Zuni Cafe

[rshorens]

Absynthe is a terrific place. Great location, convenient to symphony/opera/ballet.

My favorite items: french Onion soup, excellent bread, Ginger Rogers cocktail, any of their cassoulets, sea bass with fried artichoke and fried fingers of ground chickpeas(sounds weird but very delicious), lavender creme broulee with the best shortbread cookies I have ever tasted. Plus they have a good selection of wines by the glass- they even offer "tastes"(3 oz.) for half the price of a glass. Bustling ambience and good service.

Roz

[rancho_gordo]

Can I also add that it's hard to be in a bad mood at the Zuni? It's such a great room and there's a good "air" about the place.

We used to eat in the bar a lot and ran in to many friends and it was more like a nightclub than a restaurant.

The first time I ate the chicken I was stumped. What was that nostalgic flavor? Turns out it was chicken itself!

And the margaritas are made like maritnis and they are gorgeous....

[davebr]

Thanks for easing my anxiety. Totally devoting 3 days to do nothing but eat and drink in SF--Can I ever really go wrong?

[marie-louise]

We had an absolutely fabulous meal last night, with a friendly, professional waiter. I requested one of those tables on the balcony that overlooks the kitchen-at one point another party walked by and one guy remarked-those are the best seats in the house!

Agraparte (?sp) champagne

A dozen oysters

split a Caesar-it was good, perfectly balanced dressing with no one taste predominating, but it was still a Caesar. I wish I'd tried something else.

THAT CHICKEN The hour wait just flew by as we ate oysters, drank champagne, chatted with our waiter about this and that, and watched the buzz of the restaurant from the balcony. We took home 3 of the 8 pieces of chicken but scarfed up every morsel of that bread salad. That salad is one of the best things I've eaten in a long time, I'm definitely trying it out of the cookbook soon. It was hard to not moan out loud and/or scrape the serving platter, it was so good. The chicken was very good, and both the chicken and the salad have a slight smokiness from the wood-burning oven that just can't quite be replicated at home.

split a Creme Brulee. I wasn't going to have but a bite, I was so full, but this was the best creme brulee I've had in twenty years, since I used to order it at a place called the Union Hotel in Benica, which was owned by Marion Cunningham and Judy Rogers (of Zuni) was the chef. It is served in a deep cup, deeper than a ramekin, and the custard is creamier than usual.

Edited January 22, 2004 by marie-louise (log)

[MsRamsey]

Absynthe is a terrific place. Great location, convenient to symphony/opera/ballet.

My favorite items: french Onion soup, excellent bread, Ginger Rogers cocktail, any of their cassoulets, sea bass with fried artichoke and fried fingers of ground chickpeas(sounds weird but very delicious), lavender creme broulee with the best shortbread cookies I have ever tasted. Plus they have a good selection of wines by the glass- they even offer "tastes"(3 oz.) for half the price of a glass. Bustling ambience and good service.

Roz

I had a very disappointing experience at Absinthe in December--terrible table and lousy service (VERY green waitress). I wrote them an email about it, and they never even acknowledged it. Shame on them. There's a possibility that I'm moving to SF and will probably never give them another chance because of shabby treatment.

[marlena spieler]

I've always felt bad mentioning it because everyone seems to love Zuni, so i figured i had just hit an offnight, or several offnights or something was wrong with me.

but I've had about three meals at Zuni and three mediocre meals at Zuni. I didn't even like the atmosphere because i felt that the wait service had decided we definately weren't cool enough to be special (and the whole pleasure of eating out is being special......well and eating fab food, and getting a buzz, and not doing the dishes, lots of pleasures i guess).

I haven't had the burger there which everyone raves about and which i must try one of these days.

and i'm allergic to shellfish so didn't eat oysters either.

cheeseplate: ho hum. chicken: sorry no somersaults but that might be because i'm a bit of a chicken-roasting queen myself. otherwise i don't remember anything at our table any of the meals, except the pall of dissappointment.

and i wasn't even paying for any of my visits, which, even though i try to be objective, sometimes influences my feelings. but i wanted my hosts to have a great time on their buck and the food, atmosphere, kinda let us all down.

