AQ (As Quoted) is a restaurant that should be visited at least once a quarter since they take the meaning of seasonal to the next level – they not only change the menu, but the restaurant decor changes as well.

But don’t wait for the season to change to return to AQ since Chef-Owner Mark Liberman’s food is quite inventive. Having competed in the 2010 Bocuse d’Or, his plating looks every bit as good as it tastes.

Mixologists Timothy and Victoria took care of us at the bar where we started off the evening with “trips” to Europe and Manhattan via cocktails. Trip to Europe was a bubbly wine mixed with some Cocchi Americano (Italy), Dolin Blanc Vermouth (France) and garnished with a lemon rind. The White Manhattan cocktail was made with Death’s Door Gin and Cinzano Bianco Vermouth. Both drinks were the essence of summer travel in a glass:

First up was honeycomb tripe served with a chilled savory summer plum consommé:

The salad was a modern take on Insalata Caprese where sweet heirloom tomato chunks were served with cheese foam and basil leaves:

With our meal we drank a Cannonau (Grenache) from Sardinia, Italy:

Apricots with Sweet Woodruff turned out to be a light custard accented by the herb. It was served with tuna, speck and finished with a ham broth. What looked like an egg yolk is actually a dollop of apricot pureé:

“BBQ Pork” was pork served 2 ways – loin slices and a crispy terrine of shoulder. It was served atop shelling beans with corn bread pudding and finished with mustard ‘ash:’

For dessert, we decided on doing a Single Malt Whiskey tasting. The 12 year old Hakushu was incredibly similar in taste to a peaty Islay Scotch like Lagavulin. The Suntory Yamazaki Single Malts were very good – we actually preferred the 12 year over the 18 year, which picked up more of the sherry cask sweetness. We asked for a pour of the 14 year Oban (Western Highland Scotch) as a reference:

http://aq-sf.com/