San Francisco's Campton Place

[Absonot]

Anyone eaten there recently?

I've been reading excellent stuff about Chef Daniel Humm, but I checked the area newspaper and magazine websites, and there are no recent reviews of the restaurant itself. This would be for a very special occasion, so I'm a bit wary. Anyone have an experience to share?

thanks

[Squeat Mungry]

Absonot,

I haven't been to Campton Place since Humm took the helm, but I could swear Josh Sens reviewed it in what must be the August issue of San Francisco magazine. (I can't confirm it, because that is the one issue since February that I haven't been able to find in a very frustrating hour-long search of my apartment, but I know I read it very recently. Perhaps you could find it at the library, or it might still be at newsstands.)

Anyway, I found a very truncated version of the review at the magazine's website, here.

In the (much more informative) print edition, he returns in the end to the classmate reunion metaphor, and concludes something to the effect that after the reunion, the feeling is one of realizing that you won't really miss them, after all. In other words, he's not very enthusiastic.

(If anyone has a copy of this issue, I'd really appreciate a confirmation so I know I'm not losing my mind.)

Cheers,

Squeat

Edit: newstands

Edited July 15, 2004 by Squeat Mungry (log)

[Absonot]

thanks for the effort! If I decide to go I will include my own personal review here.

[Maison Rustique]

Oops! Sorry wrong thread.

Edited July 15, 2004 by Maison Rustique (log)

[Squeat Mungry]

I haven't been to Campton Place since Humm took the helm, but I could swear Josh Sens reviewed it in what must be the August issue of San Francisco magazine. (I can't confirm it, because that is the one issue since February that I haven't been able to find.)

Okay, correction:

The reason I was unable to find the August Issue of San Francisco magazine was that I hadn't received it yet! It arrived in today's mail and, even though it is the annual food issue, no review of Campton Place. So Sens' review must have appeared prior to February. There: no help whatsoever. Apologies all around for the misinformation. Carry on.

I'll have a few choice words for my crack dealer next time I see him!

Squeat

[Hest88]

I wasn't sure if my experience is relevant, since I went for lunch over a year ago and don't remember much. For what it's worth, I found the food lovely (I had a lobster salad, but I can't remember what else; my aunt had something pork-related and a regular salad. I also can't remember the desserts) but the portions, even with the amuse, quite skimpy. I don't know whether it was just because it was lunch or whether it was simply due to our poor entree choices. I had taken my aunt to Hawthorn Lane a few weeks prior for lunch and we were quite stuffed at the end of it. My other experiences with this tier of restaurant has always been for dinner, so again I was unsure if my dinner experience would have been different.

When I mentioned to a friend of mine that I had gone away hungry, she rolled her eyes and said it was the same at breakfast.

[melkor]

So I got home from dinner at Camton Place an hour ago. I sat down at my computer and wrote about each of the dishes, about the service ups and downs, and about my overall impression of the place. After reading what I wrote I realized the meal I had just had couldn’t possibly be what happens at the restaurant everyday. So I’ll write up the experience that I hope was an anomaly. I intend to email the chef both a link to this thread and some further comments about the meal. Anyway, here’s the story.

I went to Campton Place tonight with Pim, it turned out to be a huge let down for both of us. First impressions were good - the room itself is quite nice, cleanly decorated with a beautiful glass sculpture in the center of the room. The restaurant was about half full when we arrived, about eight of the 18 or so tables were filled. This being a Monday night it’s no surprise that we were able to get a table on an hours notice.

We started the meal with glasses of Billecart Salmon Brut Rose, served by the glass from a pre-opened bottle. Corked. Badly. This is a wine I’ve had dozens of times – assuming I had no wine experience at all it would be obvious this bottle was flawed, no wine should smell like a hot tub and taste like cardboard. I informed our waiter who handled the situation perfectly, removing our glasses and offering replacements from a different bottle. The replacement glasses were a vast improvement.

We both ordered the 10 course tasting menu, when I informed the waiter that I don’t eat pork he said he’d check with the sous-chef to make sure they could accommodate the required substitution. He returned to inquire if I liked lamb and foie gras. Chef isn’t in the kitchen, that’s a bad sign – but lamb and foie as a sub for porky the pig? Lets go. Pim ordered the wine pairings with her meal; I just had my glass of pink champagne for the first few courses and water with the rest since I had to trek home after dinner.

I’d write about each dish, but it really isn’t justified to do so. I’d be perfectly willing to write off the restaurant entirely if all the food was awful. The meal itself was a complete mess, but the staff we could see was working hard. They were all very professional and quite friendly. The quality of the dishes was all over the map. The pacing of the meal was awful – I’ve spent seven hours eating at Manresa and it felt like a shorter meal than the three and a half hours we spent at CP. Runners brought food out of the kitchen only to return it to the kitchen after a confused looking pause in the middle of the dining room. The staff is unaware of the origin of basic ingredients in the dishes they are serving – should you be curious about the source of the insipid grey shreds of “black truffle” you may discover as we did that after our waiter make a quick trip to the kitchen that the least inspiring truffles either of us have ever seen apparently come from Perigord in France.

The whole experience would have been easy enough to just consider it a dumb idea to eat at Campton Place, but between disasters the kitchen managed to send out some spectacular dishes. Parsnip soup with crisp sweetbreads was intensely flavorful and delicious. Mille-feullete of foie gras and apples was a brilliantly balanced dish with crisp sweet slices of apples between slices of perfectly seared foie gras served with a thyme sprig used as a skewer holding the dish together. Had the lamb and foie gras dish not included a pistachio crust on the lamb it would have been a perfect dish. The pistachios were rancid which made it difficult to enjoy the beautiful medium-rare lamb chop, though the seared foie gras was excellent in this dish as well.

Should you decide to follow the advice offered in a thread like this or this which suggests that you should inform the staff when you are having a less than great meal you might have the pleasure of being informed by a visibly irritated waitress that different people have different tastes. That clearly would explain why several dishes were served cold, some sauces on the plates had formed skins they had been sitting so long, and the pistachio crust on the lamb was made with rancid pistachios. Perhaps some people would find those things far more enjoyable than either of us did. By far the most absurd part of the whole interaction was the woman I was talking to decided for some reason it’d be a good idea to ask me where I worked. I said “huh?”. She asked if I worked in the industry. I informed her that I didn’t and she rolled her eyes, perhaps I she could be reminded that customers like us keep places like Campton in business. So much for useful feedback.

The thing that makes it so difficult to explain what happened during our meal is that the restaurant was never more than half full. If they were short staffed and all the seats were filled, sure I could see how service could slip. That wasn’t at all the case tonight. In addition to the Chef being out of the kitchen I can only hope that the floor manager was off tonight as well.

I need to return on a night the Chef is in the kitchen. There is every possibility that this restaurant can turn out an excellent meal - though hopefully with different truffles or no truffles at all. I suspect given how much energy the FOH staff showed during the meal they are quite capable of doing a top-notch job as well. It's just a shame that this meal turned out the way it did.

[jeffj]

Melkor, thanks for that detailed write up. I had been considering visiting Campton Place for a dinner in the near future but your report has saved me the agony and infuiation that I'm sure I would have felt. The way the staff handled your feedback really knocks this restaurant off my radar.

[ludja]

Melkor, thanks for that detailed write up.  I had been considering visiting Campton Place for a dinner in the near future but your report has saved me the agony and infuiation that I'm sure I would have felt.  The way the staff handled your feedback really knocks this restaurant off my radar.

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Likewise; thanks for the detailed post melkor. I think it is the first one on egullet since the new chef took over?

As you mention there seems to be potential there as evidenced by some of the good dishes you had. But the "flops" are pretty bad, rancid nuts on the lamb!!

Also, very unprofessional for the waiter to take offense at specific problems with the meal being pointed out. You are actually doing them a big favor as many would not say anything, never come back and trash the place to their friends. If a place has many redeeming qualities about it, I don't feel bad in pointing things out that seem relevant to the ambitions/price of the restaurant. (It does depend with whom I'm dining though). I'll usually preface it with, "I'm only pointing this out because <insert offending item here> is so out of place in the midst of the rest of the good food, service, etc. Most times, the information is taken in the spirit it is given and I have had no problems.

If you do hear back from the chef or restaurant it would be interesting to hear what they say...

