[SF] Acquerello

[Jason Perlow]

I had dinner at Acquerello on Tuesday evening with Melkor and his lovely fiancee. Needless to say melkor, snarky evil beast that he is, should consider himself lucky. But I digress.

MsMelkor ended up either picking or getting all the best dishes for the evening. Overall, only about 1/3 of the dishes we liked, the others were pretty substandard for such an expensive place.

Parmesan "Pudino". Sort of like a loose free-form quiche or a savory pudding. We liked this one a lot.

This is a chilled potato (watercress?) soup with caviar, similar to a vichysoisse. Refreshing, well liked.

This is a raw fish carpaccio with cherry tomatoes. It was okay.

A mushroom risotto that we felt was underdone, and the mushroom base itself was lacking in flavor.

Fresh asparagus tortellinis that were a bit underdone as well. The filling was sort of underwhelming but the actual sauce was very good.

I forgot what these were called but they were essentially spinach ravioli filling without the pasta, with lots of parmigiano in it. These happened to be excellent even though they look like dinosaur droppings.

Loin of lamb plus braised lamb. The loin itself was excellent but the braised part got stringy and overcooked, tasting somewhat like the Passover brisket from hell. The sauce reduction however was very nice.

Braised Veal rolled with Prosciutto. I liked this one but I am not sure about the others.

Garganelli with Duck Ragu. By far the best pasta dish, even though it looks sort of like something that came out of a Marie Callendar microwave entree box.

Peach tart. "Tastes like a hamentashen!"

Chocolate Semifreddo Martini. This one was was really good.

Coconut Panna Cotta

Almond biscotti, which everyone thought was outstanding

[ingridsf]

Well, that "dinosaur droppings" photo is a rival for the pigs' tail shot in the Nose to Tail thread. Yeah. Not whetting the old appetite.

I was semi-relieved to hear that you weren't overwhelmed by Aquerello. It's the place we always remember AFTER we've made a special-occasion plan somewhere else. And it seems even more expensive than my beloved La Folie.

As always, thank you for your selfless research service.

[melkor]

I love the space at Acquerello, the staff is very friendly and professional - I'm not at all surprised people go there for a special occasion. The food ranks more or less even with Quince, both have serve some very good dishes and some dishes that just don't work. Given how much of a pain it is to get into Quince, I'd choose Acquerello over Quince most of the time. It is entirely possible to have an outstanding meal at either restaurant if you order the right dishes. My experience at both restaurants has been that about 50% of the dishes are very good or better, certainly good enough to be worth a visit. Besides, those biscotti to end the meal are amazing.

[ingridsf]

It's about $75/food, or $100 for food/wine, so I'm going to press a bit. That's not pocket change for me.

So....

Jason said, "Overall, only about 1/3 of the dishes we liked, the others were pretty substandard for such an expensive place." Melkor said it was more like 50/50.

I'd prob not go given J.'s assessment but M. seems smitten. What to do?

[melkor]

Most everything is worth at least one visit. Acquerello is quite capable of serving a very good meal, you'd just have to pick the right menu options. I'll go back, but I'm hardly smitten with the place.

[ingridsf]

I just saw this place mentioned fondly in another thread so thought I'd give it a bump. Anybody got anything new to report about on it? (I know, I should just go myself if I'm still so curious. We'll see.)

[Carlsbad]

I hadn't seen this thread before. I'm a bit shocked to be honest, and not quite sure how to respond. Different people have different tastes, of course. I've been going to Acquerello regularly for years, usually just two of us, but occassionally with groups as large as eight. Maybe this was an off-night, or maybe it's a matter of personal taste as to how pasta and risotto should be cooked, but I can't remember ever having undercooked pasta or risotto there. The garganelli with duck ragu is frequently on the menu, and I have never noticed it looking like it came out of a Marie Callendar microwave entree box, but then I confess I've never had a Marie Callendar microwave pasta. (The pasta with foie gras glaze is outstanding, by the way, but they do cook it al dente. My wife usually insists we order it and another pasta or a risotto, and have them split them for us.) The Parmesan budino (not pudino) is usually on the menu with different accompanying vegetables and sauces that change with the seasons. I've never had anything like a "Passover brisket from hell" there. As with any restaurant, I like some things more than others. There is no mention of the wine list, which I think is excellent. Wine service and service in general are very helpful and gracious. In my opinion, Giancarlo is the consummate host.

I am a big fan of La Folie, although I haven't been there since they decor change. It's hard to compare to them since one is very French and one is very Italian. I wouldn't say one is better than the other. I think they are roughly the same price. I've always thought Acquerello was prettier, quieter and much more romantic, although maybe that's changed with the remodel. I think of La Folie as less formal, and I seem to usually eat too much there, but that's probably because the food is so good and the portions are fairly large. I've always been pleased with both places, but they are very different experiences.

[Chris Hennes]

I had dinner at Acquerello a few evenings ago came away quite pleased, though upon reflection I think that was due to the atmosphere and service more than the actual food. The service was flawless and the space itself beautiful. The formality and quietness of the restaurant stood in sharp contrast with the previous evening's meal at SPQR: Acquerello is much more spacious, more sumptuous, and overall simply more polished; with a price point to match, of course!

The first thing I learned was that they do not have a bar: there is no liquor available here, only wine. Fortunately their sommelier was very helpful in finding us a bottle to fit our tastes and budget. Not that I can remember what it was, mind you... but it was delicious. The wine list looked very extensive to my unpracticed and uninformed eye, so I simply discussed our options with the sommelier without really digging into it. I'm not sure what a real connoisseur would think (it's overwhelmingly if not entirely Italians, of course).

For dinner I started with the steak tartare (passé, I know, but I love it no less for that...). The tartare itself was delicious, but the plating made it very difficult to eat. Some sort of tuile was placed atop the tartare that was just a bit too firm to nicely shatter, instead basically just pressing the tartare into a pancake on the plate. Ill-conceived, in my opinion. Next I had the veal raviolo. They present this dish without a knife, which confused me. It did not appear to be a lapse in the service, I saw another diner receive the same course, also without a knife. At this type of dinner I certainly expected a knife, so asked for one, which was provided promptly. I thought the raviolo was decent, and the mushroom sauce atop it excellent. Next time they can hold the pasta and give me more mushrooms. For my entrée I had a lamb tenderloin wrapped in lamb sausage. It seemed like a good idea at the time... For no apparent reason they thought that roasted fennel would be a good side, but it overwhelmed the other flavors on the plate and was not particularly good to begin with. The lamb was cooked to my liking, but the plating was unattractive, and the whole protein-component was rather bland, all things considered.

For dessert we each ordered the cheese course and port (the sommelier was quite helpful here again, and his port recommendation was spot on): their cheese selection is entirely Italian, which ordinarily I would suggest means it must be awful, but in this case there were quite a few interesting options. I'd say about half the cheese tray of nine or ten cheeses were quite good, and the others forgettable, but at least not actively bad.

I think someone above suggested that at this price point the food ought to be better, and I agree with that sentiment. However, the food was not actually bad and the service and atmosphere really were top-notch. If you enjoy formal dining I suggest checking Acquerello out.