San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Trading Michelin star for creative freedom
Chef couple at buzzy 7 Adams took a gamble to create visionary dishes in more relaxed space
continues the chefs’ vision for a slightly more affordable version of fine dining. The tasting menu ($87 per person) includes five courses, two of which have multiple choices, along with optional supplements. The menu changes often, dictated by the seasons, with food that has Italian, American and Japanese touches.
Dinner kicks off with bread — a cross between a Parker House roll and Japanese milk bread with a feathery center — and house-made cultured butter. At Marlena, the bread cost extra. Here, the chefs are giving it away. (If you ask really nicely, the staff might toss you another roll.)
There’s usually a raw seafood course to formally start the meal. Recently, it was plump Hokkaido scallops with hazelnuts and winter citrus — a solid start.
The second course is what really woke me up. The winter menu’s squash veloute completely flips the idea of a soup and salad pairing. In a bowl goes chicories tossed in Wagyu fat vinaigrette, which was bathed in squash soup tableside. On paper, it shouldn’t work, but the dish had a piercing acidity, and the endive somehow managed to stay crisp. As preposterous as it might sound, the dish skillfully used soup as the dressing for a salad while still highlighting the strengths of each.
I didn’t care for the pasta at Marlena, but 7 Adams’ pasta is a high point. Diners have three choices: two are included in the base menu or you can pay to upgrade to the third option. The celery root ravioli benefited from a heaping filling of zesty cheese, and the paprika-tinted tagliatelle with lamb had considerable tang from pickled onions and sherry vinegar. Meanwhile, the smoked ricotta cappelletti upgrade ($30) possessed a flavor reminiscent of ham-and-cheese Hot Pockets. I enjoyed it but not more than the base options.
For entrees, the alluring succulence of the pork collar made it the strongest choice — a callback to a crowd-pleasing dish at Marlena. Perhaps it’s owed to experience, but the 7 Adams version pops more. The fatty cut was braised, grilled over a binchotan charcoal grill, garnished with crispy pig ears and doused in a glossy red wine veal sauce. The A5 Wagyu rib eye upgrade ($40) had the expected butteriness from highly marbled beef, but I was more interested in the accompanying beef tongue, which had more chew.
Lovely desserts by Serena are the cherry on top. Both options on the winter menu displayed her obvious talents as a pastry chef; her impressive resume includes stints at Michelin-starred restaurants like Eleven Madison Park in New York and San Francisco’s Lazy Bear. The brownie-esque dessert, topped with lavender ice cream and lemon curd, was rich yet balanced. The citrusy counterpart expanded on that idea with acidic elements like mandarin sherbet and juicy fresh fruit, all capped with a tuile-like graham cracker.
The food may be the chefs’ declarative statement of growth, but the decor says a lot, too. To create a homey feel, the Fishers went with lighter wood tones. The sides of the bar are traced with light blue tambour wood panels; handkerchief-like light fixtures add whimsy; and stunning shelves with rounded edges take inspiration from midcentury modern design. There’s also an enclosed patio if you prefer outdoor seating.
The Fishers always wanted to offer a sevencourse option at Marlena but didn’t feel like they had the space for it. Soon, 7 Adams will debut the longer experience on the chef ’s counter. Personally, I loved the quick pace of the standard option, which felt like a Goldilocks length as far as tasting menus go.
Surely, it was a difficult decision for the duo to sacrifice a coveted Michelin star. But the cost of liberty was priceless. On their own, their talents are flourishing.
The Fishers are still gunning for Michelin stars, and I imagine such recognition would carry more weight given their personal attachment to 7 Adams. In my view, it’s not a matter of if, but when.