After a long overseas flight, we quickly checked in and took a stroll through Marienplatz to take advantage of the great weather (click on different parts of the picture to check out the Lytro living picture refocusing capability):

We strolled right to Wirsthaus Ayingers after deciding it would be the best first meal for our jetlagged selves. The original brewery was founded in 1878 in the Bavarian village of Aying, located about 15 miles (25 km) southeast of München. A new brewery opened in 1999 with the intention of brewing more varieties of beer; here they offer at least six different types that change seasonally, including lagers, pilsners, wheat, bock and strong barrel-aged beers. With less than 10% of their products exported, we always make a point to drink here when we travel to München.

It was such a lovely evening that we wanted to eat outdoors. The plaza tables were all full, but we luckily didn’t have to wait for more than five minutes before one opened up:

The first sip of Bavarian beer gave us all an overwhelming feeling of gratitude for our good fortune. We started with a tall glass of of Pilsner and a stein of Aying’s Lager. The lager was full-bodied and the pilsner had a very light hoppy taste. We would drink at least two more rounds of these beers throughout the evening:

The table setting includes a basket of Bavarian pretzels that could be consumed at any time before, during or after the meal. Large and soft with a just the right amount of salt, it served as a great beer snack:

The three of us decided to share a starter of their “Bavarian board” listed under the Snacks section of the menu. It was veritable assortment of everything great that Bavaria has to offer: ham, weiner schnitzel, bacon, cream and bavarian cheese, mortadella, headcheese, sausage salad, liver sausage, pickled vegetables, radishes and butter:

Turning the plate around shows the liver sausage, head cheese and the orange Bavarian-style cheese. The generous platter served as a great welcome to Bavaria for us:

It’s spargel (white asparagus) season here in Bavaria and we always have to eat these when they are available since they are thicker and sweeter here than anywhere else in the world. Apparently our timing was great as the season had just started, later than usual due a long winter. The thick white asparagus spears were served with roasted new potatoes and a vat of delicious hollandaise sauce:

The spargel platter can be upgraded to include a side of protein. In one of the dishes, we chose the excellent Black Forest ham served with a tomato slice, red onions and a rosette of mache (lamb’s tongue lettuce):

With the other Spargel plate, we ordered the Wiener Schnitzel made with veal, perfectly fried and crispy:

Lastly we ordered the delicious Munich Pork Roast made with pork shoulder slowly braised in an Ayinger dark beer sauce. It was served with potato and bread dumplings. We realized we were jetlagged when we failed to get in our normal request of replacing the dumplings with french fries. We like the fennel bread dumpling since it is reminiscent of a dressing or bread pudding; however, we’re not big fans of the potato dumpling (Kartoffelkloesse) which take on an overly thick, gelatinous consistency:

The pork roast also came with a fresh coleslaw:

We felt very full walking back to our hotel, but we were glad to have the opportunity to work off some of the filling meal. The weather was perfect which afforded us another great view of a cherub with the roof of the Rathaus (New Town Hall) in the background:

That was a great meal for our first night in Germany. All of the good food and Ayinger beer helped us fall asleep and get over jetlag faster.

http://www.ayingers.de/en/wirtshaus-ayingers.html

Note: The BarFlys are vacationing in Italy. SF posts will return soon; in the meantime, please enjoy these travel-related posts.

If you have read the About page, all pictures in this blog are living pictures taken with the Lytro light-field camera, which allows refocusing of different parts of the picture. Learn more about Lytro’s parallax view capability from a previous post (click to view).