[Squeat Mungry]

I haven't had the burger there which everyone raves about and which i must try one of these days.

I love the burger at Zuni (and the fries are fantastic!), but have a couple of caveats for you: First, beware that (unless things have changed recently) the burger is not available at dinner service. It's only available at lunch, and, I believe, after 10:00 pm. Secondly, the burger is served on foccacia. I think it's a fabulous combination, but have heard several others complain about not liking the texture of the foccacia with the burger.

I'm sorry you haven't enjoyed your Zuni meals more... I have to say I've always had a great time (and good food) there.

Cheers,

Squeat

[davebr]

Well my meal there was great. I may not be a chicken roasting queen, but I can hang with the best of them. I just dont have a wood burning oven laying around my house. That made all the difference, it made the bread taste like a sourdough version of Texas toast. Zuni, technically, may not be Danko, Tru, or Chucky T's (Trotters), but the food touches the soul and conjures up memories of childhood. Which would be hard to do for a southern gentleman like myself. That to me is worth more than when I ate at those other joints. Plus, I can get a great meal at 11pm on a sunday.

[MsMelkor]

Melkor and I went there for dinner last night. The roast chicken was good, especially the skin - and I'm not a huge fan of chicken skin. But we just made the Zuni roast chicken at home the other day, and I don't think there was that much difference. The duck leg, however, was excellent. And I love the atmosphere there.

[marie-louise]

Dave-glad you enjoyed your meal. The place has synergy: really good food + terrific atmosphere + friendly service (well, usually) = a great restaurant experience.

[ingridsf]

If Zuni had a fence around it, that's where I'd be sitting. It's just been so inconsistent for me. And it ain't cheap. Despite the complaints below, I can understand why people continue to go. I just don't agree, though, that it's an absolute must.

First, the good: Great oysters with the best sauce, rye bread (somebody's been reading MFK Fisher); the Bloody Mary's; the sand-dabs; the soft polenta. The ambiance, esp on a warm afternoon with the windows open. The design.

The "Buts": Mostly the service. I've had one memorably nice server, and I've gone more than a few times. I'm usually with one person having a leisurely lunch and going for long stretches unattended hasn't warmed my heart but it hasn't caused a problem. The one business lunch I had was not good because our server ignored us and forgot our bottle of wine. I do pick up on a "cool" clique vibe, and as the subtly snubbed diner, it makes me say, "Zuni -- eh. Go to Boulevard. They'll treat you nice there even if they don't respect your shoes."

On a more tangibe level: Get some better stemware. It's not just aesthetics. The design of the glass affects the wine, and their wine-glasses are dragging their wines down.

As for roast chicken, I have suggestions based on a combo of cooking shows: Butter your bird's skin and lay strips of bacon across. Roast for 20-25 min at high heat until the bacon is cooked, and then remove. It makes a lovely cook's aperitif. Reduce heat and roast until juices run clear. Defat pan juices as desired and either make gravy or serve as is. The butter/bacon makes a shatteringly crisp, salty skin. And I don't brine free-range chicken cause they don't seem to need it. I also keep in mind that one of the best birds I've had was -- SHOCKINGLY! -- a CostCo rotisserie chicken, fresh and hot, that set me back a whole $5.

[ScorchedPalate]

We had dinner at Zuni for the first time earlier this month -- a long standing joke in our house, as we've lived in SF, off and on, for nigh on 15 years -- and we loved it. We bought a copy of the cookbook about 3 years ago when we left SF for Seattle, and have enjoyed cooking out of it regularly.

Everything we ate was good, some of it was even great, but the highlight of the evening (and this is coming from me, a non-dessert fan) was a caramel pot de creme that was sooooo super-caramelized. Cameron had a dozen oysters, I started with an amazing carrot soup that highlighted the garden-grown taste of the vegetables and made me glad I had skipped the salad I was toying with ordering. My entree has slipped my mind -- which is just as well, as I it didn't wow me -- but Cameron had an amazing fish braised in a cazuela.

