The Restaurant Gary Danko

[Stone]

Didn't the menu give an exhaustive description of the dessert, including all ingredients, their source, growing method, and credentials of the unionized labor that produced them? After all, at Gary Danko, the menu doesn't just say, "chicken."

[FoodZealot]

I was in SF over the weekend and stopped in at RGD. It was one of the best meals I've had in a long, long time. We weren't able to secure a reservation for a table, but the full menu is served at the bar. I really like the format of being able to choose your own - currently priced at 3 courses for $58, 4 for $68, and 5 for $78. I plan to go into more detail on my own website, but here are the highlights.

Amy

*Seared Foie Gras, Caramelized Red Onions, Quince and Pomegranate

Seared Ahi Tuna with Avocado, Nori, Enoki Mushrooms and Lemon Soy Dressing

Risotto with Lobster, Rock Shrimp, Winter Vegetables and Sage Oil

*Herb Crusted Loin of Lamb with Winter Vegetable Galette and Maitake Mushrooms

Caramelized Banana Cream Tart with Milk Chocolate Ice Cream

Eric

*Seared Foie Gras, Caramelized Red Onions, Quince and Pomegranate

Seared Tuna with Gigante Beans, Swiss Chard, Bacon Brioche and Beurre Rouge

*Juniper Crusted Venison with Caramelized Endive and Cranberry Compote

Cheese Course: *Roaring 40's blue cheese, Red Hawk, Petit Agour, and I think Valencay (?) + Amarone della Valpolicella, La Marega 1998

me

Foie Gras and Duck Confit Terrine with Pear Chutney and Vanilla Brioche

Seared Sea Scallops with *Cauliflower "Risotto", Edamame, Bottarga and Sage Oil

*Pan Fried Branzino Bass with Braised Fennel, Picholine Olives, Preserved Lemons and Socca

*Herb Crusted Loin of Lamb with Winter Vegetable Galette and Maitake Mushrooms + Chateau Larruau Margaux 1999

Cheese course: *Roaring 40's blue cheese, Petit Agour, Jean Gagne (sp?), Bellwether Pepato + Amarone della Valpolicella La Marega 1998

petit fours

coffee cake to go

*I've marked standout items with asterisks. The reduction sauce on the seared foie gras was rich and intense. The venison actually tasted like venison to me, rather than some vaguely gamy, non-beef meat. The lamb was gorgeous, and napped in a delicious demi-glace sauce (although the galette was tough to cut). The Roaring 40's blue was really superb - complex, rich, and a long finish.

Here's a shot of the loin of lamb.

Even though we ate at the bar, the service was friendly, professional, and unhurried. There's not much room in the bar area, and for the most part people seated at the bar are having full meals, as we were, so they politely keep bar patrons from crowding from the back, reaching over, etc. Being first-time visitors, we were not expecting, nor did we receive an amuse-bouche. The only minor misstep was that the bill presented to us was incorrect, in our favor, and we had to point it out.

I will enthusiastically go back at my next opportunity. I felt that the quality of ingredients and care/precision/flavors on the plates as well as the overall experience was well worth the price, even something of a bargain.

edit: spelling

Edited January 20, 2004 by FoodZealot (log)

[Jason Perlow]

Phenomenal meal at Gary Danko this evening with my friend Esther.

Here's some cellphone-style pictures of what we ate. Not up to my usual photographic standards but you'll get the gist of it:

Cellphone Food Porn (Gary Danko)

[IrishCream]

So it's been a while since we had a review of Danko. Over a year? Please share your experience with us.

[chromedome]

Gary Danko gave me a minor epiphany, one night during cooking school.

I was sitting up late, watching the Flash movie on his site about making the seared foie gras dish, and I began following a train of connections in my mind:

Danko says that the CIA made him a cook, but it was Madeline Kamman who taught him to be a chef.

Kamman learned to cook from a friend of her aunt's, a longtime professional.

Her aunt's friend, in turn, had learned her trade in a private chateau in the late years of the 19th century.

The chef she studied under had been Careme's last apprentice.