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It’s a Perfect Day for the Biergarten (May 12, 2013)
Suppenküche Helps Us Prepare for München (Apr. 15, 2013)

There is no waitstaff here: all items are ordered at the register, and there is almost always a line. Thankfully, the wait is never more than 15 to 20 minutes before an order can be placed:

Once you get to the register, they hand you a number for food items and give you the beer to take with you to the table:

There are authentic German biergarten picnic tables set up for communal seating; the challenge is trying to find a place to sit, especially when the weather is nice:

Beer can be ordered by the half- or full-liter, and with such long lines it’s always best to order the liter straight away. We did see more than a few people drinking their beers while standing in line, which is an alternative strategy that can be used:

For us, the beer choice is always easy – we like our Bavarian Helles lagers. The more difficult choice is paring down what to eat. From the chalkboard menu we spied more than a few things that we would have liked to eat for lunch, but the Pork Belly Sliders really stuck out:

We should have ordered two sets of sliders since these were really good. Very thick but super tender cuts of pork belly were contained by buttery soft brioche slider buns:

We have eaten plenty of deviled eggs, but not too many pickled deviled eggs. The eggs must have been pickled with the red cabbage to give them this beautiful bright pink color. Only the slightest hint of sweet vinegar flavored the eggs, giving it an interesting twist:

We also ordered the German potato salad made with eggs and some vinegar:

We initially wanted to get some Bratwursts, but were told that they were out of the sausage when we got to the register. Forced with making a quick decision, we remembered that they offered Pastrami “Knots” that are essentially small tongue pastrami sandwiches served in a pretzel bun:

A closer look at the tasty sandwich shows off the slices of tongue, pickles and whole grain mustard:

The food and drinks at Biergarten are really great. It is just a little more expensive than you would expect, but it’s definitely worth a little extra, especially for the opportunity to eat outdoors under the sun. It put us in just the right mood for our upcoming trip .. stay tuned for posts from Germany …

http://www.biergartensf.com

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Suppenküche Helps Us Prepare for München

The dining room is very formal with white tablecloth service, but we always opt to sit at the long wooden bar where the service is actually just as good. This is definitely a restaurant that is splurge-worthy with entrées priced at $25 – $35, but an affordable meal can also be had with items from the pub menu (available throughout the restaurant on request). We typically come here just for their Pub Burger, one of the best in the Bay Area and worth the visit alone, usually paired with an inexpensive bottle of wine off of their award-winning wine list.

It was a weeknight so we skipped the cocktail and started with this very reasonably priced bottle of Tempranillo off of their wine list:

It’s no wonder they were awarded with a Michelin star: service is really excellent, especially from our bartender Chris. We ordered a small meal, but they treated us as if we were eating in the formal dining room and came out with a couple of amuse bouche cups filled with a little bit of their delicious Spring green garlic soup:

Russian-born and Wisonsin-raised Executive Chef Dmitry Alperin has an extensive culinary resume having worked on both coasts at San Francisco’s Hawthorne Lane, Aqua, Campton Place and Aqua and in New York under Master French Chef Daniel Boulud. A chance meeting with Executive Chef Mark Sullivan in New York attracted Dmitry back to the Bay Area in 2007 to helm the Village Pub kitchens, where he has helped earn a coveted Michelin star for the past three years running. With a strong affinity for local, farm-to-table food, Alperin crafts the menu everyday based on fresh-picked produce available that day.

The Village Pub has a very strong house-made charcuterie program, and a large plate can be ordered on their regular menu. But the Pub menu has individual servings of some of the charcuterie, such as the Laperin Duck Liver Mousse served with cornichons to help cut the richness. We still miss our foie gras, but this excellent liver dish served with crispy baguette croutons will just have to do:

A server came around offering a selection of three oven-warmed breads. We each opted for the soft brioche-like Parker House roll and a baguette roll served with butter:

We told our bartender Chris that we would be splitting the salad and our main dish, and the kitchen sent our Butter Lettuce Salad served on a tarragon mouselline base and lightly dressed with a Walnut Vinaigrette on two separate plates. The generous portion of the tasty butter lettuce rosette had us convinced that it couldn’t possibly be a split dish:

As we previously stated, we originally came for the burger, but we were swayed to split an order of the Steak Frites. Once again the kitchen kindly split the portions by effectively doubling them. The split portion of rare ordered steak arrived perfectly cooked and smothered with just the right amount of sauce bordelaise. But each plate contained its own serving of a lightly dressed bitter-good watercress salad, roasted bone marrow and a head of garlic:

