Finally, my last set of photos from San Francisco! Cortez is the new small plates restaurant (the small plates thing sure is really really huge now) from the great people at Bay Bread. I really hope that Bay Bread doesn't get too big for its own good - I'd hate to see the quality decline. I like a lot of their places, such as Chez Nous and even more importantly Galette. Let's hope they can keep up their success. Val was in SF for as a stopover between Taiwan and Boston, so she joined my mom, Keith, and myself for dinner. Cortez came strongly recommended by Auntie Raphaela. The restaurant has a nice, modern and decidedly hip decor (though it doesn't come close to Frisson). I actually recognized that they were playing Thievery Corporation as we sat down, giving the place a cool loungey feel.
"today's crudo" - marinated hamachi
warm summer salad of sweet corn raviolinis, cherry tomatoes, sugar snap peas & herbed zucchini pur�e - $9
fries with harissa & zaatar spiced aioli - $6
A solid set of appetizers. There are a lot of interesting sounding things on the menu, so it was hard to choose. The hamachi was good - fish was high quality, though nothing special compared to a good sushi joint. It did have a markedly different taste than what you'd expect eating sashimi thanks to the aioli dressing/marinade on it, so it had its own unique twist. The raviolinis were excellent - every ingredient was fresh and bursting with flavor. The peas were particularly crisp and refreshing. Everyone (my mom especially) loved this one. The fries were very good, and are definitely inspired by (probably copied from) the fries over at Chez Nous. The harissa aioli (which they also use at Chez Nous) was the better of the two sauces.
slow baked wild salmon with manila clams, roasted chiodini mushrooms & garlic clam foam - $14
prawns a la plancha with basque pimentos, lemon garlic butter & creamy crab rice - $11
slow cooked chicken breast with gnocchi & chanterell ragu, parsnip pur�e & creamed scallions - $14
Again, good stuff overall. I liked that the salmon was cooked quite rare, giving it a smooth and fatty texture. I think the dish overdoes it a little though on the clams, and the two different flavors end up clashing a bit. The prawns were huge and meaty - a real plus in my book, and matched well with the lemony sauce. The crab rice tasted good, but was slightly too al dente for my taste. The chicken with gnocchi was the class of this group. The chicken was unbelievably tender (it's all breast meat!) and the gnocchi were the perfect starchy complement. Although, I'd have been happy eating either just the chicken or the gnocchi too - both parts of this dish would be strong enough to stand on their own. Really a great combination.
chocolate ginger milkshake shots - $4 for 2
sugar & spice beignets, vahlrona chocolate fondue - $9
The milkshake shots were hard to resist. They're literally shot glasses (okay, maybe double shots), and the flavor changes every day. It's gimmicky, no doubt about it, but fun I guess. I think I would have liked them better if they were just chocolate... I guess I'm a purist like that. The beignets were good but not as good as Piperade's. In retrospect it was a mistake ordering two "spicy" desserts. I've realized I don't really like ginger and whatnot in desserts very much. Overall, I enjoyed the meal. The raviolinis and the chicken were very memorable, and there's a lot of other stuff I want to try on the menu. Not to mention it was my last meal in SF before another long Boston semester...
"today's crudo" - marinated hamachi
warm summer salad of sweet corn raviolinis, cherry tomatoes, sugar snap peas & herbed zucchini pur�e - $9
fries with harissa & zaatar spiced aioli - $6
A solid set of appetizers. There are a lot of interesting sounding things on the menu, so it was hard to choose. The hamachi was good - fish was high quality, though nothing special compared to a good sushi joint. It did have a markedly different taste than what you'd expect eating sashimi thanks to the aioli dressing/marinade on it, so it had its own unique twist. The raviolinis were excellent - every ingredient was fresh and bursting with flavor. The peas were particularly crisp and refreshing. Everyone (my mom especially) loved this one. The fries were very good, and are definitely inspired by (probably copied from) the fries over at Chez Nous. The harissa aioli (which they also use at Chez Nous) was the better of the two sauces.
slow baked wild salmon with manila clams, roasted chiodini mushrooms & garlic clam foam - $14
prawns a la plancha with basque pimentos, lemon garlic butter & creamy crab rice - $11
slow cooked chicken breast with gnocchi & chanterell ragu, parsnip pur�e & creamed scallions - $14
Again, good stuff overall. I liked that the salmon was cooked quite rare, giving it a smooth and fatty texture. I think the dish overdoes it a little though on the clams, and the two different flavors end up clashing a bit. The prawns were huge and meaty - a real plus in my book, and matched well with the lemony sauce. The crab rice tasted good, but was slightly too al dente for my taste. The chicken with gnocchi was the class of this group. The chicken was unbelievably tender (it's all breast meat!) and the gnocchi were the perfect starchy complement. Although, I'd have been happy eating either just the chicken or the gnocchi too - both parts of this dish would be strong enough to stand on their own. Really a great combination.
chocolate ginger milkshake shots - $4 for 2
sugar & spice beignets, vahlrona chocolate fondue - $9
The milkshake shots were hard to resist. They're literally shot glasses (okay, maybe double shots), and the flavor changes every day. It's gimmicky, no doubt about it, but fun I guess. I think I would have liked them better if they were just chocolate... I guess I'm a purist like that. The beignets were good but not as good as Piperade's. In retrospect it was a mistake ordering two "spicy" desserts. I've realized I don't really like ginger and whatnot in desserts very much. Overall, I enjoyed the meal. The raviolinis and the chicken were very memorable, and there's a lot of other stuff I want to try on the menu. Not to mention it was my last meal in SF before another long Boston semester...