The Anchovy Bar [San Francisco, Fillmore]

The Anchovy Bar is the newest restaurant from chefs Stuart Brioza and Nicole Krasinski, who also run State Bird Provisions and The Progress, both of which are right around the corner on Fillmore Street. It’s a small restaurant in the former Fat Angel space that opened last fall.

I had dinner here at the bar area. The menu is composed of mostly small to medium sized plates with a heavy emphasis on seafood.

Started with some oysters.
Oyster Bar Mixed Six, one of each oyster ($20)
Clockwise from left: Sweetwater, Salazar, Capital, Summerstone, Effingham, West Passage. Very good oysters, shucked well. I think my favorite this time was the meaty Capital one. I’m glad they didn’t put kimchi or some other fermented vegetable on them like at State Bird Provisions :stuck_out_tongue:

A helpful oyster map.

And also some more oysters
The Western Addition Oyster ($9)
two broiled oysters smoky date sambal butter and bacon
These were basically west coast style BBQ oysters with some bacon added. The “smoky date sambal” was sweet and smoky like a BBQ sauce. And the butter and bacon bits didn’t hurt. Delicious!

Have to have some anchovies when eating at a place called The Anchovy Bar. Had the
Anchovy Bar Mixed Two ($20)
served with toasted ciabatta, cucumber, crème fraîche, seasoned tomato & radishes
They had two types of Spanish anchovies on offer and this one comes with a mix of both. The ones on the top were Anchoas Don Bocarte and were described as being aged 9 months and having a nuttier taste. The ones on the bottom are Anxoves Callol i Serrats, aged less at 3-6 months and described as more of a classic tasting “pizza anchovy”. I admit that I had a bit of difficulty telling the difference but both were pretty great. I made little crostinis by spooning some of the anchovy oil on a toast, putting some of the tomato sauce on them, and then the other condiments and an anchovy filet.

And then some more anchovies. A small order of
Local ‘Boquerones’ ($10 for a small order)
These are locally caught anchovies, marinated in lime juice and mint and some other herbs for 3 days, and then another 4 days in oil if I remember correctly? Great! Usually boquerones are marinated in vinegar I believe and the lime juice gave it a little bit of a different taste. Fresh and bright tasting and meaty. The boquerones were served on a cool mix of grated cucumber and crème fraîche.

Then for a “main” of sorts I had the
Smoked Wild King Salmon Toast ($19)
pickled ramp & yogurt butter
This came with two toasts. It was a bit like a smoked salmon bagel I guess. With the yogurt butter filling in for the cream cheese. It was also sprinkled with some “everything bagel” topping. And also some little slices of apricot which seemed a little incongruous but gave it a little sweetness. Pretty good. The cold-smoked salmon was quite nice.

PXL_20210726_042203446.NIGHT

Finally for dessert,
Blueberry & Basil Semifreddo ($12)
burnt meringue, candied almonds & apple balsamic
A three layer semifreddo. The bottom layer was a sweet blueberry sauce. I think this is where the basil was? Topped with the semifreddo with candied almonds, which tasted a bit like a toasted almond ice cream. And then finally the top layer of “burnt” meringue, which tasted like the top of a good lemon meringue pie and had a drizzle of the apple balsamic sauce. The meringue had a nice sticky fluffy texture. A delicious dessert to end the meal with.

A very enjoyable dinner with friendly and enthusiastic service.

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i’ve been dying to try this place, looks fantastic. I’m glad to see they have an outdoor area because I’m not feeling good about dining inside again, yet. Thanks for the report and great pics.

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Piling on here to add my review. Six of us went Friday night, sat outside. What a fantastic meal. Everything just sang. From the Negronis to the wine to every bite of anchovy. We ordered all the anchovy items, and so much more.
Pics are in reverse order:


Smoked Wild King Salmon Toast, pickled ramp & yogurt butter. We also got the avocado & very crispy sticky rice, with pickled fresno chile & colatura - no pic, but also excellent.


Anxoves Callol i Serrats’ - anchovies (of course), cast iron farm eggs, Jimmy Nardello peppers & bread crumbs - surprisingly, my least favorite dish, but it was still very good.