The steak was really excellent, and if the “split” portions weren’t enough, they also served each of us a side of French Fries with remoulade sauce. This made us very happy since we didn’t have to fight over these excellent fries, one of the best versions in the Bay Area:

We had no room for dessert after this meal, but Chris gave us some house-made nougats (it was served on a plate but we put it on the bar to take the pic). It was just the right amount of sweetness to end another perfect meal:

During our dinner, we inexplicably couldn’t figure out why we haven’t been to Spruce in San Francisco, so we have added that to the list. But we don’t mind eating more meals at the Village Pub. We will have to return for that burger one day soon.

http://www.thevillagepub.net

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Brunch Bellinis by the Bottle and Oysters at Café des Amis (Oct. 30, 2012)

Since it was lunchtime, we decided to split an antipasti and a pizza. Lucky for us, there was virtually no wait provided we sat at the bar counter — with the very warm weather we are experiencing lately everyone was opting to eat outside. The place setting came ready with the menu, breadsticks, water and a small plate holding grated parmesan cheese, red chili flakes and dried oregano leaves (still on the stem):

We were torn between ordering the Arancini or Chilled Tripe, “Tripperia Style.” We didn’t spend enough time in Naples to try out the offal specialty served at Tripperias (Tripe Shops), so we ordered the tripe. Sliced into noodle-like thin strands, the cold tripe was served cold with half a lemon, salt and house-made chili oil:

We were instructed to apply lemon juice, chili oil and salt to our liking. It was delicious, but probably not our favorite way to eat tripe. Since it tends to be a canvas that picks up the flavor surrounding it, we would probably order tomato-tripe stew such as Trippa alla Romana/Napoletana/Fiorentina/etc. over this dish, but we were glad we had the opportunity to try it:

Sitting at the counter provided us with plenty of entertainment by watching the two Pizzaiolos constantly making pies. They were quite the experts at creating hand stretched crusts, spending less than five minutes per pie to get them oven-ready complete with toppings:

This picture is not a particularly great shot, but it is an excellent example of the Lytro living picture capability. Click anywhere in the picture to check out what is behind the breadstick:

They have a small but concise wine list primarily focused on wines from Southern Italy. Since it was lunch, a glass of the Tami Grillo was the right beverage to pair with our meal:

They have fixed pizza choices on the menu, but they do rotate in two special pies every day. We chose one of the specials for that day, the green garlic, mozzarella, pecorino, black pepper and Speck pizza with an optional egg added in:

A view down the counter reveals the Neapolitan Meatballs in Sugo that we will have to return for one day:

Successful from the first day they opened, the Stolls have since opened a Pizzeria Delfina branch in Pacific Heights, with another one coming further south in Burlingame. Delfina and nearby Locanda serves more of the upscale Italian food, but it’s great to have a casual location from the same team as an option for lunch and dinner.

http://www.pizzeriadelfina.com

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We Drink and Feast on 7+ Fishes at Locanda (Dec. 27, 2012)
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If you have read the About page, all pictures in this blog are living pictures taken with the Lytro light-field camera, which allows refocusing of different parts of the picture. Learn more about Lytro’s parallax view capability from a previous post (click to view).

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Visa Signature Event at AQ (May 2, 2013)

Visa Signature offers tasting perks when visiting participating wineries in the Sonoma region, and for this event they asked Chalk Hill Estate Winery from Healdsburg to supply all of the wines. There was room for about 60 diners total, so we checked in early enough to grab a couple of spots at the bar. Each individual place setting featured the menu tucked under the napkin and more than a few wine glasses, giving us a preview of what our evening had in store for us:

They also started pouring the 2010 Estate Sauvignon Blanc as everyone arrived and to pair with the small bites course:

Initially billed as a four-course menu, Rich Table outdid themselves and decided to throw in an extra “Bites” course comprised of some of their signature dishes. The first of the bites served were Dried Porcini Donuts with a creamy raclette cheese dipping sauce. We took a couple of these tasty fried dough bites and passed them down the bar. The dried porcini powder added an interesting earthy mushroom flavor to the savory donuts:

