Ame at the St. Regis Hotel

[a geek]

Ame provided a unique and delicious experience this weekend. First, the food:

Starters:

“Tuna Five” - Tataki, Zuke, Tartare, Bottarga and Mojama - 18.50

Outside of Hawaii, I have not located tuna of the caliber served at Ame. Five small preparations were provided - seared, dried over egg, tartare, sashimi-style, and another dried preparation over garbanzos. First, let me tackle the sashimi style - it reminded me of the tuna I've only seen at Mama's Fish House in Maui in the Ahi Sashimi appetizer. It glowed an intense red and was bursting with moisture. If I could eat only one food in life for the rest of my life, this would be it. Second, the two dried preparations were new to me but very good with concentrated tuna flavors- one was truly dry while another was almost gelatinous. The tartare was, like the sashimi, out of this world with a pronounced sesame taste.

Salad of Heirloom Beets and Epic Root Farm Mache with Goat Cheese Ranch Dressing - 13.50

What can I say here- I'll need to work on my wife a bit. First she ordered this but secondly she asked for the beets to be excluded. Loved the goat cheese.

Mains:

Broiled Sake Marinated Alaskan Black Cod and Shrimp Dumplings in Shiso Broth - 29.50

A perfect crisp was formed on the perfect piece of cod. This provided great contrast with the texture of the shrimp dumplings and stood up well to the shiso broth. This dish is how I picture Japanese comfort food, almost. The dish was so light you felt healthier for eating it.

Matelote of Eel and Grilled Sonoma Foie Gras On Matsutake Mushroom Risotto - 34

On the other end of the spectrum was my main. The dish was layered with creamy and well prepared risotto (which had a different mushroom on the night I went) first, grilled eel next, and a generous cut of foie to complete on top. Each bite was pure luxury as you can imagine given the ingredients. The sharp and strong taste of the two meats was countered well by the risotto.

Dessert:

Frozen Yogurt Soufflé with Mango Sauce and Black Sesame Florentine - 9.50

Honestly not too excited about this one - it consisted of a flattened scoop of frozen yogurt, a crispy sesame/sugar combo, and a nice mango sauce. Nothing wrong with it but nowhere near the caliber of the rest of the meal. I have a feeling this and a basic pork chop are on the menu to provide simple options for hotel patrons who are not adventureous.

I had a great cocktail called the Hiro-tini to begin. This consisted of a cucumber-infused vodka, sake, sugar, and ginger. The wines available by the glass were almost all new to me and were well chosen for the unique tastes on the menu. A positive aspect of service here is that tastes are poured at the table for sampling in the case one would want to change a selection. Recommendations from the staff were solid.

Service all evening was excellent- everyone on staff was able to explain the composition of dishes. Requests for food and drink recommendations were well received and led to discussion rather than quick mentions of popular items.

The room is well laid out. Tables are spaced out enough that conversation at other tables is not bothersome and the room is L shaped, making the restaurant feel smaller and more personal. Dark woods and wall coverings are used with soft lighting.

I believe Ame will be seen as one of the must-try San Francisco dining experiences as the word gets out. The fusion of Californian and Japanese tastes is done extremely well.

Go as soon as you can - reservations can be made via opentable and have been going fast since the Bauer review. There is a sashimi bar in the restaurant that was largely empty despite the full restaurant the entire time I was there - I am not sure if they serve the full menu or just the heavenly tuna there.

Ame Restaurant

http://www.amerestaurant.com/home.html

689 Mission Street @ 3rd (in the St. Regis Hotel), San Francisco

415.284.4040

[CheNiPenso]

We're going with a couple friends on 2/23 -- will report back!

[CheNiPenso]

Right-o, as promised, I've posted my thoughts on Ame. I'm afraid we didn't have quite the stellar service experience you did ... not awful, just hiccupy. But on the whole a top-notch establishment.

