Wowed at Boulevard in San Francisco

Thanks to the friendly posters at Chowhound, I made my way to Boulevard in San Francisco Friday night for a special and wonderful meal. Their web page says this about Boulevard:

"Chef Nancy Oakes is San Francisco's most beloved chef. Since its opening in 1993,
Boulevard has been hailed as one of the best restaurants in San Francisco.
Created in partnership with designer Pat Kuleto, the elegant, yet warm and welcoming
interior of Boulevard is the essence of the Belle Epoque style. It is a glorious setting for Chef Oakes hearty, flavorful, beautiful cuisine. American regional flavors, French influenced style, enthralling design, form the entire experience at Boulevard. Located in the heart of the San Francisco's revived waterfront area, the historic Audiffred Building is the ideal home for Boulevard."



I apologize for the sub-par photos in this review, I couldn't find the charger for my camera's batteries, and took all these pics on my iPhone. The interior of Boulevard is so stunning, I took loads of photos. Unfortunately, due to the soft lighting and lack of contrast in the decor, most of these were worthless. And they don't really do justice to the beautiful food either. In most cases without photos, I might not bother with a review. But this meal was so delicious, so satisfying, so artful, I couldn't let it pass by without thorough commentary.



We arrived early and started with a martini at the bar. If this was as fabulous as reputed, I wanted an opportunity to soak in the feel of the restaurant before eating. I cannot say enough about the beauty of the interior. From the brick vaulted ceilings, to the sparkling peacock in the mosaic tiles in the floor, the atmosphere is celebratory yet comfortable. There are several places to dine. In the front which has a brasserie feel, the rear which is a more formal dining room, and at the counter in front of the kitchen watching the food assemblage. I adored the look of these cozy love seats nestled against the windows facing the restaurant. Ideal for people watching.



We chose these cute dime store ice-cream counter stools in front of the kitchen and watched the cooks' every move.



The person who was the most fun to watch was the expediter. He got his paws on nearly every dish that came through the kitchen. It was wonderful to see the beautiful array of dishes passing through on their way toward patrons' tastebuds.



We tried to share out appetizers. We really did. But it turns out we ordered correctly because we were both most enamored with our own choices. I chose the roasted stuffed calamari. The tubes were stuffed with ingredients classic to a Manhattan clam chowder, clams, potatoes, onions and bacon. Upon serving, a broth resembling that from a Manhattan chowder was poured on top. Not enough to cover the squid, just enough for it to take a shallow dip. I wish the picture did the russet red broth justice. Le sigh. I loved this. LOVED.



D ordered the highly recommended golden beet and fresh goat cheese ravioli. These were huge and looked more like dumplings. They were covered generously in shaved summer truffle and roast hazelnut. I didn't think the flavors stood out strongly enough from one another in this dish. But apparently it is highly popular, and D thought it was awesome.




We both ordered fish for mains. Here, the kitchen puts the final touches on OUR plates. How cool is that?



I had a halibut served over summer squash risotto with roast chanterelle mushrooms. On the side were two beautiful squash blossoms stuffed with brandade, battered and lightly fried. Nom.



D ordered the black cod with lobster mushrooms and shrimp served over a yellow corn nage. On the plate was the much dreaded and feared foam, but this time it was used to good effect. It tasted like it was made from the broth of a thick chicken noodle soup, and added some lovely flavor to the dish.



I had read somewhere on the internet that desserts here are a force to be reckoned with, so D ordered a beautiful individual chocolate ganache cake with bourbon ice cream. He said it was good.



I busied myself with one slice of a firm goat cheese. I love seeing what restaurants pair with cheese courses. This was a winner. On my plate was a small square of honeycomb (my favorite paring), apricot jam (so lush), whole wheat bread slices and a little bunch of baby grapes. They look and tasted like baby concords, but I am not sure.



I will definitely want to be eating here next time I am in town.

Fantastic Dinner at Colori Kitchen Downtown

Saturday night of Labor Day weekend we met two of our favorite dining companions, a couple as equally obsessed with food as we are (maybe a little more so, but luckily they don't think I am weird for taking pics of what we are eating), for an early pre-theater supper at Colori Kitchen downtown. Truly a hole in the wall in all senses of the word, and housed between a low brow beauty salon and an underground hostess bar. You're going up several notches on the commercial scale simply walking into Colori. Revolving art hangs on the exposed brick walls and enthusiastic young Italians attend to your needs ("I'm not a waiter, I'm a musician.")

With no liquor license it is BYOB with no corkage, woot! We sucked back a couple of bottles of nice red, a California merlot and a French red courtesy of Silverlake wine. However the food was so good the wine was very secondary. My mouth is watering in anticipation of telling you all about it!



They started us off with bread served with hummus for dipping. Non sequiter, yet delicious.




Next we shared rounds of appetizers. Crustini. Very fresh and tangy. The bread was not to thick and not too soppy.



Yellow tomato bruschetta. Very nice late summer tomatoes. I always love my bruschetta made with burrata...but this bufala mozzarella was very nice.



The standard tri colori.

And both my choice and my favorite, beef carpaccio. I love what they did with this. Two things. 1) Very generous portions of beef, so much that we didn't finish it, and 2) the thin slices were draped over a large pile of lightly dressed greens. Delicioso!



The mains were what amazed me. I cannot believe everything at the table was this delicious at these prices. All entrees had a hearty, rustic approach, just beyond wonderful. I honestly cannot remember having had Italian this wonderful...Dattilo's in Hemet comes to mind. But that was some time ago and quite a commute for home cooked Italian and gnocchi made to order.



The most beautiful entree was a giant bowl of cioppino. Wow. The broth was delicious, but I would have liked my squid a hair less chewy.



I ordered the black cod en papillote. This dish was stellar. Diced tomatoes on top and julienned vegetables underneath, and the paper wrap left the fish so moist it melted in my mouth.



Both D's ordered the waiter (musician) recommended canolini which was earth shatteringly delicious. He said the noodles were nice and soft, but I actually found them to be perfectly al dente. Inside was a wonderful spinach and ricotta mixture.



They serve a wonderful coffee that must come from an espresso machine. It had that slight foaminess on top, and was steaming hot.



For dessert, the adorable waiter (musician) strongly recommended the canoli and a bread pudding. Ya'll know I am not a sweet eater, but the bread pudding was nice, The canoli fell a little short for all of us. I thought it was because I just don't understand canoli, but our friends have traveled through Italy and they were not thrilled either. Oh well, no one if perfect.