Image
  • Writing
    • Andy Gavin: Author
    • About my Novels & Writing
    • All Writing Posts
    • The Darkening Dream
      • Buy the Book Online
      • Sample Chapters
      • Reviews
      • Info for Reviewers
      • Press Coverage
      • Awards
      • Cast of Characters
    • Untimed
      • Buy Untimed Online
      • Book Trailer
      • Sample Chapters
      • Reviews
      • Info for Reviewers
      • Press Coverage
      • Awards
      • Cast of Characters
    • Scrivener – Writer’s Word Processor
    • iPad for Writers
    • Naughty Dark Contest
  • Books
    • Book Review Index
    • Favorite Fantasy Novels
    • Andy Gavin: Author
    • The Darkening Dream
      • Buy the Book Online
      • Sample Chapters
      • Short Story: Harvard Divinity
      • Reviews
      • Info for Reviewers
      • Press Coverage
      • Awards
      • Cast of Characters
    • Untimed
      • About the Book
      • Buy Untimed Online
      • Book Trailer
      • Sample Chapters
      • Reviews
      • Info for Reviewers
      • Press Coverage
      • Awards
      • Cast of Characters
    • Naughty Dark Contest
  • Games
    • My Video Game Career
    • Post Archive by Series
    • All Games Posts Inline
    • Making Crash Bandicoot
    • Crash 15th Anniversary Memories
    • World of Warcraft Endgames
    • Getting a Job Designing Video Games
    • Getting a Job Programming Video Games
    • Naughty Dark Contest
  • Movies
    • Movie Review Index
  • Television
    • TV Review Index
    • Buffy the Vampire Slayer
    • A Game of Thrones
  • Food
    • Food Review Index
    • Foodie Club
    • Hedonists
    • LA Sushi Index
    • Chinese Food Index
    • LA Peking Duck Guide
    • Eating Italy
    • Eating France
    • Eating Spain
    • Eating Croatia
    • Eating Vietnam
    • Eating Australia
    • Eating Israel
    • Ultimate Pizza
    • ThanksGavin
    • Margarita Mix
    • Foodie Photography
    • Burgundy Vintage Chart
  • Other
    • All Posts, Magazine Style
    • Archive of all Posts
    • Fiction
    • Technology
    • History
    • Anything Else
  • Gallery
  • Bio
  • About
    • About me
    • About my Writing
    • About my Video Games
    • Ask Me Anything
  • Contact

Food as Art – Saison

Jan26

Restaurant: Saison

Location: 178 Townsend Street, San Francisco, CA 94107. (415) 828-7990

Date: January 17, 2015

Cuisine: Modern American

Rating: Awesome!

_

Saison is helmed by Joshua Skenes and began just a few short years ago (2009) as a popup. Wow, from popup to three michelin stars in just 5 years! And I wanted to go even when it had only two, so heading up to San Francisco this month, visiting became an imperative.


Thankfully I have friends in the right places, because Saison is one hell of a reservation to get.


The sleek space has a kind of rustic elegance that pairs with the food like champagne pairs with caviar.


Tonight’s menu. Saison has only a single tasting menu that varies slightly from table to table and from night to night. The emphasis is, you guessed it, on seasonal ingredients.


A cocktail.


The Saison master sommelier, my friend, and our host tonight, Max Coane — in his lair.


Champagne, courtesy of Max.


Tea. Infusion of some herbs from our garden.


Peppers preserved in the wood burning oven, buttermilk. This had an intense smoked pepper quality, really quite good.

All wines from my cellar:

2003 Weingut Graben-Gritsch Grüner Veltliner Smaragd Schön. 89 points. Nose of lychee pineapple lemon, creamy lemon and peach on the palate. Bright acidity medium finish. Happy to have two more.

agavin: this is really a very good food wine, particularly with this kind of subtle cuisine.


Caviar with lardo. Absolutely delicious. Quite the pork fat zing too.


Black cod, pine bouillon, young pine cones. A very nice succulent fish and mushrooms, with a soft aromatic broth.


1991 Etienne Sauzet Bâtard-Montrachet. 91 points. Dry and subdued, but very clean and nice. A bit rounded, but delicious.


Battle creek trout, its skin & roe. Crispy and unctuous. The broth was a bit sweet and absolutely stunning, particularly with the Gruner.


Abalone with bacon. Some of the most tender abalone I’ve had. The sauce was made from monkfish liver!


A vegetarian version, radishes, butter from our cows.


2000 Domaine Ramonet Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet. Burghound 93. Surprisingly open and expressive with wonderfully complex and nuanced aromas that reveal a dazzling array of floral and fruit elements followed by rich, ripe and somewhat more full-bodied flavors than usual but the additional weight is more than buffered by the racy finishing acidity and almost painfully intense back end. This is presently a good deal more forward than the ’00 Bâtard though there is clearly enough material to suggest that this will benefit from another 3 to perhaps 5 years in the cellar.


Uni on sour bread. Wow. Soft infused bread and a pure uni umph.


Avocado on sour bread.