[docsconz]

While in San Francisco for a medical conference I arranged to hook up with eGullet's Molto E to hit some of the top food establishments of the Bay Area. Molto arrived earlier on Sunday while i got in for my conference the previous Friday night. I will be reporting on my other experiences independently, but Molto and I are going to attempt something a little different here. We will be tag-teaming our restaurant reports if all goes well with this, our first. We are both oddly dedicated to photographing our culinary experiences so are pooling our photographic take to pick the best from each along with our feelings about the food.

Our first joint dining experience was Ame at the St. Regis on a Sunday night in late March. Despite that the restaurant was moderately busy.

We were excited as we approached the door and saw the sign:

and then we received the menus:

The restaurant was smartly decorated and we were quickly made to feel comfortable. Our first order was for cocktails.

Molto...

[molto e]

The cocktail list was an interesting mix of spirits and flavors that crossed cultures.

Doc ordered the Kaffir Lime Gimlet:

Hanger One Kafir Lime Vodka, Lime Juice, Sugar

I ordered the "Hiro-tini":

Vodka Infused w/ Ginger & Cucumber, Sake, Sugar

"Hiro-tini"

The drink was described as a spa treatment in a glass. This was a delicious mix and the cucumber was so subtle. I could have drank a few of these but with dinner ahead only one was ordered.

This restaurant was recommended to me by Chef Nobuo Fukuda of Sea Saw Restaurant in Phoenix. Owners Chef Hiro Sone and Wife / Partner / Pastry Chef Lissa Doumani originally met while both were working at Spago in the early 80's. They opened Terra in Napa in 1988 and have received many accolades there including Hiro winning the James Beard Award for "Best Chef of California" in 2003. We really wanted to try as many things as possible and asked if the kitchen would do a tasting for us with pairings and they set the meal up for us.

We started with Trio of Sashimi:

Kampachi Carpaccio with Mountain Caviar, Pickled Wasabi Leaves and Ponzu

Smoked Tasmania Ocean Trout “Mi Cuit” with Cucumber Salad, Chive Crème Fraiche and Salmon Pearls

Crudo of Sea Bream with Sea Grapes, Meyer Lemon and Organic Extra Virgin Leccino Olive Oil

Crudo of wild Japanese Sea Bream also known as Tai snapper

This was great and some of the best sea bream that I have had

I liked the flavor combinations with the smoked ocean trout. A little bit of a riff on smoked salmon.

Kampachi Carpaccio- this was a tasty flavor blend. Kampachi is also known as amber jack. The mountain caviar also known as tomburi is actually seeds from a fern that were supposed to have medicinal properties in ancient times.

I will post photos of our next course and then Doc will come in.

The next course was Tuna 5 Ways:

Tataki, Zuke, Tartare, Bottarga and Mojama

Two sakes were paired with our first two courses:

Kubota Hekiju and Hakkaisan

Edited April 10, 2006 by molto e (log)

[docsconz]

We had two sakes with the Trio of Sashimi and Tuna Five Ways

Kubota Hekiju

and

Hakkaisan

Both were smooth and delicious, althugh I found myself drawn to the Kubota Hekiju. I am a novice with sake, but do enjoy it and hope to learn more about it.

The Sashimis were all beautiful, delicious and interesting.

The tunas were more of the same. Here they are individually in close-up:

Tuna tataki

Bottarga

Tartare

Sashimi zuke-don

Mojama

Each of these was outstanding.

[molto e]

The Tuna 5 was a dish that we had requested be a part of our tasting. The tuna that they use is Ahi.

Tataki was flash seared with whole grain mustard vinaigrette

Bottarga served over tomago originally from Sardinia air dried tuna roe

Tartar with a ginger lemon vinaigrette

Zuke umami soy sauce with fresh wasabi

Mojama from Spain air dried prosciutto served over a red onion chick pea salad

The next course was the "Chawan Mushi"-Japanese Egg Custard

with uni, lobster, lotus root, mushroom, and okra

This was paired with Ribolla Gialla, Movia, Slovenia 2003

This was a savory custard that was one of the stand out dishes of the night.

