See Us Eat: Traditional and Tasty Meal at Acquerello, San Francisco, CA

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Traditional and Tasty Meal at Acquerello, San Francisco, CA

Acquerello, a Michelin starred restaurant has been on our list for a while. We finally made a reservation. The place tended towards an older crowd and definitely skewed towards romantic date nights. The decor was not my style, but nice enough. The service was very good. The service staff was gracious and friendly without being in-your-face. I ordered 4 courses, while Giao ordered the 7 course tasting menu, and for all but one course, I was sent out a complementary dish to match Giao's. At $72 for 4 (large) courses and a tasting menu for around $90, we got a lot of food for the money.

Apperitif
Blood orange and some sort of licqour, this gift from the chef was quite good.

Chilled Melon Soup
Giao quite liked this amuse-bouche, but Alexis is not a fan of canteloupe.

Beet Carapaccio with Fresh Ricotta
A subtle, but tasty, beginning of the meal.

Burrata Salad with Heirloom Tomatoes and Parmasan Crostini
This salad was absolutely delicious. Now, we do have quite a fondness to burrata in all forms, but the herbacious sauce served with this dish really made the creaminess of the burrata pop.

Lemon Gnocchi with Zucchini Puree and Fried Zucchini Blossom
These were also delicious. The gnocchi, while huge, were tender in texture and flavor and the puree was flavorful.

Lobster Ravioli
The pasta could have been thinner, but the flavor was great. The sauce was much like awell-executed lobster bisque.

Pappardelle with Sweetbreads and Chanterelles
While the components of this dish were all good by themselves, it somehow didn't come together. The sauce didn't have quite enough viscosity to hold everything together.

Stuffed Quail with Plum Sauce
The quail was tender, and the plums, while sweet, were a good match.

Short Rib with Roasted Root Vegetables
This was good, but not great.

Pan Fried Black Bass with Lentils and Shaved Artichoke Salad
The fish was perfectly cooked and the skin was very crispy. The lentils and the shaved artichokes rounded out the meal in both flavor and texture.

Cheeses (above and below)
We found this selection of Italian cheeses to be good, but we still like French cheeses better. The braised grapes with rosemary were a novel condiment.

Selection of Sorbets
Peach, grape and mango sorbet. They were all quite tasty.

Bourbon Caramel Semi-Freddo
This was an enormous dessert that was brought to Alexis, on the house, since she did not order dessert. She was so full that she could not eat it all, despite the fact that it was creamy and cold and good.