Salad. This was a bunch of greens.


Brussels & cabbages blistered in the fire. Some very nice brussels sprouts with a charred flavor.


Fire in the sky beet. Like a beet foie gras or something.


Beer to go with the foie.


Toffee, milk, foie, and beer. And speaking of foie gras, this dessert-like confection was totally to die for.


1985 Domaine Jean Grivot Echezeaux. 94 points. Great wine in great shape.


Duck and cheese stuffed cabbage.


With the jus. Some delicious duck, very tender, with a fabulous jus. The cheesy cabbage was believe it or not, actually even better.


Naple long pumpkin, hung over the fire for 3 days, a bouillon of aged kelp.


Greens. Whatever.


Poultry broth. Quite nice.


1996 Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé Bonnes Mares. Burghound 91. Dense and intense black fruit with plenty of character is followed by rich, big, tannic flavors that are robust, indeed almost rustic. This displays lots of backbone if not much finesse with a nice note of finishing complexity. In short, the ’96 Bonnes Mares delivers solid if not truly exceptional quality in a package that will age for many years to come.

agavin: our bottle was elegant and amazing.


Beignets.


Red hawk mousseline, yali pears. Scrumptious smeared over the fried pastry.


Ice cream…


and caramel cooked in the fire. Great stuff, but tiny.


Buckwheat Tea. What’s with the whole tea thing? I’m more of a coffee person (and not with dinner).


A final surprise.


Over-ripe persimmon. I’m not a persimmon fan, but this one was great.


The damage.

And some tea to take home. They sure like tea.


The larder. This place smelled incredible. A mixture of aging meat and fabulous fruits and vegetables. The Saison team believes in curing and aging things to their proper ripeness, and in ensuring the absolute best ingredients. These ducks, for example, are from their own special farm.

The open kitchen is where the magic happens.

Overall, Saison was stellar, with really focused dishes that hit with a precise little wallop. Service was an 11 too, thanks Max and Mathew team up! My only beef would be that somehow we felt we needed about two more dishes, maybe a meat savory and definitely another dessert. Oh and mignardises. We really wanted a nice plate of those!

As a note, there was a fire and smoke vibe going on. Skenes calls the flame the “heart” of the restaurant, and its predominant use, in contrast to modern cooking’s sous vide, nitro, and other flameless techniques that yield’s Saison’s peculiar “modern rustic” style. But Skenes also has a very crafty and subtle knack for flavors. They are potent and focused, but not over the top or whacky. This isn’t cerebral food either like Atelier Crenn. Nor is it the unexpected symphony of CR8. This is a sort of primal thing. The sauces are also stunning. Mostly broths, very Japanese inspired, they are generally less fat and diary driven then the classic French canon. They tended to mix sweet and tangy in a way influenced by Asia. Subtle and elegant.

It should also be noted that while Saison’s atmosphere is amazing, its food stellar, and its service flawless, there are some caveats: it’s expensive (no duh, this is a 3 star michelin). They don’t accommodate dietary restrictions as flexibly as many top restaurants (no vegetarian). Although they did handle us, and we had four distinct rule sets with six diners. Mark Bright’s wine list, while filled with great juice, will set back your plans to upgrade the private jet, but I brought my own. Max’s wine service, too, is perfect. There is only a giant ever-changing tasting menu (the way I like it — no small menu means no one can wus out), so picky eaters are out of luck.

Was it worth all this? As a priest of Dionysus and a devotee of the art of food… hell yes!

For more San Fran dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Food as Art: Melisse
  2. Mosaic of Food – Byzantine Cuisine
  3. Food as Art: Ludobites 7.0
  4. Food as Art – Atelier Crenn
  5. Food as Art: Ludobites 6.0
By: agavin
Comments (1)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Foodie Club, Joshua Skenes, Saison, San Francisco
Watch the Trailer or

Buy it Online!

Buy it Online!

Find Andy at:

Follow Me on Pinterest

Subscribe by email:

More posts on:



Complete Archives

Categories

  • Contests (7)
  • Fiction (404)
    • Books (113)
    • Movies (77)
    • Television (123)
    • Writing (115)
      • Darkening Dream (62)
      • Untimed (37)
  • Food (1,483)
  • Games (100)
  • History (13)
  • Technology (21)
  • Uncategorized (16)

Recent Posts

  • Robo Eats - Szechuan Place
  • Providence Chef's Table 2022
  • OOToro Double
  • Robo Eats - Anarbagh
  • Fred loves N/Naka
  • Major Major Major
  • Far East - Beijing Tasty House
  • Home Sweet Spicy Home
  • Quick Eats - Bafang
  • Quick Eats - Peking Restaurant
  • Quick Eats - MK BBQ
  • Wolfing it Down
  • Big Night at Capital
  • Coche In at Brothers Santa Monica
  • Dirty Dozen semi Grand
  • Date Night at Addison
  • Date Night at AR Valentien
  • Camphor Cool
  • Not all Dim Sum are Created Equal
  • Eating Geneva - Le Chat-Botté

