Anyone who has been to Zuni Cafe need read no further. I, like almost everyone else, thinks it has earned its well deserved reputation for excellent food and great service. Even with a long wait for their roasted chicken, the staff knows how to keep their customers well satisfied. I've recently decided to collect cookbooks of my favorite San Francisco dining establishments and Zuni is on the list.
Like any San Francisco restaurant worth its salt, especially those specializing in comfort foods, Zuni provides guests with sour dough bread. The crumb is chewy and the sour quality is subtle. Coupled with sweet creamery butter, it makes for a good first impression. I might add that none goes to waste, as you'll see later.
The croutons for the Zuni Caesar salad are made from their sour dough bread (that didn't take long) and are memorable enough to have encouraged me to make some of my own at home. I live with a Caesar salad aficionado, so I've tasted scores of them. Zuni rates high on the list. Their dressing is excellent and as an interesting note, the addition of egg is discussed table side as you place your order. Yes, please, add the egg. The plating is also high on the list because of the whole leaves being used. It seems so much fresher tasting when the leaves are not cut or torn in advance, waiting in some corner of the kitchen to be ordered.
What a nice way Zuni has with pasta. This was a first, semolina and ricotta gnocchi. I don't think the Italians even thought of this one, but Zuni did and they were light as a feather; the classic Italian test for excellent gnocchi. The baby carrots were tender and their delicate flavor was not overpowered by the very light handed cream sauce. I look forward to trying more of their pasta if this dish was any indication of their ability to improvise.
Zuni has a very nice system for serving raw oysters. You are allowed to order them by the variety, mix and match and since they are priced by the piece, your order may be as small as a single oyster. This was my best opportunity for discovering which oyster I might prefer, and it wasn't wasted. I tried a Point Reyes, Marin Miyagi, and Humbolt Kumamoto and the Kumamoto won out. All were delicious and I have to thank Zuni for this learning experience.
If a quick lunch is all you need, you might consider a burger and fries. The French couldn't make a better fry than Zuni does. The pickled onion and cucumber on the burger were excellent condiments, and ripe tomatoes always make a burger better, but there was one flaw. The focaccia fell apart because of the juices from these additions, as well as the burger itself. That did not keep us from eating every bit of the burger, but it was messy.
About that chicken, there were so many raves and articles written about it, I needed to discover its taste for myself. Saving the best for last is appropriate in this particular instance, and it came as a pleasant surprise, having not ordered restaurant cooked chicken for many years. Juicy, tender, succulent, bursting with flavor, all come to mind. It was also perfectly seasoned with a hint of smoke from the wood fired oven. What really stood out was the salad, the warm bread salad, made with, yes, their sourdough bread.
Besides the spicy notes from the red Mizuna leaves, the salad was laced with pine nuts and small red, dried currants for added notes of flavor. Considering there were so few ingredients in this relatively simple dish, with all those flavors layered one upon another, it had more complexity than one might imagine. A quick Google search found a recipe that indicated the dressing was made with olive oil and champagne vinegar, while the currants were plumped with red wine vinegar. Sliced scallions completed the ingredient list. Delicious!
1658 Market St
San Francisco CA 94102
(415) 552-2522
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