Service was gracious but not quite as attentive as we might have liked, due to 2 adjacent parties of 6+ with small children. We loved the atmosphere of the balcony; we were in the front one, closest to the bar and the host stand.

In short, it was the kind of place that we could see ourselves making the effort to become regulars at, even if that meant making a reservation. It's the sort of place we'd love to just drop into casually, if such a thing were ever possible.

~A

[mharpo]

Zuni hasn't survived for more than 20 years by having mediocre food, though there are restaurants that have... And, like most restaurants, not everything will be perfect every night. Zuni is a SF institution and offers a unigue dining experience that not everyone will think is wonderful. I do.

I started going there in the early 80's when they occupied a much smaller space in the same location. I hope they are around for 20 more.

[Tengrain]

I have never had a bad meal at Zuni, but I have had bad service... once, and I think it had more to do with the table being at the top of the stairs. You felt like you were on a runway.

All the comments about the oysters and chicken are true: it is that good. You can follow the recipe from the cook book, and it works very well. During the summer, I cook the chicken on the grill (indirect heat) and it is nearly as good as at the restaraunt. But you have to follow all the instructions, especially seasoning the bird at least a day in advance. I generally season three days ahead.

[Catherine Nash]

I don't have anything new to add except a vote in Zuni's favor. I've been going regularly (well, not once a week or anything...) for about five years. The food, the wine, AND the service in our case -- each and every time -- has been excellent. There might have been one slow night, but that's it. The servers have always made excellent recommendations (food and wine) and been really cool. One even tracked us down afterwards at The Mint (don't ask...) to give us our credit card and receipt which we'd left behind.

But it does sound like enough folks have had so-so experiences, which really saddens me. It's a place I love and wouldn't hesitate to recommend to anyone.

[Pontormo]

This is a very LOOONG forum, but I am jumping in to respond to the member who asked if anyone has tried following the roast chicken recipe in the Zuni Cafe COOKBOOK. YES, I have, twice. The first time I made it, together with the bread salad, I could not believe how incredible it was. Really. The second time was equally successful, although there is nothing like the magic of trying something with an extraordinary reputation for the very first time and having it actually live up to that reputation. Do try it when you have the time and follow instructions religiously...that's the trick. Buying a small organic chicken is crucial (not Bell & Evans/Whole Foods, but a real organic chicken no more than 3 lbs. in weight). Brining for a long time also makes a difference. The book is worth the investment for this recipe alone, though I have to say the introduction moves me. The fastidious, detailed instructions in all parts of the book treat the reader as a serious student. Nothing's patronizing. You learn much about the perfectionism and discipline of professionals in the recipes that are accompanied by stage-photographs. I swear by the recipe for ricotta gnocchi, preferring to omit the lemon zest. I now use the book's chicken stock recipe instead of one I've used for years, though I do make a few changes (chicken legs and 1 pack of wings vs. a whole chicken with breast removed). The uses for day(s)-old bread--as one earlier posting suggests--are great and useful: adapting Italian traditions and teaching improvisation. It's always a pleasure to see creative notes in simple, nourishing dishes and new combinations of ingredients. Rodgers is a bit more fond of sage than I, but she explains the source of that love in her introduction. The one recipe I did not enjoy making is one for fritti misti simply because the result was too, too rich; I did try it though simply because I've had fried sage leaves as an accompaniment to a veal chop in Florence and loved them.

[ludja]

Thanks for the great post Pontormo re: making the roasted Zuni chicken at home; it's on my list to do. Here is another thread in which people have shared some of their experiences cooking from the book: click

I just ate at Zuni about a week ago with some friends. My roasted sand dab entree with fingerling potatoes was excellent. The sauce was buttery with some wine/vinegar and capers added in. For an app I had the daily fritto misto which was squid that day. Finished up with the refreshing expresso granita parfait. Service was a little slow, but attentive overall during our leisurely meal. As usual, we had a great time.

