Frommer's San Francisco 2012 - Matthew Poole [75]
You won’t find lunch at Quince—for that, head next door to the less formal but equally sophisticated and fresh Cotogna (Italian for “quince”), 490 Pacific Ave. ( 415/775-8508; www.cotognasf.com), open Monday to Friday 11:30am to 2:30pm and 5:30 to 11pm (midnight on Fri.), and Saturdays from 11am to 3pm and 5:30 to midnight. On our last visit, a $24 fixed-price lunch menu included chilled asparagus soup with Olio Nuovo, tagliatelle with pork and red dandelion ragú, and a milk chocolate and almond milk budino.
470 Pacific Ave. (at Montgomery St.). 415/775-8500. www.quincerestaurant.com. Reservations required. Main courses $16–$29. AE, MC, V. Mon–Thurs 5:30–10pm; Fri–Sun 5–10pm. Valet parking $8. Bus: 12, 15, 41, or 83.
Roasted wild carrots with honey and anise seed at Cotogna.
The Slanted Door ★★ VIETNAMESE What started in 1995 as an obscure little family-run restaurant in the Mission District has become one of the most popular and written-about restaurants in the city. Due to its meteoric rise—helped along by celebrity fans such as Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, and Quentin Tarantino—it’s been relocated within a beautiful bay-inspired, custom-designed space at the Ferry Building Marketplace. What hasn’t changed is a menu filled with incredibly fresh and flavorful Vietnamese dishes from chef Charles Phan, including catfish clay-pot flavored with cilantro, ginger, and Thai chilies; an amazing green papaya salad with roasted peanuts; and fragrant peppercorn duck served with apples and watercress. If the cellophane noodles with fresh Dungeness crabmeat are on the menu, definitely order them. Be sure to start the feast with a pot of tea from their eclectic collection. If you’re just looking to grab something on the go, stop by Out the Door, the Slanted Door’s more casual—but still tasty—little sister, on the bottom floor of the Westfield Centre. It has both seating and a pickup window. Phan’s latest creation, Heaven’s Dog (Mission and Seventh sts.), offers noodles, soups, and classic Northern Chinese dishes.
1 Ferry Plaza (at the Embarcadero and Market). 415/861-8032. www.slanteddoor.com. Reservations recommended. Lunch main courses $6–$17; dinner dishes $10–$34; 7-item fixed-price dinner $45 (parties of 7 or more only). AE, MC, V. Daily 11am–2:30pm (until 3pm on Sun); Sun–Thurs 5:30–10pm; Fri–Sat 5:30–10:30pm. Bus: All Market St. buses. Streetcar: F or N-Judah line.
The Slanted Door’s spring rolls combine shrimp, pork, mint, and peanut sauce.
Tommy Toy’s ★ CHINESE If you want romantic, extravagant Chinese, come to Tommy’s. Fashioned after the 19th-century quarters of the Empress Dowager’s sitting room and replete with mood-lit candelabras and antique paintings, it’s perhaps the only Chinese restaurant in the city where dressing up is apropos. Most evenings, the dining room is filled mostly with tourists and traveling business types, while locals are more likely to come for the fixed-price lunches. (The multicourse “Executive Luncheon” is a bargain at $25.) Not much changes on the expensive, French-influenced Chinese menu, but that’s fine with the loyalists who return year after year for such beautifully presented dishes as minced squab in leaves of lettuce; sautéed lobster with mushrooms, chives, and angel-hair crystal noodles; and puff-pastry-topped creamy lobster bisque. The gracious and convivial Tommy passed away in 2008, but the food remains steady, with substantial portions and a pleasing, if slightly opulent decor.
655 Montgomery St. (at Clay and Washington sts.). 415/397-4888. www.tommytoys.com. Reservations recommended. Main courses $17–$23; fixed-price lunch $38; fixed-price dinner $48 (4 courses). AE, DC, DISC, MC, V. Mon–Fri 11:30am–2:30pm; daily 5:30–9:30pm. Valet parking (dinner only) $8. Bus: