Commonwealth

San Francisco, CA

So what do you do to follow-up an excellent meal at Frances, one of the hottest restaurants in the city? Well, you go compare it to another really hot restaurant. Jason Fox's Commonwealth, located in the Mission is another example of the fine dining movement deviating towards a more casual appeal and price point. Why can they charge less? Probably because Commonwealth is located in the heart of the Mission, next to bars, taquerias, and dirty streets. Thankfully, that doesn't ruin the decor or ambiance of the restaurant which is beautifully designed, contemporary and simple. We arrived for an early Sunday dinner at 5:30 and by 6:30, every table and bar stool was filled. 

Nori dusted chips

They started us off with Nori dusted chips, basically seweed flavored potato chips. Addicting and plentiful since they offer refills. 

The Gozer

Ichtegem's Grand Cru

While we mulled over the menu, that was filled with plenty of interesting items, we ordered some drinks. Chu-Toro went with the Gozer, probably the coolest name drink ever, which consisted of Floc deGascogne, pomogrante, kaffir lime liquid nitrogen.  Basically, it was a really good alcoholic slushy which she finished in about ten minutes. I had the Belgium beer, like i usually do, and it had a quite sour, fruity undertone. 

Porcini churros, thyme, huckleberry jam

We started with a shared bouchee, the porcini churros. It came with three curled pieces of dough with a huckleberry jam. The jam was the best part of this tasting, but the churro itself was quite doughy in the middle and reminded me more of funnel cake at the fair. It was okay, but not something we'd order again. Surprisingly, it ended up being the only poor dish of the night.

Slow cooked farm egg, matsutake mushrooms, Jerusalem artichoke, barley, yuzu 

It probably doesn't look like much, but my appetizer was pretty awesome. Sure the fresh farm egg was perfectly cooked, and the mushrooms and artichoke just worked, but it was the combination of it all in one bite with the yuzu undertones that made this dish amazing. A really perfect starter.

kabocha pumpkin, black kale, yubu, sprouting broccoli, coconut milk, peanut

As much as I liked my course, Chu-Toro loved her kabocha pumpkin even more. It was the dish of the night for her. It had undertones of Indian flavors, almost familiar, laced into incredibly fresh organic vegetables.  And although it doesn't capture great on camera, it was an awesome dish. We only selected it to be different and because it seemed to be featured on the tasting menu instead of a salad, and we were really glad we did.

sea urchin, sweet potato tempura, chrysanthemum leaf, shiso, scallion, yuzu kosho

I was torn between the sea urchin and the squid, but being the perfect wife that she is, Chu-Toro got the squid so I could try it. Let's start off with the uni dish. As individual items, it was good. As a combination of balanced flavors which I would have never expected to be put together, it was great. This dish challenged my pallet and introduced me to flavor contrasts that just melted together in perfect harmony.  Jason Fox's dishes were eye opening and wonderful, in essence, the whole reason I love food so much .

squid and pork belly, jidori egg salad, potato crutons, herb vinagarette

Now while the uni dish really exposed me to something unique, the squid and pork belly did the same in a more comforting fashion. This was my favorite dish of the night, because every component on the plate tasted amazing, and together were unbelievable. I kept waiting for something to disappoint me, but each bite of the food at Commonwealth made me fall deeper into its trance. The squid was perfectly tender, not overly seasoned, while the pork belly provided the flavor punch and also crunchy texture. The egg salad was also a very cool preparation that I'd never had before. Overall, perfect balances in every regard.

grilled lamb cheeks, chanterelles, cauliflower, almond crumble, douglas fir

So something has to be subpar right? I mean, let's not jinx it, but main entrees are usually our downfall in our meals. Cheek meat seems to be the hot item on menus lately and can you blame them, they're so tender and delectable. I didn't need a knife or a fork to break them up, I could've used a thread to break apart the ridiculously tender lamb cheek. The same effect can be found on short ribs that are braised for 48 hours. It was a very good dish although Chu-Toro doesn't like lamb, she did enjoy bites of this dish without the protein which can attest for dish overall.

pork, mustard greens, turnips, onion soubise, mustard caviar, juniter jus

Pardon the picture, because it doesn't do the dish justice. Pork is how it's described on the menu. It's actually three cuts, the loin, shoulder and ear. Chu-Toro really liked each preparation, although the loin with a good layer of fat was the star, very moist and tender. The other standout on the dish was the mustard caviar, which did not overpower the course, but added the perfect flavor profile at the end of your bite.

yuzu curd, olive oil cake, huckleberries, pinenut brittle, cream friache ice cream

We'd generally share a dessert, but everything had been so awesome, we decided to roll the dice with two desserts. We got a balance of light and heavy options. The olive oil cake was not why we order the above dish. It was for the yuzu curd. Chu-Toro immediately declared, it's exactly like Zo, referencing the shot of yuzu we receive at the end of a perfect sushi meal in LA. She wasn't exaggerating, it was perfect emulation of yuzu in dessert form. I could eat it every night. The cake itself was a conduit to sop up the huckleberry sauce, cream friache ice cream and yuzu, and in that regard served it's purpose well.

cinnamon mille-feuille, cardamom marshmallow, chocolate ganache, burnt honey ice cream

The most popular dessert was the mille-feuille, sold to us as a deconstructed smore. It totally was, except way better than a smore. The homemade cardamom marshmello was beautifully plated, under it, the cinnamon mille feuille, then bitersweet chocolate ganache layer. It also came with a burnt honey ice cream, tasting like carmel and was a rich satisfying end to a perfect meal. What? A perfect meal? Those were the words from Chu-Toro's mouth. I'm not sure it was perfect, but it was pretty damn amazing. It definitely shot up the charts to one of our favorites with Manresa, Benu, Zo, and Mozza in one unsuspecting Sunday dinner, but probably going to have to dine here again real soon to ensure it wasn't a fluke. Real soon could even be next weekend if we're lucky. 


12/12/2010
Rating 8.5/10