The next bite were Beausoleil Oysters on the half shell topped with a crushed flower mignonette:

A bowl of their signature Sardine Chips with a horseradish dipping sauce was also served. We said it before, but we have no issue repeating that this is a must-get item:

Each chip contained a sardine filet “woven” into the chip prior to frying:

Sarah and Evan Rich came out from behind the kitchen to briefly address the crowd and tell us a little about their food and how the night’s menu was representative of their restaurant. Chalk Hill Estate Director of Winemaking Lisa Bishop Forbes spent some time on the mike educating us about Chalk Hill’s winemaking process (alas we could not see her from where we were sitting):

The last “bite” was the off-the-menu “Dirty Hippy” featuring a buttermilk panna cotta served with various sprouts, popcorn, seeds and wheat grass served in a tiny ceramic sake cup. The savory bite was truly delicious and could easily turn anyone into a vegetarian:

For the appetizer course, they poured the 2010 Chalk Hill Estate Chardonnay. The rich butteriness of the white wine paired well with the Roasted Beets (arranged like flower petals) served with puffed rice and a mousse made with crème fraîche and goat cheese. This was a much more refined and delicious version of a beet and goat cheese salad:

We saw them toasting these bread slices in the oven before being served. These thick slices are their house-made Douglas Fir Levain Bread served with their house-cultured butter. The dense sourdough bread slices and accompanying butter could easily have been served as a course on their own:

The pasta course was paired with our favorite wine of the evening, the Chalk Hill Estate Syrah:

They served a generous amount of the Chicken Canneloni topped with crispy chicken skin bits and griddled snow peas. With a wine reduction and pomegranate seed sauce, this dish had a lot of different textures and flavors that all came together perfectly:

While all of the diners were eating the earlier dishes, we spied the process of chefs par-cooking all of the steaks over a a small portable hibachi grill powered by Japanese binchotan charcoal:

Since the grill could only hold 4 steaks at a time, they spent a lot of time individually grilling each of the steaks and then setting them back on the platter where the meat would be oven-finished:

When it came time to serve the steak course, Chef Evan Rich and his staff worked together as a choreographed assembly line to plate the 60 portions. Each of the steaks were cut into four pieces, where three of them made it on to each plate:

The Charcoal Grilled New York Strip Steak pieces were beautifully topped with chimichurri, a pile of sautéed flower greens (broccoli rabe) and edible flowers. The steak was cooked perfectly rare to our liking, and the course was paired with the Chalk Hill Estate Red Wine Blend made with 49% Cabernet Sauvignon mixed with Malbec, Merlot, Petite Verdot and Syrah. The wine was very good, but they had more of the Syrah so we were able to get more of that wine to pair with our steak:

We were pretty much full by this time of the meal but there was one more course left. We asked to take some of the steak home to save room for the very tasty Coconut Panna Cotta topped with coconut crumble and lime-flavored meringue. It was an unexpected tropical surprise that was perfect for the warm spring evenings we have been experiencing lately. This course was paired with the 2009 Botrytised Semillon, a heavy sweet dessert wine that was drinking very nicely:

As if dinner were not enough, each of the guests were provided with a “goodie bag” filled with a signed menu, a bottle of the Sauvignon Blanc and a Visa Signature Sonoma Winery map:

Congratulations to Sarah and Evan Rich for getting the James Beard Award nomination for 2013 Best New Restaurant (along with State Bird Provisions) – they should be finding out this weekend if Rich Table wins. The menu at Rich Table changes often based on market availability (sometimes overnight), but luckily the Sardine Chips are a mainstay. The Rich’s bold and innovative takes on food will definitely keep us coming back. They take the word “organic” to a different level, where many of the dishes incorporated flowers, douglas fir, grains and seeds, providing more earthy flavors (note that the flowers tasted more peppery than perfumey).