So, the trail went from Careme to his last apprentice, to Kamman's aunt's friend, to Kamman, to Danko, to me. Perhaps it was the lateness of the hour (and the corresponding lack of sleep), but it gave me a feeling of being connected to a great tradition; a feeling I have not been without since that night.

[robyn]

Phenomenal meal at Gary Danko this evening with my friend Esther.

Here's some cellphone-style pictures of what we ate. Not up to my usual photographic standards but you'll get the gist of it:

Cellphone Food Porn (Gary Danko)

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What's a Luna Pie? Robyn

[Jason Perlow]

The dessert was meant to resemble a "Moon Pie". A moon pie is basically a big Mallomar cookie. The Gary Danko ones of course were made with good chocolate and the marshmallow portion was home-made.

[robyn]

The dessert was meant to resemble a "Moon Pie". A moon pie is basically a big Mallomar cookie. The Gary Danko ones of course were made with good chocolate and the marshmallow portion was home-made.

←

I guess it's an amusing visual pun - but it doesn't seem like a really swell dessert (i.e., not one to die for). Was it? How about the apricot tart? Robyn

[Jason Perlow]

I really liked the apricot tart, which is the signature dessert of the restaurant. The Luna Pies didn't really do anything for me, actually. I mean, they were great executions of Mallowmars, but as a dessert concept in and of itself it just didn't turn me on I guess. I'm not really into marshmallows.

[estherschindler]

The dessert was meant to resemble a "Moon Pie". A moon pie is basically a big Mallomar cookie. The Gary Danko ones of course were made with good chocolate and the marshmallow portion was home-made.

←

I guess it's an amusing visual pun - but it doesn't seem like a really swell dessert (i.e., not one to die for). Was it? How about the apricot tart? Robyn

←

The Luna Pie was wonderful, but with a week's worth of hindsight I think it was partly the presentation. I'm not sure what the raspberry sorbet was, other than delicious -- and a great foil for the "homemade mallomars." Also, the wine served with it was a perfect match... not that I can remember what it was, anymore. Not after all those other glasses.

However, I'm still having dreams about the lobster risotto.

[Jason Perlow]

IrishCream: I'm sorry I haven't had a chance to do an adequate writeup of the restaurant -- my business schedule has been very busy, and I didn't go to Gary Danko with the intentions of doing a writeup on eG -- I went to be with friends, for the most part, and not to look at the restaurant from a critical perspective. I certainly would have been a bit more prepared if I was going to approach it from that angle -- I didn't take my good camera with me on this trip either, and had to resort to subpar documentation quality photos with my Treo.

I ordered 5 courses (with wine pairings) and Esther ordered 3 -- with the 5 courses they adjust the portion sizes accordingly so you don't get overwhelmed. Here are the appetizers and mains we ordered:

Lobster Salad with Avocado Mousse, Papaya, Mango and Madras Curry Vinaigrette

I thought the lobster meat was cooked perfectly, and the avocado and papaya paired well, but I really didn't get that much of a curry riff from it.

Risotto with Lobster, Rock Shrimp, Maitake Mushrooms, Patty Pan Squash, Marjoram Oil

Esther did really well ordering this one -- probably one of the best lobster risottos I've ever tasted. Nice sized portion as well.

Pan Seared Sea Scallops with Sweet Pea Purée, Roasted Leeks and King Trumpet Mushrooms

Nothing not to like here -- perfectly executed pan seared scallops, and the sweet pea puree was a good pairing -- the leeks and trumpet mushrooms took sort of a back seat, however.

Pan Seared Beef Filet with Wild Nettle Risotto, Asparagus, and Morel Mushrooms

The beef filet was perfectly medium rare, although I don't seem to recall the wild nettles -- the spears of the asparagus were placed under the filet (and they were alternating spears of white and green asparagus) and the morels were in a light cream sauce on the top of the filet. The asparagus was also surrounded by a reduction of some sort, which I thought was a nice touch.

Pan Seared Duck Breast with Cherries

The dish isn't mentioned on the menu on the website, so I don't remember the exact presentation -- Esther ordered this one and she seemed to really like it.

