Restaurant: Zuni Cafe
Location: 1658 Market Street, San Francisco, CA 94102. (415) 552-2522
Date: January 16, 2015
Cuisine: Mediterranean
Rating: Tasty!
Zuni is a bit of a San Francisco institution (in a recent sort of way).
The busy downstairs.
The current menu.
From my cellar: 2007 Simon Bize Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Cru Aux Vergelesses. Burghound 90. As would reasonably be expected, there is just more here in every dimension with a more complex and more elegant nose that is layered and very fresh and this refinement continues onto the nicely concentrated middle weight flavors that display evident minerality on the sappy, intense and mouth coating finish that lingers and lingers. This is a terrific Savigny blanc and recommended.
Deep-fried Monterey rock cod with cabbage slaw, pickled onions, red jalapeno, and lime vinaigrette. Tiny, tasty, but more mild then I would have thought.
Vegetable tagine, saffron couscous, flowering purple broccoli, cardoons, carrots, yougurt, and charmoula.
Moro and Sanguinelli blood oranges with marinated beets, wild arugula, and farmers cheese.
House-cured anchovies with celery, Parmigiano-Reggiano, and Coquillo olives.
From my cellar: 2007 Alvaro Palacios Priorat Finca Dofí. IWC 92+. Opaque ruby. Expansive aromas of dark cherry, blackberry, iron, tobacco and cedar. Very rich but lively, offering sweet red and dark berry flavors and a hint of licorice. Packs serious punch and shows a chewy, youthfully tannic quality on the long, penetrating finish. Unevolved right now and in need of at least another few years in bottle, but this is very promising.
Cavatelli with hedgehog mushrooms and arugula pesto.
Grilled Paine Farm squab with sweet potato puree, braised red cabbage, roasted brussels sprouts, and Charteuse-mustard sauce.
Whole Passmore Ranch trout roasted in the brick oven with curly endive, fennel, Satsuma mandarins, toasted hazelnuts, and brown butter.
Llano Seco Ranch pork simmered with Marsala and sage; soft polenta, spinach, black trumpet mushrooms, and caramelized onions.
Zuni food was bright and tasty, good stuff, although the appetizer portions were a tad on the small size.