Chez Spencer Review

Chez Spencer served us delicious French dishes, most including truffles, and commendable bread. Assuming one doesn't hate truffles, which were in a good third of the dishes on the menu, the restaurant's negatives come not from any complaint about the food but rather from its location in an mostly empty business district and from the long waits between courses.

The bread was the single item that elicited the most conversation. It was amazing: the right texture, and a flaky, crumbly crust. It was perfect with cheese. We all enjoyed these rolls. Although our first round wasn't warm, the waiter resupplied the plates -sometimes multiple times- of those that quickly consumed their rolls; some of these refreshes were warm. S took a picture of the bread because it was so good. Oj said to S, "I swear I've never seen you so excited by food before." We asked and learned the bread comes from the bakery "Crepe & Brioche."

For appetizers, we had: 

• "Smoked Duck Breast with Poached Eggs." This was most people's favorite appetizer. The thin, smoked duck, which was actually more like ham, went really well with the bread. The little bacony bits were also really good. Once again, someone said, "I've never seen S so happy with his meal before."

• "Sauteed Veal Sweetbreads" with lettuce and a truffle vinaigrette. We enjoyed the sweetbreads: rich, vaguely fried, but not crispy. But, as S observed, it was the sauce that made the dish. Even Oj liked the earthy, rich sauce, and he doesn't like truffles. The sweetbreads vaguely remind S of a Chinese dish in which the chicken is really soft. This dish came with a parmesan cheese oil cracker, which we decided was pretty good once we understood what it was.

• Seared scallops, accompanied by hearts of palm, something with the texture of caviar, and salsa verde. The scallops were pretty good, nicely seared. We were disappointed the $17 dish had only two scallops.

Our entrees were all very good.

• "Truffle-Scented Honjimeji & Enoki Mushroom Risotto," topped with thin parmesan slices. One person remarked, "good risotto is hard to find, and I thought this one was done well."

• "Wood Grilled Flat Iron Steak with Morels á la Crème, Truffle Butter." The morels, a type of black mushrooms, were almost nutty. The sauce and steak went really well together.

• "Roasted Lamb Rack, Braised Artichoke 'Barigoule', Fromage Blanc and Lamb Jus." A very well prepared piece of lamb, quite buttery. The artichoke, roasted to the point of softness and topped with fresh salsa, wasn't particularly notable.

Two attendees ordered disappointing wines with dinner. 

• Bourgueil, "Nuit d'Ivresse", Catherine et Pierre Breton, Loire, France 2003. "Don't especially like it."

• Syrah, Patianna, Fairbairn Ranch, Mendocino, CA 2003. "Pronounced." -Ow "Definitely don't like it." -Oj

As for desserts, 

• One dessert we had was the hazelnut parfait "a la Neige," made of "milk poached egg meringue, expresso caramel, and piedmont hazelnuts." It was very hazelnutty, so much so as to be too intense for us. After a few bites, we were done.

• We preferred our other dessert, a warm chocolate pudding cake. The name is apt. Although small, it was good and we were happy with it. That's not a common occurrence as we're snotty about our warm chocolate cakes. It was served with "flowers of the alps tea anglais."

We also ordered the cheese plate, which surprisingly arrived at the same time as the desserts. We had three cheeses: a nutty Camembert Le Chatelain from Normandy, France; a good, creamy St. Agur Bleu from Auvergne, France; a mild Crotin Fleur de Chevre from Redwood Hill Farm, California. I liked the blue cheese, a surprising fact because I usually do not. Also, we're not sure if the Redwood Hill Farm cheese was mild in general or simply mild in comparison to the other two. We ordered it because the waiter recommended it. The cheeses were served with some walnut bread, which we weren't thrilled with, and some walnuts, which we were.

S was happy to see Russian afternoon tea on the menu of dessert drinks and so he ordered it and was pleased.

Ow, however, said his coffee "sucked."

Chez Spencer's location in a seedy neighborhood strongly contrasts with its warm and inviting interior. First, one has to find the restaurant -- not an easy feat because the front is covered with black curtains, making the whole thing look like a black hole. Pushing aside the curtains, one passes through a cozy patio warmed by numerous heat lamps -it's a striking contrast to the grungy street outside-, and pushes through more curtains to enter the restaurant itself. The inside is as pleasantly welcoming as the patio. It's got unstated style, with nicely logoed plates, a totally open kitchen, and line drawings on canvas on the walls. Incidentally, we didn't eat off the decorated plates; we were given ordinary plates with the food.

The total was $51/person including tax and tip but not including drinks.

Original Announcement

Tomorrow, we'll head to Chez Spencer, a French restaurant in between SOMA and the Mission.

http://www.chezspencer.net/

As always, please tell me if you are coming.

Comments from Other Attendees

The table next to us was speaking French. -mark

Feel free to add remarks here.