Also, I look forward to anyone elses posts' here--but for now, I'll probably have to wait on the sideline before going to Campton Place. (too many other high end places on my list to try).

[melkor]

I have emailed both the Chef and the F&B manager at Campton Place. The Chef is apparently on vacation until February 8th. It is my hope that at least some of the issues we experienced on Monday are addressed before his return.

Jeffj - the only part of the meal that is inexcusable is the way the staff handled our feedback. We did wonder at several points during the meal if the kitchen was staffed by one guy who was horribly in the weeds at the time. There are few other explanations that would make sense for the way the meal flowed.

Ludja - Campton Place is really not that expensive, the menu is roughly the same price as Gary Danko and the wine list vastly more reasonably priced. Campton Place absolutely has the potential to be far better than Danko, they just have more than their fare share of kinks to work out first.

Assuming the restaurant addresses the service issues and the kitchen can successfully get more than one plate out to a table at the proper temperature then I would urge everyone to give the place a try. Unfortunately that isn’t the case at the moment. On the bright side the foie gras, the lamb, the soups, the chocolate and caramel dessert were all top notch. If only the rest of the dishes could measure up.

[MaxH]

Melkor, sorry to hear about the disappointing experience.

I hope that you'll have a chance to visit again. (I don't know the place, I was last there in the Brad Ogden days or thereabouts -- 18 or 20 years ago). The following is probably unnecessary and not defending C. P., but of course all restaurants have off days, even way off. I remember posting notes on a promising Santa Clara County restaurant (Chez TJ) on an Internet food forum in 1991, noting that I had only eaten there twice, so did not assume that I had the measure of the place. (As it turned out, that restaurant did prove consistent and positive.) Matt Kramer in Portland used to visit each restaurant three times (incognito) before commenting publicly; Mimi Sheraton, later in NYC, five times.

Over the years I've seen small and large problems in restaurants in a great many different locations in the US and elsewhere. I thought only three experiences (about 0.1%) were bad enough to really drive someone away for good. (All three by the way were in the SF Bay Area, and all were very bad faux-pas by management personnel who had evident professional weaknesses.) (Batting .999 is not all that bad, as things in life go.) -- Max

[ludja]

...

Ludja - Campton Place is really not that expensive, the menu is roughly the same price as Gary Danko and the wine list vastly more reasonably priced.  Campton Place absolutely has the potential to be far better than Danko, they just have more than their fare share of kinks to work out first.

Assuming the restaurant addresses the service issues and the kitchen can successfully get more than one plate out to a table at the proper temperature then I would urge everyone to give the place a try.   Unfortunately that isn’t the case at the moment.  On the bright side the foie gras, the lamb, the soups, the chocolate and caramel dessert were all top notch.  If only the rest of the dishes could measure up.

←

Thanks for the added information; nice about the price and wine list. And I really enjoyed the one time I was at Gary Danko, so maybe a visit to C.P. is warranted sooner rather than later.

Edited January 27, 2005 by ludja (log)

[crosparantoux]

A couple of months ago, I posted a rave about Campton Place on another thread—answering someone who wanted high end dining in SF. I have eaten Daniel Humm’s food twice in the past three months and have rarely been disappointed.

I’m not surprised to hear about your bad meal, however, Melkor. I’ve tried all four of the chefs that preceded Humm at CP and I’ve noticed that though they have all been great, they seem work on a highwire, dependent on the support of what seems to be a basic hotel crew that may not be as motivated as an FL or Ducasse crew (who, justifiably, may be religious fanatics for their chefs). Do you think it’s possible you drew the B-crew when you dined on a Sunday night? This would not be excusable in an FL or Ducasse, or any pricey restaurant, but unfortunately, CP is the small dining room of a hotel, serving breakfast lunch dinner and room service 365 days a year. I suspect that Humm and chefs before him are hampered by the arrangement.

In my two dinners at Humm/CP, the amuses (plenty of them) were sparkling clear: if three different seafoods were put into a shot glass in three different textures, they danced perfectly together, wrapping around one another to deliver a complex, focused, and innovative taste—which is the true and often forgotten purpose of an amuse.

