING May 9
598 2nd St, San Francisco, CA 94107

Orson Restaurant
508 4th Street, San Francisco, CA 94107

[Pei]

Thanks for the links, I have to remember that. Most of us only had our toes done, and we took turns feeding the bride, of course! :)

Is the dinner experisnce at Orson as good as the desserts? We were too far from the dining section for me to see anything.

[rworange]

I like it ... but I think what someone said will make it a better experience ... think of it as a lounge with great food rather than a restaurant with great cocktails.

[Robert Lauriston]

If this was this past Saturday, you were at Jack Falstaff right in the middle of the Giants game, which creates a sort of eye-of-the-hurricane effect for nearby restaurants.