The next course was the Monterey Calamari, Chorizo, on Grilled Asparagus and the Niman Ranch Tripe, Cuttlefish, Organic Tomato

This was paired with Grenache, Arrels, Clos Oblidat, Old Vines Garnatxa, Montsant, Spain 2003

This was my favorite plate of the night. The calamari-chorizo combo was delicious. I thought the tripe-cuttlefish was outstanding as well.

Edited April 10, 2006 by molto e (log)

[docsconz]

Another shot of the "Chawan Mushi". This was awesome.

The wine pairing for the Mushi was Ribolla Gialla, Movia, Slovenia 2003, a superb match.

Monterey Calamari, Chorizo and Grilled Asparagus It is no surprise that this prepartion felt and tasted very Spanish. I felt like I was in San Sebastien

Niman Ranch Tripe, Cuttlefish, Organic Tomato This also had a very European feel to it, although I can't decide if it is Spanish or Italian.

We had Grenache, Arrels, Clos Oblidat, Old Vines, Monsant, Spain 2003. I guess this should have confirmed the Spanish influence for me.

I was very much looking forward to the next course and it did not disappoint

Spaghettini "Crabonara" This was paired with Schramsberg Vineyards "Blanc de Blanc", Napa valley 2001.

Following this course we were served

Broiled Sake marinated Alaskan Black Cod and Shrimp Dumplings in Shiso Broth Another outstanding dish, I enjoyed it much more than the miso marinated black cod at Nobu. This was well paired with Chassagne-Montrachet Rouge, "Les Pierres", Marc Colin, Burgundy 2002.

[molto e]

The Spaghetti Crabonara was very good. Mixed with Crab miso, brown garlic, scallions, and egg.

The Cod is a signature dish from Terra and it was a perfect dish.

Doc had requested that they include the Grilled Quail on Wild Nettle and Fava Bean Risotto with Foie Gras Sauce and they included the Grilled Wagyu Beef Strip Loin with Foie Gras Tortelloni in Game Broth

The Fava bean risotto was outstanding

Edited April 10, 2006 by molto e (log)

[docsconz]

The quail may have been my favorite dish of the evening and one of my favorites from the trip. It wa beautifully presented and delicious.

Grilled "Wagyu" Beef with Foie Gras Tortelloni in Game Broth was no slouch either. The beef was tender and delicious. The tortellono provided a smooth, soft mouth feel in addition to delicious flavor. The combination plate was decadent. This combo had a distinct French cast to it as opposed to the obvious Japanes, Italian and Spanish -influenced dishes that we had been served. The Syrah, Renard, "Truchard Vineyard", NapaValley 2003, was once again well matched, although this would have been a tough one to screw up.

[molto e]

Assortment of Artisan Cheese

red hawk cow's milk cheese from cowgirl creamery served with a date almond bread

goat's milk cheese from michigan and golden raisins

Smokey blue from Oregon

[docsconz]

The cheeses were very good, but perhaps the least memorable course of the evening for me. We drank Ojai Vineyard, Late Harvest Viognier, Roll Ranch 2004 and Smith Woodhouse, Colheita Tawny Port with the cheeses. These did nothing to dampen our enthusiasm for our waitperson's pairing abilities as she was responsible for the pairings.

Of course we had to sample a few desserts.

Chocolate Caramel Tart with salted Peanut Ice Cream was good, but as with many of the desserts I encountered on my trip decidedly sweet, perhaps a little too much for my preference. Is there a coastal difference in the level of sweetness in desserts? While I enjoy sweet, I prefer greater balance with the sugar countered by sufficient acidity to dampen the sensation and add complexity.

[molto e]

Dessert

Okinawa Doughnuts with a Coffee Shake

The doughnuts are rolled in panko bread crumbs, crispy rice and corn flakes then rolled in cinnamon sugar.

Rhubard Pie with Strawberry Swirl Ice Cream

paired with Sauternes, Castelnau de Suduirant Bordeaux 2001

The Rhubarb was my favorite dessert, which is probably to Doc's surprise.

