Note: The
Dining Room is closed. The current dining venue is
The Lobby Lounge.
From San
Francisco:
The Dining Room at The Ritz-Carlton San
Francisco
Filling a Big Toque
The
Dining Room at The Ritz-Carlton San Francisco has
been among the best restaurants in San Francisco
since it opened in 1991. Its exquisite, formal décor,
top-of-the-line wine list, ultra-professional service
and live dinner music combine to create a showcase
for the food, while its kitchen has launched the
careers of many prominent Bay area chefs.
The current leader of
The Dining Room’s culinary brigade is Ron Siegel,
a polished veteran of San Francisco fine dining. Most
recently the executive chef at
Masa’s, Siegel has a resume that reads like a
Who’s Who of Northern California restaurants:
Aqua,
The French Laundry and
Charles Nob Hill preceded his recent postings,
along with a year of training under
Daniel Boulud in New York.
That would
create a buzz for most chefs, but for Siegel, the
attention was whipped to a frenzy when, during his
tenure at Charles Nob Hill, he was invited to compete
on the Japanese television show, Iron Chef, and
defeated chef Hiroyuki Sakai in the “lobster
challenge.”
Siegel now faces a new challenge: He succeeds a pair
of very big toques.
Most recently, Sylvain Portay cracked the whip in The
Dining Room’s kitchen. Portay, who held the executive
chef’s job for eight years, came to San Francisco
from
Le Cirque in New York. Portay earned numerous
awards for the restaurant with his classical French
approach and, with our 18-point rating,
ran one of the highest-rated restaurants in the
country
The chef who established the reputation that The
Dining Room continues to enjoy today was Gary Danko,
who reigned over the stoves from the restaurant’s
opening until 1996, when he left to open
Viognier in San Mateo and then his award-winning
eponymous restaurant in San Francisco. Danko
shepherded the careers of many notable chefs while at
The Dining Room, including Lance Dean Velasquez of
Home, David Frakes of Beringer Vineyards in St.
Helena, Scott Giambastiani of Viognier and Tim
Goodell of Aubergine in Newport Beach.
Although one might expect to see The Dining Room menu
acquire a Japanese accent under Siegel, for now, the
menu has taken a decidedly American turn, offering
starters like chilled corn soup with lobster tartare
and golden osetra caviar; and pan-seared quail with
spice-roasted figs.
Entrees include four sophisticated fish options.
Snapper is infused with lemon verbena and paired with
Vidalia onions. Showing his interest in things Asian,
Siegel gives his porcini-crusted black bass a fusion
accent by serving the fish over glass noodles in a
curry broth. Heartier appetites could indulge in the
Niman Ranch lamb chops accompanied by
ratatouille-stuffed zucchini blossoms and roasted
fingerling potatoes. The prime beef rib-eye arrives
indulgently paired with bone marrow, wild mushrooms
and bordelaise sauce.
The six-course tasting menu is well worth the $89
price, with a $15 supplement to sample a selection of
artisanal cheeses. Test the Iron Chef’s judgment when
you go this route, because one course is Maine
lobster with corn pudding and lobster sauce.
Vegetarians who grew accustomed to Siegel’s meatless
prix-fixe cuisine will be happy to know he has
brought that concept with him to The Dining Room,
also a six-course list for $89.
(Updated:
09/13/10 NW)
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