Quince

I'm not sure when I first wanted to dine at Quince, but it has been a long time. There's a long debate of the best pasta in the city and Michael Tusk's restaurant is always in the conversation. Armed with high expectations on the food, attempting to live up to the "coveted" Michelin star rating, and reports that their service is often snooty, we entered the meal with a level of uncertainty. Let me start off by stating, it is a gorgeous architectural designed restaurant.  We sat in a grey suede corner booth of the center dining room, with high ceilings, black molding, dim lights and a majority of the patrons in suits and dresses. We opted for the tasting menu, quite pricey at $95 for only five courses. Chu-Toro had a glass of Prosecco and I had a Belgium beer (the name escapes me).

Mushroom Soup

Mini Baugette, Rosemary roll

We were started with an amuse bouche of mushroom soup. Chu-Toro tasted heavy umami flavors, but i just found it to be tart, almost sour. Not a good start in my mind. The bread offering was somewhat disappointing also. Although, the bread itself was tasty (especially the rosemary, very oily but similar to a brioche) it was cold. Cold as if it had been sitting in the kitchen all afternoon, which was unfortunate. 

Japanese Octopus "Al Vapore," Celery, Granny Smith Apples
Osetra Caviar 

First course was the octopus "Al Vapore," which tasted like exactly like chicken salad with octopus. The quality of the octopus was good, but we didn't care for the flavor combination because we couldn't get over the fact the heavy celery and green apple usage is classic chicken salad. A sad disappointment. 

Spaghetti "Alla Chitarra," Mendocino Sea Urchin, Fennel, Hot Pepper

We were mixed on the next course, squid ink spaghetti with sea urchin. First off, the quality of the sea urchin was crap. We're probably really harsh since we're big sushi eaters, but I thought it was about the quality you could get in a Japanese grocery store, a huge letdown. Second, uni and squid ink? That's like fois and steak, it works sometimes (see below), but it's heavy on heavy. Maybe that's the style at Quince, heavy flavors was an overriding theme, but when we started the dish, it was just too much. Eventually, the fennel and hot pepper flavors came through and the conclusion of the offering was solid, but not great. For a pasta mastermind, I was hoping for more.

Cappelletti, Sunchoke and Burgundy Truffle

The next pasta offering was even more of a let down. I think the theme at Quince is heavy flavors since this was the heaviest pasta I've ever had. First off, their idea of "al dente" is debatable, since one of my pasta bites was very undercooked. Secondly, this dish displayed a single flavor profile, not layered as I would hope for from a stuffed pasta. Since this was our last pasta offering, I just kept thinking about how much i like Osteria Mozza or Bottega so much more.

Five Dot Ranch Beef Rib Cap, porcini mushroom, potato gratin, fois gras
and swiss chard

At this point, I was pretty upset because I came to Quince for pasta and was discouraged with what I experienced. The first stages of the meal were poor, and it had me thinking that this was going to be the most overrated Michelin starred meal ever, bumping Terra for that title. Surprisingly, the main entrée was pretty good. Our favorite piece of steak ever was the Beef Rib Cap at Benu, and although were not expecting a repeat, Quince's course was well executed and flavorful. Although my first bite was overcooked, the rest of beef was juicy and tasty. It didn't encompass the depth of flavors as Benu's, but on a night of underwhelming pastas, it was a good dish. The potato gratin was subpar and we didn't finish it.

Quince sorbet, pomegranate  - Intermezzo

We had a nice intermezzo next, a well prepared and tasty sorbet following our entrée. 

Buckwheat Crespelle with Huckleberry Ice Cream, Hudson Ranch Pear,
Caramel and Sage Brown Butter

The one item on the menu we weren't really looking forward to, ended up being the best. The buckwheat crespelle was excellent, sweet, savory and well balanced. The pear and brown butter were perfectly paired and the huckleberry ice cream, although not good as the previous sorbet, added a refreshing fruity ending.

Mignardises

Having gone through many tasting menus at this point, we all have our little nuisances that help push or pull down a rating of a restaurant. An elusive one that Chu-Toro appreciates, that she has only experienced once (at Cyrus) is receiving warmed milk with her coffee. We were sure that we'd get it at TFL or Meadowood, but Cyrus has stood alone in that simple distinction, until Quince joined that group this evening. 

Coffee and WARM milk

That simple detail alone pushed them up a half a point per Chu-Toro. The reports that the service is snooty were completely wrong in my experience. The servers were cordial, helpful, and kind throughout the subpar meal. Overall, a rather disappointing night in which we have no further plans to return to the popular San Francisco establishment. 


Rating 6/10
November 13, 2010