San Francisco: Day 2

View of San Francisco from Alcatraz

After sleeping in and spending the day leisurely driving around SF and eating on Christmas, today we got up extra early to get on the first boat to Alcatraz.  Darian is currently obsessed with Al Capone and the gangster era so she was super stoked to go see where the man himself was jailed.  The view from the island to San Francisco is breathtaking.  The early morning drizzled even added a bit extra mystery and noir to the trip--too bad Darian was much too grumpy about having to wake up before noon to notice.  Oh, to be a teenager!

Afterwards, I dragged Mom and Darian to Berkley to the famous Chez Panisse Cafe.  Unfortunately for me, all the hype was slightly unfounded.  I'm not sure if it was because we were eating at the end of a very busy lunch rush or what, but our food was, overall, a bit of a disappointment.  Maybe I'm being too critical, but after having had to make lunch reservations more than a month in advanced, I just expected more.  The food, we all felt, was nothing special and some dishes were actually pretty bland.

I started off with the Potato, Cauliflower, Beet and Egg Salad.  It was fine.  Everything was well seasoned and perfectly cooked, so it was one of the better ones.  My mom had the pumpkin soup which ended up being just a tad too sweet and really nothing else.

Darian was famished so when her Rigatoni Ragu came, she completely destroyed it but before she did, Mom and I managed to sneak a bite or two and we both agreed that my mom could manage better.  I think my big problem with it was that it just smelled and tasted strangely gamey.  The pasta did taste homemade though and was nicely chewy.

Rigatoni Ragu

Mom got the Poached Sole with Fennel and Grapefruit which sounded much more interesting that it actually was.  I'm still not sure about the pairing of grapefruit with fennel and fish.  It wasn't that the combination was bad, but it wasn't good either so I'm not sure why it was put together.  Mom didn't like it because it was too fishy and I had to agree.  At first I just chalked it up to my jetlag--for some strange reason whenever I fly, afterwards I really can't have any fish without feeling I've just face-planted in a fish market--but after she complained about it, it seems like my oversensitivity was not completely unfounded in this case.

Poached Sole with Fennel and Grapefruit

I had the Fish with Romesco Sauce and Leeks, Clams and Grilled Potatoes, which was fine.  The fish itself was under seasoned but with the crust, it was fine.  The clams weren't overcooked and the potatoes were perfectly grilled but I wished the leeks were cooked a bit more, but I think that is just my personal taste. I did end up with a random huge chucks of bread in the romesco sauce, which were clearly meant to have been properly pulsed.  It wasn't unpleasant, but  I just didn't expect such a silly mistake from such a well-regarded restaurant.

Crusted Fish with Leeks, Clams and Grilled Potatoes

What did redeem the restaurant for me and made me think that the off-dishes are not a norm for the restaurant was the dessert which were SPECTACULAR.  We really didn't have high hopes after the disappointing entrees but it all changed after the first bite of their Poached Pear Galette.  I love my galettes (evidence: Blue Cheese and Plum Galette) and theirs seriously put mine to shame.  The crust was so thin and flaky unlike my galette crusts which are always pie-like since, well, its a pie crust, but theirs resembled more of a puff pastry or even a phyllo dough.  The texture of the crust reminded me of the roti rolls I used to eat after school in Bangkok was I was younger, which were fried after being stretched within an inch of its life, making them so deliciously crispy that even after a coating of condensed milk it stayed perfectly crispy.   I have no idea how the Chez Panisse Cafe pastry chef did it, but they managed to and with an oven so less.  The pears were beautifully poached in both white and red wine (so pretty!) and not overly sweet when perfectly complemented by the spoonful of creme fraiche.  It was so good that Mom kept trying to steal bites from my plate and I actually yelled at her to back off--that was how good it was.

Poached Pear Galette

 Mom got the persimmon cake, which I thought was good despite the fact that I dislike persimmons.  Something about their texture really throws me off but this cake was pretty good.  It reminded me of Nigella Lawson's Clementine Cake.

Persimmon Cake

So I wouldn't not recommend you to visit the cafe.  I would just caution that from my experience, it was not up to all the hype surrounding it.  I actually would be interested in going back to see if I would have a different experience.

For dinner, we were stuck around the touristy Fisherman's Wharf area so I decided to take Mom and Darian to Scoma's Restaurant for some seafood.  We were in SF, after all!  And after the lackluster lunch at Chez Panisse Cafe, we decided to play it safe for dinner and stick to the classics: fresh oysters to share, Lobster Ravioli for Darian, Dungeness Crab Spoonbread for me and Pasta alla Scoma for Mom.  

Fresh Oysters!

 Nothing better than fresh oysters!  These were on the smallish side but were so sweet, we were tempted to order another half dozen.  My Dungeness Crab Spoonbread was wonderful, with the huge chunks of crab pairing perfectly with sweet corn and peppers and elevated to wonderful flavor heights with the sourdough bread.  I honestly can't see it working as well with any other type of bread.  The sourdough adds this great zing to cut an overall sweet and creamy dish, making it a much rounder plate of flavors.  Too bad the salad was drowning in lemon juice, so much so that my right eye kept wincing, much to Darian's amusement.

Dungeness Crab Spoonbread.  Scoma Classic!

 Mom's Pasta alla Scoma was classic and beautifully tangy, although I wished there was a bit more brininess, considering all the seafood in it.  The scallops were perfectly cooked to Mom's delight, something even the best of restaurants sometimes fail at.  Standard seafood pasta fare, perfectly cooked!

Pasta alla Scoma

Darian basically inhaled her Lobster Ravioli.  Although she admitted there was a bit too much creaminess going on with there being cheese inside the ravioli along with the lobster and then doused in a cream sauce, the lobster was so fresh she didn't mind.

Lobster Ravioli

We finished our dinner off with a trip to the Ghirardelli Ice Cream Shop for a brownie sundae that was pretty terrible but fun all the same.  Ready for Day 3!