Favorite Food Posts

  • Food Home
  • Food Index
  • Foodie Club
  • Hedonists
  • LA Sushi Index
  • Chinese Food
  • LA Peking Duck
  • Eating Italy
  • Eating France
  • Eating Spain
  • Eating Croatia
  • Eating Vietnam
  • Eating Australia
  • Eating Israel
  • Ultimate Pizza
  • Margarita Mix
  • ThanksGavin
  • Foodie Photography
  • Burgundy Vintages

Recent Comments

Tags

Andy Gavin Arts beef Book Review books Burgundy BYOG California Champagne Chinese cuisine Chinese Food Cooking Crash Bandicoot Dessert eating-italy Fantasy Fiction Food Foodie Club Game of Thrones Gelato George R. R. Martin HBO hedonists Italian cuisine Italy Japanese cuisine Los Angeles Naughty Dog pasta Pizza Restaurant Restaurant Review reviews Santa Monica Santa Monica California SGV side dishes Sushi Television ThanksGavin The Darkening Dream vegetarian Wine World of A Song of Ice and Fire

Archives

  • March 2023 (11)
  • February 2023 (11)
  • January 2023 (14)
  • December 2022 (11)
  • November 2022 (13)
  • October 2022 (14)
  • September 2022 (14)
  • August 2022 (12)
  • July 2022 (9)
  • June 2022 (6)
  • May 2022 (8)
  • April 2022 (5)
  • March 2022 (4)
  • February 2022 (2)
  • January 2022 (8)
  • December 2021 (6)
  • November 2021 (6)
  • October 2021 (8)
  • September 2021 (4)
  • August 2021 (5)
  • July 2021 (2)
  • June 2021 (3)
  • January 2021 (1)
  • December 2020 (1)
  • September 2020 (1)
  • August 2020 (1)
  • April 2020 (11)
  • March 2020 (15)
  • February 2020 (13)
  • January 2020 (14)
  • December 2019 (13)
  • November 2019 (12)
  • October 2019 (14)
  • September 2019 (14)
  • August 2019 (13)
  • July 2019 (13)
  • June 2019 (14)
  • May 2019 (13)
  • April 2019 (10)
  • March 2019 (10)
  • February 2019 (11)
  • January 2019 (13)
  • December 2018 (14)
  • November 2018 (11)
  • October 2018 (15)
  • September 2018 (15)
  • August 2018 (15)
  • July 2018 (11)
  • June 2018 (14)
  • May 2018 (13)
  • April 2018 (13)
  • March 2018 (17)
  • February 2018 (12)
  • January 2018 (15)
  • December 2017 (15)
  • November 2017 (13)
  • October 2017 (16)
  • September 2017 (16)
  • August 2017 (16)
  • July 2017 (11)
  • June 2017 (13)
  • May 2017 (6)
  • March 2017 (3)
  • February 2017 (4)
  • January 2017 (7)
  • December 2016 (14)
  • November 2016 (11)
  • October 2016 (11)
  • September 2016 (12)
  • August 2016 (15)
  • July 2016 (13)
  • June 2016 (13)
  • May 2016 (13)
  • April 2016 (12)
  • March 2016 (13)
  • February 2016 (12)
  • January 2016 (13)
  • December 2015 (14)
  • November 2015 (14)
  • October 2015 (13)
  • September 2015 (13)
  • August 2015 (18)
  • July 2015 (16)
  • June 2015 (13)
  • May 2015 (13)
  • April 2015 (14)
  • March 2015 (15)
  • February 2015 (13)
  • January 2015 (13)
  • December 2014 (14)
  • November 2014 (13)
  • October 2014 (13)
  • September 2014 (12)
  • August 2014 (15)
  • July 2014 (13)
  • June 2014 (13)
  • May 2014 (14)
  • April 2014 (14)
  • March 2014 (10)
  • February 2014 (11)
  • January 2014 (13)
  • December 2013 (14)
  • November 2013 (13)
  • October 2013 (14)
  • September 2013 (12)
  • August 2013 (14)
  • July 2013 (10)
  • June 2013 (14)
  • May 2013 (14)
  • April 2013 (14)
  • March 2013 (15)
  • February 2013 (14)
  • January 2013 (13)
  • December 2012 (14)
  • November 2012 (16)
  • October 2012 (13)
  • September 2012 (14)
  • August 2012 (16)
  • July 2012 (12)
  • June 2012 (16)
  • May 2012 (21)
  • April 2012 (18)
  • March 2012 (20)
  • February 2012 (23)
  • January 2012 (31)
  • December 2011 (35)
  • November 2011 (33)
  • October 2011 (32)
  • September 2011 (29)
  • August 2011 (35)
  • July 2011 (33)
  • June 2011 (25)
  • May 2011 (31)
  • April 2011 (30)
  • March 2011 (34)
  • February 2011 (31)
  • January 2011 (33)
  • December 2010 (33)
  • November 2010 (39)
  • October 2010 (26)
All Things Andy Gavin
Copyright © 2023 All Rights Reserved
Programmed by Andy Gavin