My girlfriend and I spent a short time in San Francisco earlier in October. She has never been to the city before, while I have an uncle that lives out there and used to visit fairly frequently. Last time I visited was 2016 and had toyed around with the idea of going to Atelier Crenn, but couldn’t afford it at the time.
For my GF’s first time in San Francisco ever, and mine in 8 years, I wanted to go somewhere special. Unlike in 2016, we can afford fine dining experiences, but having just been at Disfrutar and El Celler de Can Roca earlier in the summer, we didn’t want to break the bank.
After much research, including scouring reddit for recommendations, we landed on Californios, and I am extremely glad we did.
Our reservation was for 8:30pm on a Friday night, and most tables were full and at different stages of their meal. Just a handful were starting just like us. An envelope with my last name written out contained the tasting menu and full details, including the wine pairing, which we ordered while at the table.
The tasting menu consisted of 13 courses, with 9 beverage pairings. The beverage pours were very generous, especially for the pours that paired with several dishes. It was also nice to hear how many courses would be paired with single pour. I’ve been to fine-dining restaurants where they don’t state that, so it’s hard to judge how much to drink per course.
Personally, we found each dish to be delicious. Nothing was a “miss”, although the tasting menu keeps things fairly on the safe side. My personal favorite courses were the Aquachile, which was probably one of the most satisfying flavors I’ve ever had. A pleasing mixture of slightly spicy and refreshing, and a texture. The wine pairing, a bright, minerally 2019 Carricante from Aeris Winery was perfect. My other favorite course was the Codorniz Taco, their version of an Al Pastor taco with Quail, Mole Negro and a Grilled Hawaiian Pinapple, which was paired with two wines, a 2017 Barolo and a 2021 Nebbiolo/Sangiovese blend from Tres Raices, the latter of which I felt paired outstandingly well with the Codorniz.
My girlfriend adored the palate cleanser (Frutas), which consisted of fresh Strawberries in a vanilla crema, a green strawberry raspado with a strawberry sherbert, and strawberry mint tea. She loved strawberries, so naturally this was right up her alley (and I really enjoyed it too).
Desserts were also exceptional and memorable, such as the outstanding Empanada filled with yellow peaches served with Oaxacan Rum Ice Cream and Buttered Pecans, as well as their take on the Choco Taco, and their version of a Bubulubu in a cotton candy-eque structure.
As I stated, we loved our experience and personally this was one of the best meals I’ve had in America (as an American). My only major critique was that there were too many iterations of tacos and we would have preferred some additional variations and expressions of Mexican cuisine.In case anyone is wondering, while our reservation via Tock mentioned that dinner for two lasts around 2.5 hours, ours lasted closer to 3.5 hours. I don’t mind that length of time per se, but there were some gaps where it did feel like we were waiting on food longer than we would typically expect for a 13-course meal.
We also thought the service was great, leaning towards 3 Michelin-star in quality. We asked to see the kitchen and wine cellar, during which we spoke to owner Val Cantu, who was lovely to chat with, very approachable and down to earth.
If you are looking for a great Michelin-starred restaurant in San Francisco, highly recommend Californios.
by NYnosher
2 Comments
Best place in SF
Sounds like you both had a fantastic time. Now you’re making me want to go back again! This is my wife’s favorite restaurant (so we’ve been there 6 times) also and it’s an easy recommendation to anyone. Chef Val is great and he even gave us some restaurant recommendations before our trip to CDMX and Oaxaca last year.