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Saison Restaurant Review

2124 Folsom St. (17th St.) Send to Phone
San FranciscoCA 94110
415-828-7990 | Make Restaurant Reservations | Menu
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An elegant and unique pop-up restaurant in the heart of the Mission District. Saison Restaurant is one of our 2012 | Top 10 SF Chef's Table Restaurants | Top 10 SF Romantic Restaurants |

Cuisine

Open

Dinner Tues.-Sat.

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Dining room at Saison, San Francisco, CABurrowed into the back of a café that was once a stable, Saison can feel less like a restaurant than a recurring dinner party at the home of extravagant strangers. The crowded open kitchen dwarfs a smaller dining room with gauzy candle lighting and garish landscape paintings covering high white walls. Exceedingly attentive servers might as well be wearing wigs, gliding across the set of a Louis XIV biopic. Chef Joshua Skenes' signature egg in a cup with smoked butter and dashi riffs on savory Japanese custards. Spooning through the foam on top breaks up the soft egg beneath, revealing minced chives, caviar and tiny croutons. Asian influences also infuse a Stinson clam amuse with radish salad and shiso. The cèpes in an elegant jellied terrine peel off in earthy slices, comforting yet cool alongside a bright, crunchy salad and curls of Gouda. Saison's high points skyrocket but components of former seasonal fixed menus may have fallen short a few times over the course of a meal---surprising miscues in the form of leathery chicken agnolotti or a bland hunk of veal, for example. Even on the heels of hearty imbibing, rich desserts featuring cookies and ice cream from celebrated local purveyors are welcome. Saison has evolved its format to offer one seating per night for Skenes' 12-course tasting menu with expert wine pairings, allowing for one-on-one interaction with the chef and sommelier Mark Bright. A 16-plus-course "chef's counter" dinner with wine pairings is available for four guests per night.

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