The service that we had was outstanding. We dined on a Sunday evening which is when Hiro and Lissa are at Terra so the kitchen really shined without their presence.

This was one of my meals of the year and I must make it to Terra in Napa ASAP

[docsconz]

I enjoyed the Coffee Shake very much, although doughnuts, even these, are not really "my thing". Eliot it turns out is much more of a doughnut aficionado then I.

I concur with Eliot's dessert preference, although the desserts were my least favorite aspect of the meal. Again, this was a recurring theme throughout our trip - at least for me.

I also concur that the kitchen did an awesome job without either of the principals in the kitchen and on a Sunday night to boot. This is a serious restaurant serving seriously good food.

As a parting note, we pretty much closed the place up.

[Ling]

We talked to some locals during our trip and many of them suggested we go to Ame. Unfortunately, we didn't have time, but thanks for the exceptionally beautiful pictures and the report!

[docsconz]

We talked to some locals during our trip and many of them suggested we go to Ame. Unfortunately, we didn't have time, but thanks for the exceptionally beautiful pictures and the report!

←

I know the feeling! There were plenty of restaurants we would have loved to go to but couldn't because of time and restaurant openings schedules. For example, very few of the restaurants we were interested in are open on Mondays or Sundays,, the two nights we actually had available in S.F. As a result we did not get to Quince, The Ritz or Masa's, three places that were on our short list.

Ame was that much more amazing to us that it delivered so spectacularly on a Sunday night. That neither principle was in the house was a testament to the quality of the staff and proof that a chef's vision need not suffer in his absence. I would return there in a heartbeat.

[ulterior epicure]

Nice report and pictures, as always, doc and Eliot! Thanks for all your work. I'm drooling over the Chawan Mushi!

u.e.

[little ms foodie]

great report you guys, I really enjoy when you both chime in!

[docsconz]

Nice report and pictures, as always, doc and Eliot!  Thanks for all your work.  I'm drooling over the Chawan Mushi!

u.e.

←

It was definitely drool worthy.

[docsconz]

great report you guys, I really enjoy when you both chime in!

←

Thanks, Wendy. It has been tough of late to coordinate times to finish our reports. That is the hard part about doing a tag-team approach as we tried not to duplicate photos.

[ulterior epicure]

I had a spectacular dinner at ame a week ago... I've been so busy with moving and such that I've finally gotten my photos labelled and organized. I'm having problems with the photo system on eGullet - so I'll direct you to my photos on my flickr account here.

I will give a run-down soon. Suffice it to say, I had many of the courses that doc and molto e had. Highlights included the Spaghettini "Crabonara", Lamb Osso Buco, and a few of the desserts - like the Coffee Milkshake and Meyer lemon olive oil ice cream.

u.e.

[kai-m]

It's amazing how different the impressions of a restaurant can be from person to person.

Because: we had dinner at Ame last sunday and it was the most disappointing meal of our 3-week-trip through california.

Let me start by saying that Iam always a bit reluctant when it comes to hotel-restaurants, since it mostly has a negative effect on the atmosphere, even if the restaurant is as separated from the hotel as Ame. It's just that you kind of "feel" that you are in a place that is part of a larger, "anonymus" kind of entity, as opposed to a small, intimate place where the chef is also the owner (hope you get my point despite my dodgy englisch). Apart from that I found the interiour design to dark and "cool" and impersonal. Even though the restaurant was not even half full when we arrived at 9 p.m., we were seated away from most other diners, next to a group of noisy russian businessmen. (Maybe our german accent sounded russian to the staff that seated us?!).

Front desk staff was "polite", but cool and reserved (and believe me: we do not approach people in an arrogant or unfriendly manner...nor do we look like bums). Our waiter only seemed to warm up a little and became more talkative when he realized that we were seriously into food and not just some "noveau riches" guests from the hotel...

Now some might say that this rather ambigious first impression reflected on the way we approached the food. But I can very well differentiate.

The Sonoma Valley sparkling wine we tried as an aperetif was excellent (you never get californian sparkling wine in germany...).

