Upscale dinner recs?

[loratliff]

The BF and I are planning a trip in late April—a late birthday celebration for him and just a general fun trip. We're planning one blow-out celebratory meal.

Budget is not an issue, preferred cuisine is American or French, or any of the offshoots of that. A wine list that is Bordeaux-heavy would also be preferred, but not a requirement if there's a good bottle of Ridge Monte Bello on it as well.

I was originally thinking about French Laundry, but we've eaten at Per Se, and would like something different. We're staying in SoMa, but willing to travel, as you can tell.

Thinking Gary Danko?

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The French Laundry
6640 Washington Street, Yountville, CA 94599

Gary Danko
800 N Point St, San Francisco, CA 94109

[TheDegustationAsian]

Coming from a New York perspective and having been to many of the restaurants suggested on this board, I'd have to second either Manresa or Coi. First, there are WAY too many great restaurants in the San Francisco area, but seeing how you plan on having one blowout meal, I feel both of these would be great.

Both combine modern technique with a heavy influence on local and seasonal products. I use the word "modern," not to imply that either use molecular gastronomy, but rather in their conceptualization/plating. Both have two Michelin stars, and both chefs Patterson (Coi) and Kinch (Manresa) are extremely talented.

FYI, here's a post as well as pics from my meal at Manresa last summer.
http://lawandfood.blogspot.com/2010/08/manresa-where-art-imitates-life.html
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lawandfo...

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Manresa Restaurant
320 Village Lane, Los Gatos, CA 95030

[loratliff]

Thanks, I agree with your philosophy. Loved reading your Manresa review as well.

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Manresa Restaurant
320 Village Lane, Los Gatos, CA 95030

[wolfe]

Here's the dirt thing I mentioned.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lawandfo...

[tldmatrix]

the restaurant at meadowood got 3 michelin stars, so it must be great.
http://teenchefteddy.blogspot.com/

[c oliver]

Certainly. But some of the recs here are more quintessentially San Francisco. Which, IMO, is more important than any star. BTW, Meadowood is a long drive from SF which, as others have said, is totally not necessary for a stellar meal.

[whiner]

I would not recommend Gary Danko. It is good, but not memorable for me.

Manresa down on the Peninsula is excellent. La Folie is excellent Provencal cuisine. Coi is 11 courses, some hit bullseye, some a bit of a miss for me, but very creative.

In a lower price range, less "special occasion" setting, I have to say, I really love Ame.

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Manresa Restaurant
320 Village Lane, Los Gatos, CA 95030

La Folie
2316 Polk St., San Francisco, CA 94109

Gary Danko
800 N Point St, San Francisco, CA 94109

[bbulkow]

Manresa's tasting menu is at the same scale as TFL. The only thing holding them back is consistency. Make a reservation around 5:30 or 6, and its a good idea to call ahead and say you want the chef's tasting menu. It is, absolutely, a blow-out meal, and a solid hour drive each way (longer the way down). If you do the wine pairings, I enjoy the standard pairings better than the "extra" pairings. If you don't stay down there, consider a hired car (price was no object, right?)

If you stay in SF, consider Benu, The Dining Room at the Ritz (TDRATRC), COI, the tasting menu counter seats at Commis, Saison (and note the Chef's counter at Saison). Gary Danko doesn't even touch the quality of these places.

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Manresa Restaurant
320 Village Lane, Los Gatos, CA 95030

Coi
373 Broadway, San Francisco, CA 94133

Gary Danko
800 N Point St, San Francisco, CA 94109

Commis
3859 Piedmont Avenue, Oakland, CA 94611

Saison
2124 Folsom St., San Francisco, CA 94110

Benu
22 Hawthorne St, San Francisco, CA 94103

[loratliff]

Thanks. We won't have a car so I was thinking a hired car as well, if we do Manresa. Staying down there is not preferable, as we have free accommodations in SF—the $$$ savings is the reason we can do such a great dinner! :)

I only initially considered Gary Danko because of the generally favorable Yelp reviews, but we all know what a crapshoot they can be sometimes.

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Manresa Restaurant
320 Village Lane, Los Gatos, CA 95030

Gary Danko
800 N Point St, San Francisco, CA 94109

[CarrieWas218]

Instead of the money on a car (and the commute time!) to Manresa, consider the chef's table at Saison; blew Manresa out of the water for me....

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Manresa Restaurant
320 Village Lane, Los Gatos, CA 95030

Saison
2124 Folsom St., San Francisco, CA 94110

[loratliff]

Thanks, Saison does look really neat. Thank you all for these recs—these are the types of places I would have missed searching on my own—too distracted by the Hubert Kellers, Alice Waters, Thomas Kellers, of the SF restaurant world.

What about Commonwealth? Does it even compare to any of the above?

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Saison
2124 Folsom St., San Francisco, CA 94110

[mariacarmen]

No. even if i had liked my dinner there, it wouldn't have compared to places like the ones suggested above. I'm in the minority about Commonwealth (most people love it), but i still don't think it compares to places like Coi.

[bbulkow]

Manresa - yeah - who has ever heard of David Kinch? The chefs at Commis and COI (and ubuntu when it was good) all came from there, and he won effortlessly on Iron Chef. Just because he prefers to keep one restaurant instead of an expanding empire.

Just kidding. You're in good hands now, just stay out of Yelp, the place where Taco Bell gets 5 stars.

