It looked to be California sheik meets Tuscany. There are $3000 bottles of champagne from 1966 on the menu nestled up against a $2800 bottle of French white wine. Yet, with all that, the power of Aqua (in my mind) is its ability to harken back to tastes and flavors from my childhood. I went in, at noon, without a reservation and was seated in less than 5 minutes (maybe it’s because I was in a shirt and tie, but so was everyone else).
I ordered the business lunch that was $36 and included Lobster Bisque, an Atlantic Cod and a dessert - chef’s choice. A Himachi Avocado Salad and a Chicken Pollard with potato spaghetti tempted me, next time I thought to myself. To pair, I ordered a nice Austrian Riesling (a Gruner Veltliner). The wine was chilled just right, buttery and fruity at once and looked like a perfect white wine.
The staff whirled by with plates and plates of great-looking food with people at the other tables smiling when they arrived. I was ready to partake. This was turning into an event. And, because I was dining by myself, I was really attentive to what was going on and ready for what was to come.
First, a three-piece amuse bouché. An Ahi Tuna Coquette with a pepper sauce base (flakey, rich, light, perfect), a Potato Leek White Soup (this was the winner that, was, strangely, just like something my dad makes) and a Himachi Tartar (not so good, warm, strong, but fishy).
That was quickly followed bread accompanied by goat milk butter with sea salt (delicious, you could taste the sea, yar!) and cow’s milk butter (too grassy for me).
The main dish, an Atlantic Cod came on a bed of fava beans, and citrus sauce with a potato Napoleon draped over all of that. To be honest, it was warm, but salty. The texture of the fish was soft, buttery and the taste was, well, not very fishy. That said, the overwhelming taste was salt. At one point, the waiter asked me if it was everything I hoped for and if it stood up to the Riesling. I said, no, not really, but that I liked it but that it was lacking in the flavors you would expect. Texturally, it was a great play on soft and super soft with the beans and the flakey fish. Taste wise, though, it fell salt-flat.
The waiter, undeterred, thanked me for the comments and handled it well. I ended up getting a free glass of champagne later on in the meal that made me happy, if not buzzed.
Finally, a dessert, a Rum-Soaked Cake with a Pineapple chip and bits of cream on top. Again, it was sweet, intense but light. How do they do that balance thing? What’s more though, it reminded me of a dessert my neighbors made when I was a kid. After that, there was a yet another petite plate of desserts that were intense and balanced as well. And that free glass of champagne too. I left a happy and full customer.
Overall, Aqua was a treat. Despite the fact that everyone is decked out, business lunches are going on all around you, the room softens it all quite a bit. Sure, you get the feeling that you’re in the big city when you eat here. But, with that said, if you pay attention, the food, at least for me, it harkens back to simple, base and good tastes from way back when.
Perhaps, I never had these tastes before and I’m only imagining it and attributing it as such. But, I think there’s something to be said for a place that presents itself so well, the staff was professional, smartly dressed and attentive and yet can be so grounded.
Great.
Instead of getting fried chicken one rainy night in San Francisco, the bf and I opted to go to Nopa. Throngs of smartly-dressed quasi-hipsters flanked the hostess desk as we got there. No way we'd get a table any time soon I thought. That said, we were nice, pleasantly goofy and apparently kind enough to be seated in less than 5 minutes of arriving.
We were seated centrally next to a table for four that was placed too closely to us. Later in the evening this social distance from the next table proved to work, good conversation with the guys sitting next to us, but in the end also a little too close as the point of social awkwardness, i.e., where each dining party should turn back to their dining companions passed us by.
Anyway, the evening started with an amuse bouche of a small piece of toast smeared with goat cheese. It was, as you would expect, a piece of toast with goat cheese. We ordered a warm bowl/plate with olives that, in the end, proved to be too large for two people to eat. The bf got the roast chicken while I opted for a hamburger and fries.
A hamburger you ask? I figured that a place that has confits, fish from exotic oceans and absinthe drinks on their menu (apparently, these drinks are popular, but I thought it tasted too much like liquorish) would make a mean hamburger. I was right, but what was really surprising was the French Fry dip which was infused with truffles. The hamburger came on a fluffy bun that was oiled just perfectly. The meat good, the dipping sauce made the burger feel earthy, but yet, despite being a burger, it was all very light. Of course, I didn’t finish it all.
