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Quince
Culinary High Notes in San Francisco
SAN FRANCISCO --- When there’s a high culinary note in San
Francisco, one can usually trace some of the pleasant sounds back
to Alice Waters, to whom America owes their reverence for all things
fresh, seasonal, and simple.
Perhaps Quince – the city’s restaurant of the moment
-- would exist without her well-guided influence, but I’m not
here to argue that point. What’s true is that it’s been
a long time since I sat down anywhere to eat food that was so thoroughly
sincere, honest, simple, satisfying and totally without attitude.
Chef Michael Tusk got his start in the kitchens of Waters’ Chez
Panisse, and then later at Olivetto, the restaurant owned by former
Chez Panisse chef Paul Bartolli. So Tusk’s food is filled with
that same rustic, earthy, well-crafted fare, with strong Italian
influences of home-cured meats, elegant and unforgettable pastas,
great seasonal vegetables all over the map, and a worthy selection
of fish, shellfish, poultry and meats.
I’ll start with the dish I can’t get out of my mind,
hours later, and it’s Tusk’s homemade garganelli pasta,
laced with miniature meatballs punctuated with fennel seeds and showered
with Pecorino cheese. When the dish was set down in front of me,
I instantly remarked “I’ll take three more portions.” Few
chefs in the world have the self-confidence to present such total
simplicity: The loosely tubular, penne-sized pasta was cloud-like
and sensual, and the marble-sized polpettini pork meatballs were
like gentle punctuation marks meant to showcase the pasta. The dish
was exciting, elegant, and yet subtle in the way only great homemade
pasta can be.
When set side by side with the garganelli, the homemade tagliolini
with fresh back chanterelles paled, while on its own it was more
than a worthy rendition of a classic pasta with seasonal mushrooms.
A first course of the pungent Florentine farro and black cabbage
soup was equally brilliant, laced with bits of prosciutto to escort
the rustic grain – the poor man’s wheat we call spelt – and
perk up the bits of cabbage.
A first course salad of escarole hearts with Georgia white shrimp
and confetti-like strips of radishes was delicious, but seemed awkward.
The greens just didn’t connect to the unforgettable shrimp,
all soft, soothing and pink, almost as good as a French langoustine,
but not quite.
I loved his mixed grill – wonderfully rare, red, and smoky
skirt steak paired with meaty grilled quail and served with a welcoming
chicory salad.
Michael’s wife, Lindsay, is the perfect hostess, having honed
her skills at the well-known Boulevard in San Francisco. This former
19th-century apothecary shop turned restaurant has an almost religious,
meeting hall atmosphere, punctuated with some haunting black and
white photos taken by Italian photographer Marco Giacometti. Service
here is polished and alert, and friendly without being overbearing.
I do hope they will do something about the restaurant’s exhaust
system, for a sour odor permeates the small, tightly packed dining
room.
The wine list offers some well-priced, well-chosen selections and
I loved their Austrian Pinot Blanc --- sold by the glass – and
the powerful Hendry Block 28 Zinfandel, a 2001 Napa Valley red that’s
a blockbuster 15% alcohol. The trick here is that the wine was so
finely balanced with brilliant red fruit and good acidity that I
didn’t even note the alcohol content until after I had genuflected
and enjoyed.
Quince,
1701 Octavia,
San Francisco, California
Telephone: 415 775 8500
Fax: 415 775 8501
Web: www.quincerestaurant.com.
Email: info@quincerestaurant.com.
Open daily, dinner only. $36 to $60 per person, not including
service or wine.
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