Finally back from my trip to SF, and from my night at Californios.
I’m not going to do a full write up of all that we had, although it was quite different from the dishes honkman had…
Let me preface this by saying that I don’t enjoy writing “negative” reviews, and I will not post a proper review of the place on my website, although I initially planned on doing it… but I feel it is important, especially when spending $805.35, that people know that restaurants, even at this caliber, can have bad nights…
Let me also preface this by saying that this is not “actually” a negative review.
First thing first, I made a mistake. I booked the dinner “outside”, knowing full well that my wife is the most sensitive to cold person on earth (sometimes waiting until August to take of her wool socks at night)… but this particular night in San Francisco was windy, and the heaters outside didn’t help AT ALL.
I was cold. My wife was freezing… she kept her jacket, her wool scarf, her wool scarf, and was all wrapped up like if she had been in a sleeping bag… the sight was pretty funny obviously, which made some people at other tables turn to watch her and laugh… which made her self-conscious and not in a great mood…
Then, the pacing was suuuuupeeer sloooow… To give you an idea, after 2 hours we were still not served our first main dish (taco)… still onto the amuses/appetizers…
On top of that the servers were very stiff. Not smiling (except for one nice guy), explaining the dishes as if we were at a funeral rehearsal. (which we could tell we weren’t only because of the bad lounge faux-trendy music blasting from the speakers)
All of this makes me think (especially compared to other reviews) that something was wrong (not the music, that was probably on purpose). They probably had a bad night, something went wrong in the kitchen, the chef was in a bad mood… I don’t know, but it didn’t feel right.
After those 2 hours, I told my wife I will ask them if there is a possibility to move inside… and, like magic, a server came and told us a table was opening inside, and that he would move us there, without me having to ask, which was nice. Although it took an extra 15 minutes before we were able to actually move inside.
Once inside, the pacing accelerated somewhat (still bringing the whole dinner at 4 hours instead of the 3 that were supposed to be), the servers loosened up a bit (especially when my wife revealed she was spanish, and the mexican servers had a bit of fun trying to translate the “learned by heart” descriptions of the dishes in spanish).
The food was good to very good. A few standout dishes were
the “Chilapita” (Conico Morado Masa Tart, Jalapeño & Smoked Sturgeon Mousse, and Golden Reserve Caviar)
the “Ceviche” (Kombu Cured Hawaian Kanpachi in a Green Tomato & Nettle Aguachile with Serrano Oil and Spring Leaves)
the “Bacalao Negro” (Hickory White Masa Tortilla with Beer & Mezcal Battered Black Cod, in a Sour Cherry & Tamarind Salsa with Napa Cabbage and Limequat)
“Fowl” (Black Twig Apple Glazed & Smoked California Fowl, served with Dried Apple, Grilled Honeycrisp Apples & Grilled Radicchio. Finished with a Pomegranate Manchamantel jus.
“Flan” (Burnt Marshall’s Farms Honey & Vanilla Custard with Macerated Albion Strawberries from Yerena Farms, and a Strawberry & ST. Germain Shrub.
And finally the end chocolate “66% Chocolate Bonbon with Salsa Macha”, which we weirdly had to choose from 3 choices (including a 33% Chocolate Bonbon with Pineapple Pate de Fruit and Brown Butter Vanilla Ganache and a 40% Chocolate Bonbon with Salted Caramel).
Not that I was still hungry at this point, but I would really have loved to taste all three (especially since the 66% one was so good), and I thought it was a weird choice to end the dinner with a choice to be made, and therefore a possible frustration…
Other dishes were mostly good, but not as memorable.
It’s hard for me (and I’m guessing for most people shelling out 800 bucks for a dinner) not to see the dinner through the “was it worth it” lens…
While it is clear by now that for me, personally, that very night -which again was probably a bad night for them- was far from being worth it, I’m trying to project myself on a hypothetical good night… and frankly… I still think it is not worth it.
I know it’s a bit of an arbitrary notion, but here in France, usually, one stars cost around 100€, 2 stars around 200€ and 3 stars around 300€… And if I consider the only 3 star place I went to, which was Pierre Gagnaire in Paris, it cost me about 600€ for 2, and it was an outstanding experience with dishes I still remember 10 years later, by one of the greatest chefs on the planet… I know the economy of a restaurant from one country to another is not the same, and I know the Michelin Guide is not the end-all be-all when it comes to food, and certainly not when it comes to judging the pricing of a restaurant… But I’m human… and I can’t believe I had to pay $200 more for this night than for the night at Pierre Gagnaire (in Paris which is also an expensive city, like San Francisco).
This is not a “negative review” but more-so a warning. Not a warning against Californios, but against ALL expensive dinners.
Going to any restaurant is sort of a gamble, where (contrary to casinos) I would say the diner wins most of the time (if they did their research properly, which I know people on this site do). The more you pay, theoretically the less chance you have of having a bad night, but also the most disappointed you can become if that night turns out to be, indeed, bad…
I’m not bitter, and I don’t want this review to discourage people from going to Californios. I just hope it helps them make informed decisions on all high-end dining experiences, knowing that there’s always (a tiny) risk involved.
Now to find the next splurge I will go to in about 10 years…