The bf’s half-roast chicken was a bit dry in parts, but overall the flavor was rich and there was a finish that is the hallmark of good quality meat. Not too salty, not to dry, balanced nicely. The vegetable mash was an attempt to lighten the overt heaviness of the chicken and worked pretty well. Keep in mind that I’m not a fan of vegetables either!
As part of my Fried Chicken Quest and given my affinity for all thing’s truffle, the bf, and two of our good friends, Marc and John, visited 1300 Fillmore. 1300 opened in November as part of the new Yoshi’s complex in the Fillmore District in San Francisco.
Finally, in San Francisco, there is a space that not only features great food but also some LA-like production value in terms of creating a space you feel important in too. The space is big, but dark and intimate. A relatively spacious dining room is filled with great photos of jazz musicians, upside-down black-lampshaded lamp fixtures, mismatched chairs and, most sexily, live jazz gives the place a distinctly non-San Francisco feel. Apart from a initially curt bartender, the service was great, attentive, friendly and fast.
Because we got there early, the bf and I had a drink at the bar before Marc and Jon arrived. While at the bar he had white wine and I had a very fruity Berry Jazzatini. We spoiled our appetites by having Shrimp Hushpuppies, which we picked from an array of appetizers that included a bacon egg-salad and foie gras.
We had cornbread to start with a choice of Pepper Jelly (you could taste the pepper skins) or Honey Truffle Butter (which did not taste like honey nor truffles). The cornbread – perefectlyHushpuppies balanced, although a little moister would be nice. But, before we knew it, the arrived. Warm, crunchy, and filling.
After Marc and John arrived we were seated. While we were next to the kitchen it wasn’t noisy or distracting. It was quiet enough to hear that the couple dining behind us were celebrating their 30th anniversary. (Collectively, we “awwwd.”)
For appetizers, we got the Shrimp Hushpuppies (by this point, I was saying, “they’re good, fried, and shrimp, we get it already,” as it was too much of a good thing). We also go a Poached Egg Salad with bacon (could have used a little more lettuce) and Marc, being allergic to shellfish, got the Arugilla salad.
For entries, we got two portions of the Fried Chicken with Truffled Mashed Potatoes (uh-mazing), the Pork Chop and the Maple Syrup Seared Pork Shortribs.
For the Fried Chicken, the bed of truffled mash potatoes infused the chicken, which was tasty itself, moist and battered in a well-seasoned batter. The batter was even better because the chicken’s shape allowed extra pools of batter to glam together that created extra pockets of goodness.
The Shortrib was on a bed of chived mashed potatoes, which were well-seasoned, earthy and, well, tasted like vegetables. The Shortrib was great by all of our palettes. Glazed in or cooked with maple syrup, the pork shortribs were to tender to the touch and flavorful.
The Porkchop, which made John close his eyes in appreciation, was cooked very well. Served medium, the chop wasn’t tough nor dry, but rather moist and warm. Perfectly balanced between being too chewy and too tough.
Dessert was a small plate of checkered desserts – a Penite Four (how do you spell that?) two scoops of sorbet (Peach and Meyer Lemon – very, very tart) a small pecan tartlet, a double chocolate cookie, pomegranate seeds, and other goodies. That dessert was, however, outflanked by the Chocolate-filled Beignets. Beignets have a special place in my heart given the bf asked me about beignets when we first met, but we’ve seldom had good ones. 1300’s were great. Warm, fluffy and served with a bowl of chocolate sauce and an “Espresso Soda” (which the coffee-drinkers loved) these were a great way to end the meal.
And, today, even as leftovers (which were attentively labeled by our waitress), the chicken retained its moisture, and, if I’m not mistaken, tastes even better today. The pork is still good, but the chicken still takes the prize.
All in all 1300 is a winner, and currently, it’s number in my Fried Chicken Quest, knocking the Blue Jay cafe and Bake Sale Betty's (which is an admittedly different creature) out of that spot.
