Iconic Three Michelin Star restaurant, owned by Dominique Crenn, the first female chef to receive the honor in the US. Chef is from France, so while the cuisine is distinctly French, there is much influence from her decades of residing in California. She has her own farm nearby in Sonoma, which supplies the restaurant with a beautiful seasonal bounty. The tasting menu is entirely pescatarian and dairy free, in a conscious move toward sustainability.
The tasting menu is priced at $475/ person, with two optional wine pairings, priced at $300 or $500. I opted for the $500 wine pairing, titled “A Sense Of Time and Place”. It featured 6 incredible selections (three from France), that certainly enhanced the food and experience. When I did not love my 1967 Barolo, the sommelier insisted on pouring me something else. It was A LOT of wine…I left very drunk.
The food was captivating from the first bites: the the tiny pop of liquid Kir Breton, the flavorful and visually stunning “Cherry Bomb”, and the Dungeness Crab three ways (ice cream, cracker, and Dashi) were all memorable. My favorite dishes overall were the Cauliflower & Caviar, the Japanese Pot au Feu, and the Monterey Bay Abalone.
Neither my husband or I enjoyed the Dry Aged Black Cod main, which was served with bao buns. The cheeseless cheese course, a Fermented Leek Tart, also left a lot to be desired. I am a dessert fiend, so having 6 different desserts was exciting, but none of them amazed me. We were sent home with delicious chocolate-covered peanut butter puffs, which I wish I could get more of.
Overall, an exceptional meal that I would recommend to any fine food lover, especially if you are already pescatarian like myself. However, I am not sure if we loved it enough to come back.
abuttfarting on
Thanks for actually taking photos of the wines!
justawineguy on
I went a few years ago when it got its first star and again when it got its second star. I think I enjoyed it my first time, but thought the poetry was a bit of a gimmick. Second time was far less memorable. Never bothered to return after it’s 3rd star, especially with the $400+ price tag. Jeez…
reallyconfused2323 on
This place is overrated, the aged cod was good though.
thenisaidbitch on
I went there back in 2019 and I haven’t had a better tasting menu, every dish totally hit it for me. Your menu looks super fun and playful, I wish work would send me back to San Fran!
TiredCoffeeTime on
Thank you for posting!
I haven’t seen the new menu in depth decently so it’s nice to see one
Extreme-Ad2586 on
So far this year I’ve been to Benu, Atelier Crenn, SingleThread, Eleven Madison Park, Per Se, Le Bernardin, and Masa. In my opinion, if I was to rank these, Atelier Crenn would be at the bottom by a substantial margin. There were some unique and inventive courses, but very few that were delicious, and the service, atmosphere, and experience were not commensurate with the price.
aye_bee_ceeeee on
There’s a lot of black in their food styling/plating . Desserts look disappointing!
9 Comments
Iconic Three Michelin Star restaurant, owned by Dominique Crenn, the first female chef to receive the honor in the US. Chef is from France, so while the cuisine is distinctly French, there is much influence from her decades of residing in California. She has her own farm nearby in Sonoma, which supplies the restaurant with a beautiful seasonal bounty. The tasting menu is entirely pescatarian and dairy free, in a conscious move toward sustainability.
The tasting menu is priced at $475/ person, with two optional wine pairings, priced at $300 or $500. I opted for the $500 wine pairing, titled “A Sense Of Time and Place”. It featured 6 incredible selections (three from France), that certainly enhanced the food and experience. When I did not love my 1967 Barolo, the sommelier insisted on pouring me something else. It was A LOT of wine…I left very drunk.
The food was captivating from the first bites: the the tiny pop of liquid Kir Breton, the flavorful and visually stunning “Cherry Bomb”, and the Dungeness Crab three ways (ice cream, cracker, and Dashi) were all memorable. My favorite dishes overall were the Cauliflower & Caviar, the Japanese Pot au Feu, and the Monterey Bay Abalone.
Neither my husband or I enjoyed the Dry Aged Black Cod main, which was served with bao buns. The cheeseless cheese course, a Fermented Leek Tart, also left a lot to be desired. I am a dessert fiend, so having 6 different desserts was exciting, but none of them amazed me. We were sent home with delicious chocolate-covered peanut butter puffs, which I wish I could get more of.
Overall, an exceptional meal that I would recommend to any fine food lover, especially if you are already pescatarian like myself. However, I am not sure if we loved it enough to come back.
Thanks for actually taking photos of the wines!
I went a few years ago when it got its first star and again when it got its second star. I think I enjoyed it my first time, but thought the poetry was a bit of a gimmick. Second time was far less memorable. Never bothered to return after it’s 3rd star, especially with the $400+ price tag. Jeez…
This place is overrated, the aged cod was good though.
I went there back in 2019 and I haven’t had a better tasting menu, every dish totally hit it for me. Your menu looks super fun and playful, I wish work would send me back to San Fran!
Thank you for posting!
I haven’t seen the new menu in depth decently so it’s nice to see one
So far this year I’ve been to Benu, Atelier Crenn, SingleThread, Eleven Madison Park, Per Se, Le Bernardin, and Masa. In my opinion, if I was to rank these, Atelier Crenn would be at the bottom by a substantial margin. There were some unique and inventive courses, but very few that were delicious, and the service, atmosphere, and experience were not commensurate with the price.
There’s a lot of black in their food styling/plating . Desserts look disappointing!
This looks so darn delicious!