They lost their star a few years ago. Chef Melissa Perello’s other restaurant, Octavia, has one star. Star or not though it’s a pretty good deal especially if its one’s first visit.
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is their $65 tasting menu available all the time?
might be a good place to grab a great meal before the crowd returns from burning man 
I overheard when a waiter was describing it to another diner that they don’t always have it. It wasn’t listed on the menu either FWIW.
I had dinner at the somewhat recently reopened Frances a little while ago. Frances has been doing a series of prix fixe dinners with their FXMP pop up series recently, with owner/chef Melissa Perello back in the kitchen. A portion of the proceeds of each dinner is donated to a charity. For the one I went to the charity was Jose Andres’ World Central Kitchen. Food was $110 including service and tax, with optional drinks separate. They had a wine pairing as well.
hog island, earthquake bay OYSTER, verjus, pluot, shiso
Dinner started with an oyster, with shiso leaf and pluots. The licorice-y shiso and sweet pluot additions complemented the oyster well, rather than overpowering it.
fifth crow ZUCCHINI & TOMATOES, charred onion tapenade
A delicious summery dish. It was Indian summer I guess here in SF. The zucchini and tomatoes were perfectly ripe and fresh. The sauce tasted like a smoky Mexican salsa. There was also a labneh like yogurt as well to add some creaminess.
chanterelle mushroom TOAST, brioche, crème fraîche, sweet herbs
A nice toast with meaty chanterelles. Dill and some other herbs. On a buttery brioche slice.
escarole & treviso SALAD, morettini pear, pecorino, almond
Very good salad. Treviso is apparently a type of radicchio. Its bitterness, along with the sweet pear, salty pecorino, and crunchy almond gave the salad a nice mix of flavors and textures. Pristine vegetables and fruit.
PACCHERI, pork neck ragoût, caramelized napa cabbage and whey
An excellent pasta dish, my favorite dish of the night. Paccheri are like big rigatoni. They were nicely al dente and toothsome. Nice comforting porky sauce punctuated with the slight zingy acidity of the whey, which I think is kind of an unusual ingredient in pasta sauces.
local BLACK COD, grilled savoy cabbage and smoked fumet
fingerling POTATOES with herbed aioli
The main course was a nicely cooked piece of cod with crispy skin, accompanied by some slightly charred savoy cabbage and a little bit of broth-y liquid underneath. This came with a side of I think roasted potatoes and an herby aioli.
burnt honey ICE CREAM, fig and huckleberry
Finally for dessert a nice scoop of ice cream with fruit. The burnt honey had kind of a caramel like taste.
A very enjoyable dinner.
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Frances reopened a little while back with a new chef de cuisine - chef Jordan Wittrock, formerly of Tartine Manufactory and Benu. I snagged a late reservation outside in one of their parklets in the week they reopened back at the end of June. Dinner was $86 + tax and service charge.
market CRUDITES, shishito pepper hummus, grilled flatbread
Pristine vegetables, some pickled and some fresh.
Perfectly fried squashes, tender but not too much.
Good hummus that I guess had some shishito in it, with a generous dollop of olive oil.
Flatbread that had kind of a za’atar like spice mix on it.
LITTLE GEMS, comté, summer stone fruit and shallot vinaigrette, soft herbs
A good salad with again pristine lettuce and ripe peaches(?).
LUMACHE, roasted & fresh cherry tomatoes, bottarga dell’isola, genovese basil
Lumache are a shell shaped pasta. This was great! Fresh light tomato sauce thickened probably with some olive oil? Accented with fresh fragrant basil. Toothsome pasta. A summer-y dish. With some umami brininess from the bottarga. Best dish of the night for me.
grilled KING SALMON, sunflower seed gremolata, arugula & lemon
NEW POTATO salad, fermented green garlic, horseradish
A well executed salmon dish if perhaps not that exciting. Crispy skin, perfectly cooked beautiful piece of salmon from the PNW. Potatoes were delicious - buttery with a little pop from the grated fresh horseradish.
peppercorn PANNA COTTA, tahitian vanilla-bing cherry compote
Dessert was a nice cherry vanilla panna cotta with pepper that wasn’t too sweet. Good texture. And also a granita that I have forgotten the ingredients of, but was quite refreshing.
I also opted for the wine pairing for $65 which was good, and also fairly reasonably priced for about 4 full pours. Friendly service as usual. Overall a very enjoyable dinner from this new version of Frances. I do hope that some of the classic Frances dishes (i.e. the panisse frites, the savory beignets, the pork chop, and the lumberjack cake) make a reappearance at some point.
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Taking into account inflation this seems like a great deal given the number of courses. ‘Reopening special’?
Yeah I think its pretty reasonably priced also considering inflation as you mention (though does not include tax and service which was 20%) especially for this level of cooking. Pretty much a 5 course dinner with starter, salad, pasta, a main, and then dessert(s).