Cheese Course

I decided to opt for the cheese course, and I am glad I did -- Danko has a nice selection of stuff and the waitstaff is very knowledgeable about what they have. One of the cheeses I had was a very nice Bleudavergne, but after 5 glasses of wine everything else that evening was bit hazy, so I forgot what else I picked.

Desserts

As I said earlier, I thought the Tart was the stronger dessert than the Luna Pies.

Overall, I was very impressed with the quality of service and I really liked the food overall. The space is gorgeous, and extremely inviting to eat in.

[ChristyMarie]

Thank you for that detailed recap. Everything looks wonderful and I think I'm going to make reservations for when we are there in September.

[a geek]

I just dined at Danko on Saturday- excellent meal. I wouldn't say the food was particularly adventureous but it was executed extremely well. The Moroccan Squab was particularly well prepared.

The cheese cart was fully American for July 4th which was a bit of a disappointment- the selections were good but I missed having some old world raw milk cheese on the cart, as I think some of the selections were a bit of a stretch so that a full range of cheese could be offered.

Four of us walked in without reservations at a peak hour and had little trouble getting bar seating. The bartenders were exceptionally helpful to several other folks that night with bar seating for dinner (let them know which positions would be seated soon, etc.).

[ProfessionalHobbit]

I apologize in advance for the quality of some of these photos.

 

We arrived early, and they didn't seat us until 50 minutes later, 20 minutes past our reservation time. When I asked what was taking so long, I was told "Well, you arrived early." That's not the point -- we had a reservation time of 9 pm and it's now 9:20 -- does everyone who comes here get seated this late? Edited to add that my hubby mentioned something they did not do which should have been done, and that was that the maître d'hôtel should have come over to us while we were sitting at the bar and apologized and/or informed us that it would be a while before our table was ready -- that I should *not* have had to go over to him by myself to inquire about our table's status.  Strike #1.

 

Strike #2 was that it took nearly 5 minutes *after* being seated before we received the menus, and when they brought us the menus, they also brought us the first amuse-bouche. It felt like a weird combination of: (1) we're being rushed and (2) we're being punished.

 

 

"Thai soup" -- while it reminded me of tom kha gai and hit all the right flavor notes, I was asking myself why are we eating pseudo-Thai food in this restaurant?

 

 

 

Buckwheat blini, salmon, osetra caviar.

Well-made blini -- perfect, actually. Like butter-flavored clouds.

 

 

 

Seared foie gras, caramelized onion, poached rhubarb.

Plating doesn't inspire confidence, a theme you will see repeatedly throughout. Was prepared well though from what little I tasted.

 

 

 

Figs, arugula, fennel, Gorgonzola cheese.

Average salad, nothing special.

 

 

Seared scallops, morels, English peas, Madeira.

Excellent, from the bite or two I stole off of my hubby's plate.

 

 

Lamb loin with farroto, Medjool dates, carrots and chermoula.

The lamb was well-cooked. The plating sucked, the sauce was oversalted (basically, if you can taste it, it's too much), and the accompaniments slapdash.

 

WTF is it with all the square plates?  

 

 

Cheese cart.

 

 

Sauternes.

 

 

Louisiana butter cake, peaches, huckleberry compote, vanilla ice cream.

Amateurish plating. Cake itself was "fine". Maybe I ordered wrong.

 

 

Flourless chocolate birthday cake.

 

 

Mignardises.

 

 

Total bill came out to $294 (with a 20% tip).  

 

Based on this initial visit, I found GD underwhelming.  It validates my theory that San Francisco is a city of mostly mediocre restaurants.  Better luck next time at the restaurant roulette wheel?

Edited June 22, 2016 by ProfessionalHobbit (log)

[TicTac]

I recall when we dined there 5 years ago, we too were not impressed.

 

Case in point, look at those scallops, totally inconsistent sear, and not even much of it at that!

 

I recall we had a fantastic meal at Koi and a few sushi spots as well.

 

 

[gfweb]

I'm similarly not impressed with the scallops. Either have no sear at all (not my choice) or sear it nicely.