Since Ame does not offer a tasting menu (how silly is that, especially since they obviously do it with pleasure on request?!?) the 2 of us had four different courses each.

There was no amuse bouche (!!).

Five minutes after ordering it started with: (we didn't even have a chance to select/order wine...)

-Kampachi Carpaccio with Mountain Caviar, Pickled Wasabi Leaves and Ponzu

-Sashimi with avocado, beet root, grapefruit and olives

They dishes *looked* terrific. But let me just say that both were hopelessly overpowered by the wasabi and the (extremely flavorful) olives. You could barely taste anything else. So that was that.

After that course we were given a chance to order wine...

Then:

-Japanese Egg Custard “Chawan Mushi” with Maine Lobster, Sea Urchin and Mitsuba Sauce

This dish was very interesting at least, if not really to our taste. But okay, that is a personal gusto thing. But comparing it to the tasting menu-size of the dish which I saw on the picture above, ours was not half as well balanced: in relation to the the large size of the bowl we had far less, how shall I say this?, "to bite" in it.

-Fried soft shell crab with bean salad

Okay dish. Nothing particulary special but nothing "bad" about it either. Just mediocre. The evening before I had virtually the same thing in chinatown. But for one third of the price.

Main courses:

-Grilled Quail on Morel Mushroom and Fava Bean Risotto with a Roasted Garlic and Foie Gras Sauce

The quails (it was 2 of them) were quite good. But he risotto lacked taste and the morels and the beans were reduced to 2 or 3 each. The presentation was terrible: a large plate full of risotto with 2 quails plucked on top with no place left for the sauce, a few drops of which were splattered over the risotto here and there. (Again the dish looks way better and tastier on the tasting-menu-picture above)

-Tail of Lobster with mashed potatoes, tomato confit, coquilles st. jacques and pesto-sauce

The single standout dish of the evening! Very well prepared and delicate in taste and combination. Only the very intense pesto-sauce tended to overpower anything else. Neverthelees: very good!

Desserts:

-Coconut Panna Cotta with Passion Fruit Sauce and Tapioca Pearls

Nice, just nice and mediocre, the sauce beeing too sour, but the pearls beeing a nice idea since they added texture (though not taste). On the other hand the flower made from paper-thin greek filo-dough or something like that on top of the panna cotta was uneatable (that the word?). It was like biting into cardboard or something...

-Warm chocolate cake with caramel ice cream and cracker jacks

Again, a just nice dessert, but nothing special. I think the cake would have been much better, had it been still liquid on the inside (as is the classical way of preparing this dish) so that the thick, warm chocolate flows out a bit, once you crack the cake with your spoon. But that was not the case, unfortunately, which made the whole thing a bit dry. The cracker jacks turned out to be just that -caramelized popcorn...and they tasted only slightly better than the ones we had bought at "whole foods" a few days before, so we were not that impressed...

There were no petit fours with the coffee...

So that was our night at Ame. We had great expectations. Sorry to say that we were disappointed. The food was not "bad". Just mediocre. And given the prices, that is definitely not enough.

greetings from frankfurt

kai

(edited for spelling and grammar)

Edited May 24, 2006 by kai-m (log)

[docsconz]

Kai, I am sorry you had a negative experience. Out of curiousity, though, did you ask for a tasting menu?

[molto e]

Kai,

If it makes you feel any better, Ame does not do the petit four with coffee thing. I liked the look of the St. Regis Hotel and thought that the bar would be a good spot to get a drink at. Where else did you eat on your trip that you enjoyed?

Molto E

[kai-m]

No I didn't, docsonz. I don't know why I didn't. Usually I do. I got a feeling that it would have been a better experience with a tasting menu. (But really: if they do it anyways when asked, why not put it on the menu?!)

But maybe it was just not our night (the principle chefs were not there, as far as we could see, by the way)...given all those raves there must be something to the place, I guess.

By the way: your pictures are truly gorgeous! how do you do that? not in 2 seconds with a simple flashlight camera, I guess...are you a professional photographer?