Many thanks to United Airlines and Visa Signature for putting this event together; we look forward to more events like this, especially since they seem to buy out some of the best restaurants in the City.

http://www.richtablesf.com
http://www.chalkhill.com

Visa Signature Events

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Able to accommodate about 100 diners (including 15 in the heated patio), the restaurant remains pretty busy throughout the week on any given night.

The menu is quite extensive, separated into Ttipiak (appetizers), Haundiak (“larger” plates/entrée) and Euskaldunenak (nightly Basque specials). The menu has been updated over the years but many of the Basque classic dishes, such as the red bell pepper, Serrano ham and egg Piperade stew (which the restaurant is named after), are thankfully still available.

Thanks to the full bar, we started with a couple of really good cocktails: the sugar-rimmed Gascon (Cerbois Armagnac, St. Germain ElderFlower Liqueur, lemon juice) and the Badquerak (Templeton Rye, Patxaran, Castillan bitters):

From the Ttipiak part of the menu, we shared the Seasonal Mushroom Tartlet that was flavored with thyme and garlic. The kitchen kindly split the tart prior to serving, and half the tart was plenty for one person since it was decadently rich in taste:

Piperade has a great wine list, mostly Spanish. We chose the 2006 Arrels Clos Oblidat Sangre de Garnatxa, a wine made through a partnership between industry chefs/veterans Gerald Hirigoyen, Master Sommelier Emmanuel Kemiji, Laurent Manrique (formerly of Aqua, Compton Place and Fifth Floor) and Sylvain Portay (formerly Alain Duscasse Adour & Mix, Ritx Carlton SF). The Grenache paired with our dinner perfectly:

From the Euskaldunenak part of the menu, we chose the Black Cod “Porrusalda.” A porrusalda is a traditional potato and leek soup, but in this case was a delicious braise of leeks and potatoes topped with a perfectly cooked crispy-skinned black cod:

From the Haundiak section, we chose the New York Steak which was served with Romesco (red pepper and nut sauce). The large platter came with sautéed broccolini flavored with garlic and topped with melted Ossau-Iraty sheep milk cheese:

We ordered the steak super rare and it arrived perfectly cooked to our liking:

Hirigoyen started out as a pastry chef so we decided to share the Dark Chocolate Cake “Amatxi” topped with a Crème Fraîche sauce and drizzled with more chocolate. It was a decadently good way to end a meal:

It’s great to see that Piperade remains as popular as ever. Our only possible and minor complaint would be that it seemed that the wait-staff was short-handed, and our very amiable waitress seemed to be the only one taking care of the room. She was efficient enough to be able to handle the crowd, and we never really had to flag her down for anything. We did see Chef Hirigoyen come out of the kitchen often to make sure all of the diners were satisfied with their meals.

It should be noted that true to many fine dining restaurants in the Basque region, there are no tapas to be found here. Instead, Team Hirigoyen opened nearby Bocadillos Tapas+ Wine offering excellent pintxos, bocadillos (small sandwiches) and tapas platters.

http://www.piperade.com

Upon being seated you will notice that there are no soy sauce bottles to be found anywhere on the tables. That is because Saito-san makes sure that each dish has enough umami flavor by preparing most of the food using “koji.” As prominently stated on the menu and their website, “Izakaya Yuzuki is the first Japanese restaurant in the US to use koji, a fermenting agent used to make essential Japanese food, beverages and seasonings including sake, miso and shoyu (soy sauce).” Naturally fermented koji is a slow-food technique that has been replaced by mass produced seasoning (such as soy sauce).

We recently returned to indulge in a multi-course meal with a couple of friends, and we were not disappointed. The dishes were as carefully executed as when they first opened.

