Warm retreat defines the Outer Sunset
Outerlands feels like a restaurant that could be no other place than where it is — deep in the Sunset, only a few blocks from the ocean.
The interior makes the most of the setting, with its walls and ceiling in weathered wood planks that look as if they have seen decades of salty breezes. The rippled ceiling over the open kitchen is white, appearing like a wave rolling into the shore. Along the back wall is an installation of driftwood that looks like the vortex of a hurricane.
On many days you will see owner Dave Muller in the back of the kitchen making bread, which is often sold out before the end of the night.
The restaurant started small, with a reputation built solidly on the bread. It developed a devoted following under chef Brett Cooper, who is now at Aster in the Mission. Several chefs have come and gone, and the restaurant expanded into the space next door. For the past year and a half, the kitchen has been guided by Yoni Levy, who was the opening chef of Alta CA.
Levy offers a small breakfast menu with doughnuts, granola and eggs. A lunch menu features mostly sandwiches and soups — like a warm mushroom broth and a black bean soup — that are welcome in this area cooled by the ocean. At night, the menu expands to five appetizers and four main courses, including one vegetarian, such as squash, sesame and hen of the woods mushroom broth ($19).
Dungeness crab salad ($15) is paired with grapefruit, pungent black garlic and a sprinkling of various herbs that highlight the seafood. Levy accompanies the season’s asparagus ($13 ) with bacon, its almost-overpowering smokiness tamed by the sweetness of currants, Banyuls, Sherry and a sunny-side duck egg on top.
For the cool nights, and there are many in this area, the cauliflower soup ($11) captures the essence of the vegetable with a smear of cashew butter on the side of the bowl, a touch of vadouvan and a handful of greens that looked attractive but became an annoyance, a distraction from the silken texture of the soup.
Hazelnuts served a similar distracting role in the main course of salmon ($26), which was nicely seared and poised on black-eyed peas, radishes and endive. It didn’t need the nuts, which drew attention away from the fish.
The hanger steak ($27) was accompanied by whole sunchokes, broccoli and an appropriate amount of sea greens. This rustic dish really highlights Levy’s sensibility.
And of course we couldn’t pass up the bread ($5), with its thick crust and still-moist interior; it is served with house-cultured butter.
For dessert, we chose the warm chocolate chip cookie ($2.50) and the grasshopper pie ($10), a takeoff on the minty cocktail with a creamy Chartreuse-enhanced filling and a chocolate crust.
Levy has the right approach to the menu, but Outerlands is also a state of mind, a subtle glorification of the beach culture and a warm retreat that buoys the spirits. It’s a restaurant that helps define a neighborhood.