[highflyingbird]

Thanks for the great post Pontormo re: making the roasted Zuni chicken at home; it's on my list to do.  Here is another thread in which people have shared some of their experiences cooking from the book: click

I just ate at Zuni about a week ago with some friends.  My roasted sand dab entree with fingerling potatoes was excellent.  The sauce was buttery with some wine/vinegar and capers added in.  For an app I had the daily fritto misto which was squid that day.  Finished up with the refreshing expresso granita parfait.  Service was a little slow, but attentive overall during our leisurely meal.  As usual, we had a great time.

←

I know what you're saying about the espresso granita. It is excellent.

Like a lot of the previous posts, the experience there is always a little bit of a crap shoot.

Indifferent service, especially the bartenders, who I find the worst in the city...or anywhere else for that matter.

I stopped going there for a long time, because I found it so frustrating. Between the uneveness of the food, and the lame service (not to mention the awful wine glasses - they are almost crooked!). but came back with some clients from out of town who wanted to go and had a pretty good time.

The oysters are better there than anywhere. The chicken is great, (but after getting the book, I make it better at home - way more crispy.) The bloody mary is fab, as are the fries.

It is weird - they have this hallowed reputation, but it is still hit or really miss. The burger is a disaster - on focaccia? It immediately falls apart. It is great meat, but not on the right bread.

I hope they get some better glasses to go with their stellar wine list!

There is a nice article in today's SF Chronicle on their prep cooks, who have been there for years.

[ludja]

We were lucky to attend a special dinner party at Zuni Café last Thursday in honor of the release of Paula Wolfert’s new edition of The Cooking of Southwest France). It was indeed a wonderful evening that I will remember for a long time. But then, the combination of Zuni Café, Judy Rodgers and Paula's dishes is an unbeatable combination.

The menu was as follows (dishes in italics are from Paula's newly updated release of The Cooking of Southwest France):

House-cured anchovies with celery, Parmesan and niçoise olives

La Tapina's sardine and potato cake

Duck liver flan with caramel vinegar sauce

Rymee's house-made air-dried beef with green beans and crème fraîche

Zuni Caesar Salad

Salade aux géssiers de canard: confit of duck gizzards with a salad of mixed chicories

Gudelia's mesclun salad with garlic croutons and Banyuls vinaigrette

Bowl of polenta with mascarpone or Parmesan

Potato-celery root soup with fried leeks and capers

Moules paysannes: steamed mussels with ham, shallots and garlic

Fettucine with guinea hen-dried porcini sugo

Grilled white sea bass with romesco sauce, leeks and pickled "sea beans"

Poulet a la Basquaise: sauté of chicken with peppers, ham and tomatoes with "armottes"

Chicken for two roasted in the brick oven; warm bread salad with scallions, currants and pine nuts [Zuni's famous signature dish]

Compôte de lapin aux pruneaux: Lucien Vanel's compôte of rabbit with prunes

Grilled house-cured pork chop with quince-apple compôte and watercress salad

I brought three friends to dinner and between us we tasted all of the cookbook dishes offered except for the Moules paysannes and the Poulet a la Basquaise.

The Compote de Lapin aux Pruneaux was excellent. The rabbit ‘compote’ is actually a rillettes-type of preparation in which the cooked rabbit is shredded and then enrobed in mixture of the reduced cooking liquid, cream and thinly sliced sorrel. The prunes were an almost voluptuous accompaniment to the tender rabbit. Buttered, brioche toasts added a nicely contrasting crunch in texture and the frisee provided a bitter counterpoint in flavor. Two of us ordered the rabbit; another had the grilled sea bass with romesco sauce, leeks and sea beans and another, the grilled pork chop with quince apple compote and watercress. We also got an order of Zuni's wonderful shoestring potatoes which were served with a side of aioli that we inquired about and which was not listed on the menu. Although I haven't cooked rabbit before I am officially inspired to make this dish. In fact, I had only eaten rabbit once before at another restaurant in SF and in that case, it was not a good experience. With the main courses we had a very agreeable red Burgundy, but unfortunately the name escapes me.