I assume that Humm was on board when I dined. But as an experienced diner, with past kitchen experience, I took protective measures, as I usually do when I dine high. I dine on week days, when the kitchen’s purveyors are in full work mode. I also assume that on a Thursday, for example, the A-team is working, and since the audience isn’t a crowd of one-time weekenders, the cooks may take a little more pride in their food. A crazy assumption, but hey, I haven’t been proven wrong yet…

The champagne: As you settle into your table, CP rolls out a cart of ice with 4 bottles of champagne to choose from. 3 are open, 1 is not. The diningroom is near empty or half full. Thus, I don’t know how long those sparklers were open: I ask them to open the new bottle. (By chance, on two occasions it’s been the Billecart-Salmon rose, which, I agree, is spectacular). Now, this doesn’t reduce the chance that the bottle may be corked, but when it is opened right before us, the wine steward and I will be able to spot and agree upon flaws. Wine service, by the way, has always been correct. I couldn’t spot a Spielgau Reisling glass, but different and appropriate glasses have matched my shifts from white Burgundy to Bordeaux to sticky.

Ordering: I’ve only ordered the 4 course choices at Humm/CP, insisting on hot dishes, which I know will be cooked to order. A cold terrine-type dish was delivered once because I misread the menu description: minced rabbit and a parsley gel in a ying-yang design. It was disappointing. It probably sat in the fridge for a day until I ordered it. Fish has always been gently cooked. Lobster and scallops melted. A boullabaise-inspired sauce was translucent and scratched the back of my throat with all its wonderful, deep shellfish reduction. Plating is beautiful, with each element applied in a proportion that allows its flavor to be fully appreciated. (If there is a red dot, it is an intense, accenting flavor, clearly defined and not mere color). The parsnip soup I think, sums up Humm’s skill. This sounds so simple, but it’s really stunning. What gets me is how the submerged little croutons of sweetbreads can remain crisp as they sit in the bowl while I sip and moan; it means the soup was constructed and served immediately, with those sweetbreads leaving the sizzling pan for my bowl at just the precise moment.

Service: I’ve dined off and on at CP for 20 or more years and the service has always been flawless and friendly. I dine alone, I don’t look like your typical establishment-type, and I have fun—maybe that’s why CP’s staff has always surprised me with special care. I would never dare to imagine, however, that they consider me a VIP. Campton Place is a world class little hotel, with a discriminating and international clientele. I am really shocked at the poor treatment you received. I’m sure CP management will respond quickly to your complaints.

Try Daniel Humm again, when he returns. Melkor and Pim sensed something special despite all the mishaps. Maybe all the trash will be brushed away and you will find a genuine, fresh truffle of a restaurant.

Edited January 27, 2005 by crosparantoux (log)

[eje]

According to this week's Inside Scoop, Daniel Humm will be leaving Campton Place at the end of this year.

He has been "lured" by Danny Meyer to chef at New York's Eleven Madison Park.

[RB2]

The new chef at Campton Place is Peter Rudolph who was the chef of Navio at The Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay.

I had 2 awesome meals at Navio, so when he gets settled in there I expect he could be hot in SF, can't wait to check out the new food. If anyone has been, let us know how it is and what's going on ?!?!

Edited January 12, 2006 by RB2 (log)

[eje]

A not very positive Dining update for Campton Place in today's 96 hours.

Campton Place, Michael Bauer

It's clear from the start that Rudolph, like Humm, takes chances. We knew we were in for a wild ride when the first amuse arrived: a white chocolate wafer topped with a dollop of caviar, hiding cubes of raw tuna and a dashi gelee. If you're wondering how those flavors could possibly come together, so were we -- even after trying them. The cloying white chocolate coated the mouth and made everything else taste musty.

Edited July 7, 2006 by eje (log)

[Stu-i-moto]

A not very positive Dining update for Campton Place in today's 96 hours.

Campton Place, Michael Bauer

It's clear from the start that Rudolph, like Humm, takes chances. We knew we were in for a wild ride when the first amuse arrived: a white chocolate wafer topped with a dollop of caviar, hiding cubes of raw tuna and a dashi gelee. If you're wondering how those flavors could possibly come together, so were we -- even after trying them. The cloying white chocolate coated the mouth and made everything else taste musty.

←

Ouch...I've never seen such a bad review of a top restaurant from MB...