Jardiniere fresh at 20
Where’s Chronicle restaurant critic Michael Bauer eating these days? Between Meals chronicles his forays throughout the Bay Area, revisiting, updating and finding new territory.
Looking around the interior of Jardiniere, it seems impossible that next month the restaurant will celebrate its 20th anniversary.
With its rustic brick walls and warehouse windows (a stark contrast to the sparkling gold dome that defines the oval bar downstairs and can be seen from the two-tiered mezzanine), the look is as current as when it opened, when it quickly became the place to dine before or after an Opera, Symphony or Ballet performance. With its carpeted floors and white tablecloths, it looks elegant yet approachable.
One of the dramatic highlights of the design is the metal railing that follows the perimeter of the dome, featuring 10 lighted ice buckets incorporated into the design, with swoops of metal ribbons in between.
When I first visited there soon after it opened, every bucket was used. On my most recent visit I saw only three with bottles peeking over the top.
It was a visual reminder of how dining has evolved in the last decade, where diners often order cocktails and glasses of wine rather than full bottles. Yet even though the dining scene has shifted, and dozens of new restaurants have sprung up in and around Hayes Valley, the restaurant continues to distinguish itself.
What’s even more impressive is that chef-owner Traci Des Jardins has adjusted to the times.
Some of the biggest names in the business have gone through her kitchen. Currently Audie Golder is in charge, and he offers a modern take on Des Jardins’ California food.
The depth of the kitchen talent is easily seen in what seems like a simple amuse brought before dinner begins: roasted corn broth. The golden, clear liquid is a concentration of intense flavors, both familiar and surprising. Golder follows that with an heirloom tomato soup ($14) that has the rich velvety-textured broth associated with ramen, incorporating duck and a puree of tomatoes. The smooth liquid is enhanced with Blue Lake green beans and slightly chewy pellets of hominy.
The Little Gem salad ($17) is a celebration of summer, with bright cubes of tomatoes, slightly crunchy coins of summer squash and a buttermilk dressing that lightly coats the cold leaves.
The menu concentrates more on appetizers and smaller plates, and only four main courses are offered, including chicken ($32) — crisp-roasted and thickly sliced, arranged around summer squash cut in various ways to bring out different elements and textures. Tucked in between are both raw and deep-fried squash blossoms set on a thin mat of pureed tomatillo and cilantro.
From start to finish, Des Jardins and Golder reveal sophisticated and subtle ways of incorporating various flavors and techniques of other cuisines.
The wine list is still impressive and is maintained by one of the city’s top wine professionals, Alan Murray. Jardiniere also continues to distinguish itself with its cheese aging room. The menu includes five perfectly ripe examples, which go well with today’s cocktail and snacking culture.
Some classic restaurants are so visionary and can so subtly adapt to the times that they never go out of style. It feels as if the restaurant, like the cheese, is aging so well that it will seem just as relevant 20 years from now.
300 Grove St., San Francisco; (415) 861-5555 or www.jardiniere.com. Dinner nightly beginning at 5 p.m. Full bar. 5% S.F. surcharge. Reservations and credit cards accepted. Valet parking.
Zut Tavern
As a reviewer I try to be fair (contrary to what some disgruntled recipients of my reviews may claim). So when I have harsh words about a restaurant, I always try to make it back to see if the experience has improved.
When I reviewed Zut Tavern in Berkeley two years ago, I was perplexed that the food was uneven because the chefowner, Shotaro Kamio, presides over one of my favorite places in the Bay Area, Iyasare. To watch over the kitchen, he only has to walk across the asphalt entrance to the Fourth Street parking lot.
In my initial review, I gave Zut Tavern 1.5 stars for both food and service. I’m sorry to say not much has changed.
Service continues to be amateurish — when we asked the waiter about the spicy chicken soup ($4/$7), she stuttered and muttered: “I can’t remember.” When we asked for the check, the server disappeared for 10 minutes before coming back and saying, “Sorry, it’s been crazy.” Yet in situations like this, I don’t blame the individuals because it’s obvious they haven’t been supported and trained properly.
The food preparation reveals a similar amateurish quality. The dish that showed the most promise was a salad ($9/$15) with at least five kinds of tomatoes, cubes of melon, chunks of bread and slivers of red onion. The balsamic dressing had a pleasant sweetness and balanced the other ingredients better after we asked for salt and sprinkled it on top.
Red onions overpowered the roasted chicken ($19/$28), which was overbrined, dry and served at room temperature. The accompanying salad consisted of coins of Persian cucumbers, chunks of tomatoes and what looked like a raw half of a large purple onion cut in dices as big as the cucumber. I like red onions, but a little goes a long way.
The kitchen must have run out of larger fillets of panseared salmon ($23). Our plate contained two pieces: one with a properly crisp skin and one that looked as if it hadn’t seen a hot pan. We were told it would be served medium well; it was well done. The corn, Romano beans and tomatoes underneath were the best part of the presentation.
The cavatelli ($18), nicely paired with greens, peas and mushrooms, had the chewy texture of mochi.
I was hoping for so much more. Sometimes I’m surprised at how a negative review can be a wake-up call, but in the case of Zut Tavern, I found an unfortunate consistency.
1820 Fourth St., Berkeley; (510) 644-0444 or www.zutonfourth.com. Lunch and dinner daily. Full bar. Reservations and credit cards accepted. Free lot. Michael Bauer is The San Francisco Chronicle’s restaurant critic and editor at large. Email: mbauer@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @michaelbauer1. Instagram: @michaelbauer1