The Zuni grilled sea bass with romesco sauce, leeks and sea beans was also excellent and a very successful combination. I’ve been intrigued by sea beans ever since learning about them in Judy Rodger’s excellent “Zuni Cookbook” and they do indeed have a very pleasant flavor of the sea and an enjoyable crunchy texture when lightly pickled.

We loved all the “Wolfert” appetizers which we shared between us. First though, we perused Zuni’s extensive oyster list and settled on a plate of exquisite Miyagi and Hama Hama oysters from Washington. I’ve enjoyed Miyagis for a long time but the Hama Hamas are now definitely added into my oyster list rotation. They are smallish, plump oysters with a wonderful hint of cucumber. I’d be hard pressed to choose a favorite between the sardine potato cakes, duck liver flan with caramel vinegar sauce or the chicory salad with confit of duck gizzards… The sardines were so fresh and were excellent with the simply spiced, buttery potatoes. The duck liver flan had a smooth quivering texture and a delicate flavor reminiscent of fois gras; the sauce was a perfect complement. I’ll also be trying to rustle up some duck fat soon in order to make the duck gizzard confit at home to recreate the salad. I brought a bottle of 2003 Storrs Monterey Riverview Vineyard White Riesling. Our waiter thoughtfully chilled the wine in an ice bucket for us. It is a dry Riesling with the famous hint of petrol in the nose and also has a slight sweetness which worked very well with the full flavored duck and sardine appetizers.

Here were the two desserts from the cookbook:

Marie-Claude’s Chocolate Cake with Fleur de Sel

Gauteau Basque filled with Pastry Cream

Rodgers served the Gateau Basque with a warm compote of black cherries on the side which was a happy combination. In her book, Paula calls this variation (with the preserves served in the cake) Bayonne Cake. In addition, this was the nicest Gateau Basque I have had with a tender crumb, delicately flavored pastry cream and a top crust with the perfect amount of crunch. I'm also eager to try this recipe. Somehow I missed tasting the chocolate cake but I can report on appreciative murmurs heard from the other side of the table. We were pleasantly surprised when our waiter also brought us a complimentary dish of Zuni’s strawberry balsamic vinegar sorbet to share. The sorbet had a truly suave texture and intense strawberry flavor. The regular house coffee was excellent!

We had a merry time speaking with Paula and also got to meet Judy Rodgers at the end of the evening. Squeat Mungry, Hest88 and Carolyn Tillie came up to visit us as well before they left. We were seated upstairs in the mezzanine overlooking the bar which is one of my favorite places in the restaurant. At night you have an 180 degree view through the upper glassed windows of the restaurant to the lights and bustle of Market Street outside. (Other favorite area is downstairs near the wood burning oven with glimpses of the kitchen behind). Paula was up in our area quite a bit, behind our table, cycling between the upstairs and downstairs, visiting friends and guests and signing books. It was quite a sociable affair with great food. We really enjoyed our evening and I can’t wait to start cooking out of the new edition! Also, I surely wouldn't be sad if some of these dishes showed on Zuni's menu from time ot time...

Many thanks to Paula Wolfert, Judy Rodgers and all of the Zuni Café staff for a very special evening.

There is also an ongoing discussion on cooking dishes from the new “The Cooking of Southwest France” here.

Edited to add:

We had a small mishap when a guest at a neighboring table knocked over our bottle of red wine. Luckily there was only a glass of wine left in the bottle and the wine did not make it onto anyone’s clothes. However it did also break a wine glass. Our waiter was extremely helpful and handled the situation quickly and gracefully. In addition, he immediately replaced a full entrée, came back with a complimentary half bottle of the same full bottle we had ordered, and later brought us the complimentary strawberry balsamic sorbet mentioned above. The service was very good as usual, even when confronted with this glitch and on this extra busy evening.

Having just re-skimmed some of the previous posts, I must say that in the two dozen or so times I've eaten there in the last 10 years we've received very good service. There may have been one or two visits where our waiter was slow or on the inattentive side, but that has really been the exception.

