At Prospect, tasteful decor and dining
In his Between Meals column, Chronicle restaurant critic Michael Bauer writes about the restaurants he visits each week as he searches for the next Top 100 Restaurants. His main dining reviews, written after three or more visits, appear in the Sunday Food + Wine section.
When Prospect opened in 2010, the neighborhood looked very different. Now when diners look out the floor-to-ceiling windows, partly shaded by gauzy drapes, they are confronted with a wall of highrises.
The restaurant has a similar modern view, and not only in its decor where the exposed concrete columns play off the beautifully crafted wood tables and comfortable chairs. Between the dining room, bar and private room, the restaurant seats 250, yet it doesn’t feel cavernous, and the food looks like something you might get in a hands-on 50-seat place. That’s the reason it’s been on my Top 100 list since its debut.
When it opened, I referred to Prospect as Boulevard’s little sister. Since that time the cuisine has morphed to move with the time and the crowds. Under Pam Mazzola and executive chef John Cahill, the combinations are complex and sophisticated, much like at Nancy Oakes’ other restaurant, Boulevard.
I’m always of the mind that too many elements in a dish muddle the mixture, but Prospect proves me wrong. For example, the duck breast ($34) is flanked by two fried wild rice arancini balls. Then there’s hedgehog mushrooms, wilted mustard greens and kale, parsley root and foie gras sauce. It comes together like a patchwork quilt. The restaurant is known for its Heritage Berkshire pork chop ($36), with accompaniments that change many times during the year. On my recent visit last week, the chop was paired with butter beans, kale pistou, roasted broccoli Romanesco, orange pork jus and fennel pollen.
Even the descriptions of the appetizers can take up more than one line on a normal menu. Cahill’s stuffed local squid is accompanied with Spanish octopus, squid ink cavatelli about the size of baby cornichons, braised poblano peppers, black garlic, chunks of seared pork terrine and a few leaves of arugula.
And what always helps to put the restaurant at the top my list are the desserts. So few places seem to be baking these days, and Prospect breaks the mold whether it’s a mile-high chocolate cream pie ($12); a sticky toffee cake ($12); ice cream sandwiches ($7/$14); dark chocolate and chili tart ($12); or the Creamsicle sundae ($12).
What struck me on my update visit for the Top 100 was how the restaurant reflects the surrounding area. The dining room tends to skew a little older, while the 50-seat lounge has a separate menu that includes a great hamburger ($14.50) and deviled eggs ($10). Which brings up another element of success: The cocktails are always balanced.
Prospect is a restaurant that naturally seems to serve its clientele without feeling forced or trendy.
300 Spear St., San Francisco; (415) 247-7770 or www.prospectsf.com. Lunch weekdays; dinner Monday through Saturday.
Chefs change, but Frances remains a bright spot
As I sat on the crowded bench against the wall at Frances, looking through the small pass-through to the kitchen, I saw new faces orchestrating the food.
When the restaurant opened eight years ago, chef-owner Melissa Perello was always there. That changed a little when she opened her second restaurant, Octavia, where she now spends most of her time.
As I cut into the Panisse Frites ($9), I marveled at the parchment-thin crust holding in the ground chickpeas that had a texture of mashed potatoes. Every time I’ve been here and ordered these they have been exactly the same.
It made me think about the talent required to train and support staff so that each person knows how to produce a consistent product.
Last year when I visited, Connie Tsui had recently been named chef. This year, I didn’t know it but the night before my visit, Tsui had left, and Brandon Peralta and Chelsea Olsen were both named to the chef de cuisine position. Both had been at Frances for three years, however, and transitioned into their new position over the past couple of months.
In the end, this seamless passing of the top toque marks the sign of a great chef, someone who not only can cook beautifully but who also can train others to replicate what she’s done and allow them to create their own dishes that fit into the context of the restaurant. It’s not a talent that should be dismissed. It’s surprising the number of great cooks who turn out to be lesser chefs.
Yet at Frances, thanks to Perello, the food has been consistently good no matter who is in the kitchen, and it remains one of the top neighborhood restaurants in the Bay Area.
The menu consists of four bouchees, or small bites; four appetizers; four main courses; and three sides. While there may not be a wide selection, and many of the ingredients seem familiar, there’s always a fresh twist. The chicory salad ($13) is paired with chunks of winter citrus, which is expected. However, it appeared in a
Left: The signature lumberjack cake at Frances, like the restaurant itself, is consistently good despite a chef change. Left center and bottom: Prospect’s pork chop with butter beans and kale pistou, and octopus with squid-ink cavatelli.
fresh light with the addition of shards of duck confit. And instead of simply scattering nuts on top of the salad, the chefs added duck-skin dukkah with a mixture of nuts and Middle Eastern spices. What tied it all together was the perfectly seasoned citrus vinaigrette that mellowed out the bitter chicory and spices.
Wild mushroom tagliatelle ($16) has big chunks of mushrooms and a deep undercurrent of flavor from Oloroso Sherry cream.
Initally when I saw that three out of four main courses were $34, I was nervous that none might meet the expectation set by the price. However, again, the kitchen found an artful way to make each dish special. The thick pork chop, with exacting blackened grill marks, was propped on barely sauteed rainbow chard and flanked with grilled sections of tangerines. A thick swipe of walnut muhammara, deep red from peppers, offered the right contrast to bring out the prized sweetness in the meat.
The two women at the table next to us couldn’t stop talking about the gulf snapper, even though it interrupted a deep conversation about finances. When ours came, we understood why. The fish was held above fregola in a broth surrounded by slices of Castelvetrano olives and a pistachio fennel slaw that looked almost like fettuccine peeking out from under the crisped-skin fish.
While just about every dish had a different global influence, it was so artfully and subtly executed that it seemed natural and not the least bit gimmicky.
And then at dessert the lumberjack cake ($9), which has been a favorite on the menu since the restaurant opened, was again as good as I remember, accompanied by a scoop of muscovado ice cream, which had the deep umber taste of molasses.
In all, it showed why Frances is still on top.
I left with the same sense of wonder as to how — after eight years, a second restaurant and staff changes — Frances continues to make me wish I could stop in more often than once a year for my Top 100 check-in.
3870 17th St. (at Pond), San Francisco; (415) 621-3870 or www.frances-sf.com. Dinner Tuesday-Sunday.