Also - for future reference, for fine dining, starting with the Michelin list is a good idea. It's on OpenTable, so you can easily check which restaruants both have stars and seats. Gary Danko has no stars.

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Manresa Restaurant
320 Village Lane, Los Gatos, CA 95030

Coi
373 Broadway, San Francisco, CA 94133

Commis
3859 Piedmont Avenue, Oakland, CA 94611

[loratliff]

I *did* look at the Michelin list, but I am an eternal skeptic of it, about the same as Yelp. It is not a cure-all, as there are many places that should have stars that barely get a nod and vice versa. At least in NY; I'm sure the same is true of San Francisco.

[bbulkow]

Maybe it's not true in New York, but here Taco Bell gets 5 stars on yelp.
Michelin, not so much.

[rotiprata]

Which Taco Bell gets 5 stars?

[bbulkow]

The taco bell at 7 Drumm St in SF has two 5-star votes and 5 4-star votes. That's just the first taco bell I found. There's a Taco Bell on mission street that is 3.5 stars, average. The Taco Bell in Pacifica has 4 stars. Of course, it's competing with a 4-star Carl's Jr in South San Francisco.

[Robert Lauriston]

The overall rating for the Drumm St. Taco Bell, which is what people normally mean when they say "gets # stars on Yelp," is 2.5.

There actually is a Taco Bell in Flushing that has an overall rating of five stars.

[bbulkow]

Great. Two that are very close to my house are 4.5 stars aggregate (Veterans blvd Redwood City, and Bayshore East Palo Alto).
In comparison, my favorite current restaurant, Plum, has 3.5 stars.
I don't know how anyone can take seriously Yelp's ratings.

[pamf]

But the Taco Bell in Pacifica has been featured on the Travel Channel ;)

[ankimo]

yelp works if you only find the people who have similar palates as yourself, favorite them, and only check their reviews as opposed to the collective whole, where everything converges on 3-4 stars, esp. since taste is not an isolated rating, and type of restaurant/competition for the area is not factored in. michelin list is mainly perfect for established high-end french/italian/new american dining only. basically chow has a lot of like minded palates but you have to search to see if you agree with their other posts.
anyways, cyrus for nice upscale dining wasn't mentioned
i happen to be in the plum fan camp in terms of great creative tasty food. manresa with wine pairing would be a solid experience for someone who liked per se. if you're leaning towards an asian inspired tfl, then go for benu

[wolfe]

I use yelp to see if a restaurant is still open since their reviews are frequently more current than CH.. However I only check the dates.

[alanbarnes]

Gary Danko still has a Michelin star; it was Chez Panisse that got dropped this year. (Meadowood got a bump to three stars, FWIW.)

To the OP - I find the Michelin guide far more informative than Yelp. It's not perfect, but when somebody's looking for a place that's upscale with a solid wine list with limited or no budgetary constraints - that is to say, in the context of this post - it's the second-best resource available and certainly a good starting place.

The best resource, of course, is the collective knowledge of the folks here, but the answers won't be so neat and simple. Except, perhaps for the consensus about Gary Danko.

San Francisco has some of the best dining options in the world. If I lived there I'd be more likely to travel for a meal, but as a (frequent) visitor I'm reluctant to spend hours in a car seeking out even better food options. COI, Acquerello, The Dining Room at the Ritz Carlton, La Folie, heck, for a Hubert Keller fan, Fleur de Lys - they're all outstanding options that don't present logistical difficulties.

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La Folie
2316 Polk St., San Francisco, CA 94109

Chez Panisse
1517 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94709

Gary Danko
800 N Point St, San Francisco, CA 94109

Acquerello Restaurant
1722 Sacramento St., San Francisco, CA 94109

[Paul H]

"Manresa - yeah - who has ever heard of David Kinch? The chefs at Commis and COI (and ubuntu when it was good) all came from there"

Although some cooks from Manresa have cooked at Coi, Daniel Patterson is home grown.

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Manresa Restaurant
320 Village Lane, Los Gatos, CA 95030

Coi
373 Broadway, San Francisco, CA 94133

Commis
3859 Piedmont Avenue, Oakland, CA 94611

[Robert Lauriston]

Daniel Patterson's chef at Plum, Charlie Parker, worked at Manresa.

[CarrieWas218]

As did Daniel Patterson's pastry chef, Deannie Hickox (formerly Deannie Fox).

[bbulkow]

My mistake, I forgot where I got that misconception. It was probably when he was embroiled with Fox (who was manressa) regarding Plum.

[Robert Lauriston]

Manresa's amazing. Like TFL, it has its own garden. I recommend spending the night in Los Gatos.

Coi's another only-in-the-Bay Area kind of place.

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Manresa Restaurant
320 Village Lane, Los Gatos, CA 95030

Coi
373 Broadway, San Francisco, CA 94133

[mariacarmen]

Second Coi.

[wolfe]

Manresa, especially the dirt thing, Into the vegetable garden.
"which includes the leaf, root, flower, and shoot of some 30 vegetables and herbs. It's served with "edible dirt" made from potato, parsnip, and roasted chicory root."

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Manresa Restaurant
320 Village Lane, Los Gatos, CA 95030

[loratliff]

Thanks, looks exactly like what we're interested in!

[wolfe]

Click on the small print thing for an excerpt of the wine list. As Victor Borge used to say "I love excerpts"
http://www.sommelierjournal.com/artic...
The name Monte Bello Ridge seems prominent in this excerpt.