At long last, my final pre-Australia post. Here is a dinner I had with my mom, aunt, and some friends at Winterland. The restaurant occupies a corner spot on Steiner and Sutter that has long been one of San Francisco's cursed restaurant locations. The last restaurant there, Julia, was actually supposed to be pretty good, but for some reason or other shut down (I heard the chef didn't want to do it anymore or something). Either way, it'll be interesting to see if Winterland can survive.
Nicaraguan chef Vernon Morales has a pretty strong pedigree, having worked at Daniel in NY and the famed El Bulli in Spain. Fatemeh went after it opened and said it had potential, so I decided it was worth a shot. My mom thinks the place is doomed because of the location and the sorta weirdish name. The restaurant is pretty neat and stylish on the inside. There's a bar area in the front, with a split dining area deeper inside. The furniture and decor are decidedly modern. 
melon soup with lemon-lime mousse It was cool to receive an amuse bouche given Winterland's mid-range prices. I had ordered a la carte, while a few went with a $31 prix fixe. This chilled soup was light yet flavorful, with just the right sweetness. 
Monterey shrimp & zucchini blossom, saffron tomato, basil jus - $11 This app is one of my favorite ingredient combinations. The best zucchini blossom I've ever had was in Rome, where it was deep fried, stuffed with cheese, and served with some fried prawns. This version was obviously different, combining a classic zucchini blossom preparation with some lighter shrimp. The basil sauce complemented both items very well. 
heirloom tomato, mozzarella & arugula salad, micro basil, olive oil, cabernet vinegar This SF summer app was an option on the $31/3 course prix fixe, which turns out to be a great deal. It was definitely towards the end of the tomato season when we went, but this was still a pretty good version of the dish. 
veal chop roasted with chanterelles, sweetbread "nuggets", chorizo, potato confit, Xerez vinegar jus - $29 This dish was okay, though it didn't quite live up to the ingredient overload of the description. The chop was cooked well and the mushrooms were tasty, but I was a bit disappointed by the slightly bland sweetbreads. Pretty good, but I sort of wish I'd ordered the Berkshire pork duo that was also on the menu. 
skate wing roasted with hazelnut, Jerusalem artichoke, grilled asparagus, brown butter sauce The main dish of the prix fixe was this very nice skate wing. I had a bite, and the fish was both moist and flaky. 
caramelized brioche, pomello peel marmalade, olive oil ice cream - $8 I forgot to snap a photo of the prix fixe dessert, but forget about that. This brioche blew it away, and was probably one of my favorite desserts of the year. It tasted like a delicate bread pudding - rich, soft, and surprisingly fluffy. The browned caramelized top added a kick of sweetness, and the olive oil ice cream was the perfect cold element. 
mignardises They gave us this set of freebies after dessert - a fruit pate thing, some toffee nut thing, and an okay cookie. Again, it's nice to get freebies when you pay $31 for a 3 course meal. So pending Winterland's survival, I wouldn't mind going back. The food wasn't absolutely superb (well, my dessert was), but it was pretty good and I'd be happy to try more of Morales' stuff. Let's see if the place can break the dreaded Steiner/Sutter curse. Hope everyone has a good New Year. My next post will be about Sydney.