Geoduck clam, umeboshi, tomato, eggplant & somen noodle. another lovely, light dish.


Smoked Cod Roe & Nori butters with steamed potatoes - potatoes were purple and so earthy/sweet.


Trout Ceviche with Blue Corn Tostadas. This may have been my favorite dish of the night. The trout was screamingly fresh.


I’m not sure about this dish, maybe the tataki?

Anchovy Bar - Brussels Sprouts
Brussels sprouts, fermented jalapeño, queso fresco & chili peanuts. Fab.


Pole Beans & Tonnato, pickled raisin, almond & fried shallot - a beautifully light, fresh, vibrant take on this old classic, usually made with veal.
Also:
Wagon Wheel Chip & Dips - smoked vinegar pickled pepper salt. the dip was only the top layer, underneath was some kind of foamy, meringue-like thing, so it was very airy and light.


‘Anchoas Don Bocarte’ - burrata & edamame hummus crostini. Just wonderful.


Anchovy “bar” - two kinds of anchovies with toasted ciabatta, cucumber, crème fraîche, seasoned tomato sauce & radishes. Bread was rubbed with garlic. Turns out cukes go really well with anchovies. As previously described by @Mr_Happy.

Anchovy Bar - Deviled egg & Parm
“Deviled” eggs showered in a cloud of parm regg and crispy anchovy bits. Amazingly good, for how simple it was.

We felt like we were in Barcelona!

I know it seems like we tried everything (too full for dessert), but I’m already dying to go back, and I’m hoping the menu changes up often.

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But what did the BF eat? Y’all ate only fishy things and he eats nothing from the sea/river.

i went with friends, not the BF.

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Great report and pics! That crostini with the edamame hummus (what a great idea) and burrata with anchovies looks very tempting. Were the spreads enough to go around for the potatoes? I was thinking about trying that solo but it looks like a big bowl of potatoes there.

Save some room for the semifreddo next time!

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the spreads were enough! some of the items they increased the amount because we were a big party, but i don’t think they did that with the spreads. worked out perfectly.

semifreddo - i can’t promise you that, but i’ll try! :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

I had dinner in the parklet at Anchovy Bar recently.

Started with a half dozen oysters ($21 for 6) which happened to be all from Canada but on different sides of the country. The three on the left were Pinkerton’s Loot from British Columbia. Tasted of soy sauce, umami rich, big and meaty. The three on the right were Valley Pearls from PEI. Kind of crabby with a hot dog and mushroom flavor. I’m trying to expand my oyster tasting descriptions :stuck_out_tongue: All oysters were perfectly shucked with no errant shell bits.

Next, the
Caesar ‘Deviled’ Egg ($9)
Delfino Filetti di Alici
parmesan & egg bottarga
Which was an umami bomb of a soft boiled egg topped with a very generous heap of grated parm and anchovy.

Another order of the
Western Addition Oyster ($10)
two broiled oysters, smoky date sambal butter & bacon
As good as before, love the mix of tangy smoky buttery bbq sauce and bacon with the juicy oyster.

And then again, the
1/2 dozen Anchovies ($20)
Don Bocarte & Callol i Serrats
served with toasted sesame baguette, cucumber, crème fraîche, seasoned tomato & radish
These were as good as before. The top anchovies were the Don Bocartes, the middle the Callol i Serrats, and the bottom two local anchovies.

Anchovy Toast ($11 for a half order)
Atomic Workshop
local boquerones, english pea and fava bean hummus
Very nice toast. Lots of meaty lightly brined vinegary local anchovies and a few mint leaves topping a fava and pea spread on some good bread.

Finally for dessert I had the
Caramelized Arlettes ($12)
shaker meyer lemon curd & coconut cream
Two super crispy flaky thin buttery sugar cookies with a lemon filling that had bits of I think lemon peel in it. The coconut whipped cream on the side gave it a tropical accent. Delicious!

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All of that looks completely amazing! Love the photos, thanks for posting them!

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Well done!

Super spot, on my list to hit up.

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