[philadining]

Brick
1085 Sutter Street (at Larkin)
San Francisco
(415) 441-4232
www.brickrestaurant.com

A fellow eGullteer had recommended this place as a late-night destination, but I stumbled on it, hungry, early on a sunday evening. I'm glad to have gotten the recommendation, it's attractive enough from the outside, but looks a bit more like a nice bar than an obvious dining destination. I might have walked on by, and missed a terrific meal.

The food hangs in that gray zone between casual well-executed bar food with subtle experimental twists, and more sophisticated, haute offerings. I had a very hard time narrowing-down the options, almost everything on the menu sounded very attractive, from herbed french fries to sweet pea ravioli.

Confit Buffalo Wings, Root Slaw, Gorgonzola Foam

This was a very clever elevation of the traditional wing. The flavors are spot-on, precisely replicating the tastes in a prototypical basket of Buffalo wings. But frenching the drummettes and confiting them to a tenderness that left the meat just barely hanging on the bone took it to another level, as did the airy gorgonzola spread. I'm not sure I would call it a "foam" but the light whipped cheese was a welcome companion to the peppery wings, and completed the traditional picture. My waiter told me that the chef is from New York state, so he may have some experience with "real" Buffalo wings...

Tatsoi Panzanella, Guanciale, Apples, Pepitas, Peccorino

This was a fantastic salad, exhibiting a great balance of peppery greens, sweet fruit, salty cured pork and crunchy bread. Certainly not a traditional panzanella, but better than most of those I've had!

Organic Slow Roasted Quail, Smoked Fingerlings, Olive, Artichoke, Mango Purée

I'm not sure that the right side of the plate had a lot in common with the left side, the earthy, salty, roasted vibe on the right was a definite flip-side of the bright, fruity, tangy left. But each was good with the quail, which was perfectly cooked to a juicy medium rare. I didn't detect much smoke in the potatoes but enjoyed them nonetheless. The olives were crucial.

Strawberries, Cardamom Shortcake, Vanilla Frozen Yogurt

I would have liked a little more spice in the cake, but even in its subtle state this was a delicious, light, summery dessert. It was a very tough choice between all the various desserts, they were all unusual and intriguing.

I had a very nice glass of Syrah with the quail, and had a hard time resisting the selection of dessert wines by the glass. They had some interesting house cocktails as well, so this would be a great spot to just sit at the bar and snack, or do the full dinner thing.

They're open 5pm-10:30pm sun-thr, until midnight friday and saturday. The bar's open until 2, but I assume food stops at those earlier times.

This post has been edited by philadining: 29 May 2007 - 06:46 PM