Edited October 15, 2005 by ludja (log)

[Steven Blaski]

We were lucky to attend a special dinner party at Zuni Café last Thursday in honor of the release of Paula Wolfert’s new edition of The Cooking of Southwest France).  It was indeed a wonderful evening that I will remember for a long time. But then, the combination of Zuni Café, Judy Rodgers and Paula's dishes is an unbeatable combination.

The menu was as follows (dishes in italics are from Paula's newly updated release of The Cooking of Southwest France)....

←

Thank you for the generous report, ludja. Reading it brought back memories of many magical meals I enjoyed at Zuni with a dearly departed soulmate ...

[Hest88]

Ludja, what a great, evocative report. It was lovely seeing you, even if we didn't get much of a chance to chat!

[ludja]

Ludja, what a great, evocative report. It was lovely seeing you, even if we didn't get much of a chance to chat!

←

Thank you, Steven and Hest88.

Sorry we didn’t get to visit more, Hest88; but I’m very glad that you came upstairs before you left. Also, now I’m looking deliciously forward to trying monkfish liver after reading your cited observation in Carolyn Tillie’s definitive review of the evening linked above!

I regret that I didn’t espy another Wolfert-inspired offering on the menu described in Carolyn’s article:

Abbaye de Belloc avec Confiture de Figues Vertes aux Noix; A Pays Basque Sheep Cheese served with a green fig and walnut jam

Edited October 18, 2005 by ludja (log)

[docsconz]

I had a lovely Sunday lunch by myself at Zuni Cafe a couple of weeks ago. They had a nice table for one available when I walked in. It was fairly late, but still pretty busy.

I started with a Meyer Lemondrop that seemed to go straight to my head. It was good, but I had to have some of their delicious bread and butter to go with it.

The view from my table with lemondrop and bread.

I had just read about Olympia Oysters in the latest issue of The Art of Eating newsletter and was hoping I would come across some. Fortunately for methey were on the menu here and I leapt at the chance. They were small, but exquisite. I will continue to be on the lookout for these little beauties from Washington.

As a single diner, i couldn't go hog wild and order the chicken for two

...but I did have the pizza with mozzarella, fontina, rapini, lemon zest and pine nuts. It was beautifully done.

Although I was sorely tempted for dessert, it was already fairly late and I wanted to save some room for Ame later that eveing. I am glad i did but that is another story.

[dagordon]

I was wondering if anyone has noticed a decline lately at Zuni. Our most recent visit before tonight was about a year ago, and the chicken was as spectacular as ever. Every time we've had the chicken there it's been spectacular.

Tonight the chicken was mediocre. The skin was flabby, the white meat was dry, and it lacked that subtle smokiness that elevates the chicken into the sublime.

Also, we were seated next to a large table that was excruciatingly loud. Two other tables next to us were also visibly annoyed, and we exchanged many an eye-roll with them over the course of our dinner. At one point I asked our waiter if anything could be done about the noise, and he responded that he'd talk to the manager, but that one of the people at the table (and, we're almost certain, the source of most of the noise) was one of the owners.

A Google search reveals that there's a relatively new owner, Gilbert something. People kept on referring to the ringleader of the table as Gilbert so this must be the guy. He was intolerable. It's wasn't even the volume of his conversation -- it was the singing, and the sound effects (at times he sounded like the retarded white half-brother of a member of Ladysmth Black Mambazo).

We moved to a different table when the chicken arrived. FWIW, our waiter was extremely apologetic.

We couldn't help but wonder if the new managment has had an effect on the food... Needless to say we won't be going back any time soon.

Edited July 26, 2008 by dagordon (log)

[Carolyn Tillie]

How timely. I was there on Wednesday and specifically ordered the chicken which completely underwhelmed me. There is a full report with pictures over here.

I don't think I'll bother returning anytime soon - especially when the chicken is running $50. Just not worth it in my opinion and $50 can get you a whole lot of better food elsewhere (like Aziza).