We started with the Zaru Tofu which features silky house-made fresh tofu served with sea salt used to flavor to individual taste:

The Obanzai course always features Kyoto-style cooked local vegetables, served in three different preparations. The vegetables change with the seasonal availability, and this version featured radish greens flavored with miso and a firefly squid, asparagus tofu and sweet potato with balsamic vinegar. All three of the dishes were delicious, but the sweet potato with balsamic vinegar was a revelation:

Izakaya style started out as sake shops (sakaya) that offered a variety of small plates to eat, and the sake selection here (offered by the bottle, flights or glass) is excellent. We shared a bottle of the Hakkaisan Tokubetsu Junmai which was very smooth and paired well with all of the dishes:

The Sunomono course featured a generous amount of dungeness crab served with sliced cucumbers and a fresh naruto wakame seaweed salad. It was a deliciously healthy dish:

The Chawan-Mushi egg custard was topped with a delicate uni sea urchin and tofu-skin (yuba):

They offer a couple of Yakitori style skewers featuring chicken flavored with “Salt Koji.” The Tsukune chicken meatball version was very flavorful and tender. To add a little bit of heat, the ground chicken could be dipped into the pile of Togarashi pepper spice provided at both ends of the platter:

The Yaki Omusubi featured grilled rice triangles topped with uni and watercress soy butter sauce. A squeeze of lemon added some acidity to crispy rice bites:

When they first opened, their Karaage Chicken was made with rice koji. It wasn’t battered or quite as crispy as the chicken karaage served in many other Japanese restaurants. With this visit, it seems they have changed their karaage to the typical version, albeit the chicken was marinated in salt koji:

We ended with the excellent Kakiage, their version of the shrimp and root vegetable tempura that was served with the traditional dipping sauce and a matcha green tea salt. We all favored the tea salt to season the shrimp “nest” tempura:

Their koji fermenting technique works really well, as all of the dishes are carefully prepared, flavorful and beautifully presented. Izakaya Yuzuki’s fame must be wide-spread since on the evening we dined there we spied a large party from Silicon Valley comprised of Mark Zuckerberg (founder of Facebook), his wife and their friends. It’s great to see that Izakaya Yuzuki has finally broken the curse of the location and is successful. We do look forward to eating many more meals there.

http://yuzukisf.com/

As explained on their website, Coqueta means “flirt” in Spanish, and it represents Chiarello’s “exploration of a new style of cuisine.” In one of his InsideScoopSF articles, he explains that his love affair for all things Spanish started in 2000, that his oldest daughter now lives in Barcelona and his goal for Coqueta “is to bring the taste of Spain, presented in a way you would never expect to San Franciscans.” He further explains that San Francisco was first founded (and named) by Spaniards, so it’s only natural that more Spanish food should be part of the City’s culture. He and his team researched Spanish restaurants in Spain and here in the US. Coqueta Chef de Cuisine Ryan McIlwraith (from Bottega) also spent time in Spanish kitchens, including those of Chef José Andrés.

Open for only a week, the 56 seat restaurant (with room for about 30 more in the bustling covered terrace bar) was in full swing and fully operational. Due to its newness, Chef Chiarello was on site expediting service. At some point, he came out from behind the counter to greet diners and graciously pose for photographs. We did not detect any glitches in service at all and received great service from our waitress. The difficult choice is paring down what to actually order since there are so many selections on the menu categorized in Cured Meats, Cheeses, Pintxos, Bocadillos (sandwiches), Tapas and Larger Plates served family style. The servers seem to be very well trained and offer assistance to navigate the menu if required.

As we perused the menu, we ordered some excellent cocktails created by Bar Manager Joe Cleveland, who previously worked for José Andrés. There are some very unique combinations with house-made tonics and gin infusions. Despite juices and ingredients that sound sweet, both of these cocktails were perfectly balanced with just a hint of sweetness. The Tariff (Jamón ibérico infused Gin, Acorn & Apricot Tonic, Cava, orange juice, pineapple garnish) and the slightly smokey Revolution (St. George Dry Rye Gin, Anise Tonic, Del Maguey Mezcal Vida, Pedro Ximenez Sherry, passion fruit juice, garnished with lime, cinnamon and cilantro) were earthy and deliciously served in stemless tumblers:

We decided to order one of each of the five Pintxos available on the menu. The server returned with a tray of the pre-made skewered bites. The intention is to have servers walk around with the Pintxos display and have diners opt to take a skewer or two. In addition, an hourly Paella platter will also be “peddled” the same way, although we did not see one come around when we were there. This is a great idea which Chiarello said he had in mind to do a long time ago, but State Bird Provisions beat him to it:

The Pintxos are indeed bite-sized and smaller than those we have seen served in Spain, but each one was packed with flavor. The five skewers from left to right are: House-cured Boquerones (anchovy, olive, pearl onion, guindilla pepper), Baby Beets (chioggia and golden beets, Caña de Cabra goat cheese, spring onion), Jamón Serrano (ham, Manchego cheese, apricot-sherry conserve) and our personal favorite, the soft-boiled Quail Egg “Diablo” (Jamón Serrano, pickled mustard seeds). Each one formed the perfect bite (or two in our case since we somehow managed to split them all):

From the Tapas Frias (Cold) section, we selected the Tortilla “Andres” named after the famed Spanish chef. It was a very refined version of a Spanish omelette made with sweet onion, organic potato, asparagus and drizzled with a piquillo pepper aioli. The frisée and parsley salad was a nice touch:

The wine list is extensive and offered a great selection of Spanish plus a few domestic wines. In addition, they also offer “Porrons,” the traditional Spanish party pitcher, filled with sherry-, wine- or cider-based libations. We like our Tempranillo, so we opted to order this very tasty bottle of 2006 Finca Allende Rioja to pair with the rest of our meal:

From the Tapas Calientes (Hot) section, the Chicken and English Pea Croquetas were traditional in looks only. Once bitten into, we found whole chunks of chicken contained in the rich and creamy filling. It was truly delicious, and not sure if it was intentional, but we thought that the flavor was reminiscent of a chicken pot pie. The cured cara cara orange supremes between bites helped cut the richness of the croqueta (click on different parts of the picture to check out the Lytro living picture refocusing capability):

During our travels to Barcelona, one of our favorite tapas there is French Fries studded with Jamón, Chorizo or Foie Gras with fried eggs mixed in. We have never been able to find that dish here, but this Sunny-side Up Egg with Shrimp, Crispy Potato and Chorizo Dressing comes pretty close. Hidden underneath the stack of potato strings and eggs were several shrimp and lots of chorizo bits:

We wanted to order the Sea Urchin and Lardo Bocadillo, only to have the server tell us they had just run out. This gives us an excuse to return (as if we needed one), but we decided to try the House-cured Chorizo with Manchego cheese and aioli version instead. The small baguette-like bread was very crispy and held the tasty sandwich together:

To accompany the sandwich, we ordered the “Tattas” Bravas which were unlike any patatas bravas we have tried before. These tasty bites served with bravas salsa were more like tater tots than the typical fried potato wedges (click on different parts of the picture to check out the Lytro living picture refocusing capability):

We ended with the Crispy Shrimp and Chickpea Flour Pancake served with saffron aoili. Chunks of shrimp were embedded in the pancake, which served as our last savory bite for the evening:

We usually do not order dessert, but they offer bite-size portions in addition to full-size pastries. We’ll have to come back and try their Churros and Chocolate one day, but all we had room for was this Pan Chocolate topped with Olive Oil ice cream. It was a perfect ending to a great meal:

From our table, we were able to view the Bay Lights in action through the window. As we left the restaurant, we took a picture of Coqueta bar terrace with the bridge in the background:

Another attempt at catching the Bay Lights in action on this very warm San Francisco evening:

Chiarello has stated that all great chefs should always be students and continue to learn new things. He could have easily opened a branch of Bottega in the City to great success, but his take on regional Spanish food is definitely a welcome change and a good one for the City. Between La Mar Cebiceria, Hard Water (where we stopped for a whiskey nightcap on the way home) and Coqueta, this part of the Embarcadero is now a great gourmet destination.

http://www.coquetasf.com/