Chenery Park
After last night's debacle at The Presidio Social Club we needed a fix/reminder that restaurants are, in fact, good and that service can be impeccable, food delicious, surroundings comfortable and prices reasonable. If you need to be reminded of all of that at one time, you go to Chenery Park. We do this a lot. Not always because we need a reminder; rather, usually because we just want a good meal.
Chenery Park is in Glen Park in San Francisco. The chefs used to work at Boulevard (which we haven't been to, but need to check out based on the work happening at Chenery Park). Its a two floor neighborhood restaurant of the highest order. (Can you tell we love this place?) We've been, I'm guessing, 8 or 10 times now and we've only lived here for 10 months and we didn't find Chenery Park until about 5 or 6 months into that time. We go a lot. The menu changes often enough that we always find something new and interesting and they do regular daily specials (ie, fried chicken on Tuesdays, Etouffe on Thursdays, and a scallop dish on Saturdays served with a salad of very thin, crispy fries, green beans and tomatoes....I think I'm going to pause and make a reservation for Saturday right now). They're on Open Table which makes the reservation process as easy as can be and we often make them the same day.
Their bar is excellent (not as good as at Absinthe...but the Absinthe folks have an unhealthy relationship with their cocktails, so there's a lot of room to not be as good as Absinthe and still be some of the best cocktails you've ever had) and we virtually always start with a cocktail. They do a killer Kir Royale (according to the Food Gal) and I enjoy their Sazerac and their Manhattans. Last time we were there they made a lovely French 75 for the lady. This night, the Food Gal had a "divine" drink; The Velvet Kiss, a lemony vodka drink with chambord on the bottom and a sugared rim. She was duly impressed (which isn't easy).
They also have a very nice selection of half bottles, which works out well with the cocktails. Tonight we had a Shug Pinot Noir...for a 2005 it was quite good.
We started with Arancini (little fried risotto balls stuffed with mozzerella) which they very nicely added one to so that we'd have 4 instead of 3 preventing one of us from stabbing the other with a fork. They were served with a roasted tomato sauce that could have used a bit more kick, but was darned tasty as the server could tell from the fact that I'd sopped it up with the bread (the not cold bread with the room temperature butter, I might add).
Then the Food Gal had some salmon (the Food Gal ordering salmon out and not at a sushi bar is high praise and speaks well for her faith in the kitchen) which she ordered rare...that lead to a rather humorous conversation with our server about how rare the chef likes to serve salmon and whether the Food Gal was really after some sushi. It came with some spinach and mashed potatoes and the Food Gal didn't say much while she was eating it, so I think she liked it. I got a taste and I was impressed.
I had the etouffe which they make with sausage that they make in house. Lots of crayfish and some really excellent rice made for a nice dish. Again, I'd have preferred a bit more kick, but the flavors were all there.
Desserts are always good at Chenery Park. For one thing, they have a rootbeer float on the menu all the time, so how can that be bad? The Food Gal had a blueberry rhubarb crumble and since rhubarb is one of the Food Gal's favorite things going, she was quite happy through dessert. I had a lemon pudding cake and a cup of coffee. It was tart and soft and very lemony and puddingy.
All of this (2 cocktails, half a bottle of wine, extra large starter, two entrees, two desserts, cup of coffee, bottle of sparkling water and tax) was $125 before tip. Any wonder we're there all the time?
Basically, Chenery Park feels like our dining room in our house but someone else does the dishes. Its everything you want in a neighborhood restaurant: gracious service, good food, excellent drinks and reasonable prices. We'll be back. Often.
Chenery Park is in Glen Park in San Francisco. The chefs used to work at Boulevard (which we haven't been to, but need to check out based on the work happening at Chenery Park). Its a two floor neighborhood restaurant of the highest order. (Can you tell we love this place?) We've been, I'm guessing, 8 or 10 times now and we've only lived here for 10 months and we didn't find Chenery Park until about 5 or 6 months into that time. We go a lot. The menu changes often enough that we always find something new and interesting and they do regular daily specials (ie, fried chicken on Tuesdays, Etouffe on Thursdays, and a scallop dish on Saturdays served with a salad of very thin, crispy fries, green beans and tomatoes....I think I'm going to pause and make a reservation for Saturday right now). They're on Open Table which makes the reservation process as easy as can be and we often make them the same day.
Their bar is excellent (not as good as at Absinthe...but the Absinthe folks have an unhealthy relationship with their cocktails, so there's a lot of room to not be as good as Absinthe and still be some of the best cocktails you've ever had) and we virtually always start with a cocktail. They do a killer Kir Royale (according to the Food Gal) and I enjoy their Sazerac and their Manhattans. Last time we were there they made a lovely French 75 for the lady. This night, the Food Gal had a "divine" drink; The Velvet Kiss, a lemony vodka drink with chambord on the bottom and a sugared rim. She was duly impressed (which isn't easy).
They also have a very nice selection of half bottles, which works out well with the cocktails. Tonight we had a Shug Pinot Noir...for a 2005 it was quite good.
We started with Arancini (little fried risotto balls stuffed with mozzerella) which they very nicely added one to so that we'd have 4 instead of 3 preventing one of us from stabbing the other with a fork. They were served with a roasted tomato sauce that could have used a bit more kick, but was darned tasty as the server could tell from the fact that I'd sopped it up with the bread (the not cold bread with the room temperature butter, I might add).
Then the Food Gal had some salmon (the Food Gal ordering salmon out and not at a sushi bar is high praise and speaks well for her faith in the kitchen) which she ordered rare...that lead to a rather humorous conversation with our server about how rare the chef likes to serve salmon and whether the Food Gal was really after some sushi. It came with some spinach and mashed potatoes and the Food Gal didn't say much while she was eating it, so I think she liked it. I got a taste and I was impressed.
I had the etouffe which they make with sausage that they make in house. Lots of crayfish and some really excellent rice made for a nice dish. Again, I'd have preferred a bit more kick, but the flavors were all there.
Desserts are always good at Chenery Park. For one thing, they have a rootbeer float on the menu all the time, so how can that be bad? The Food Gal had a blueberry rhubarb crumble and since rhubarb is one of the Food Gal's favorite things going, she was quite happy through dessert. I had a lemon pudding cake and a cup of coffee. It was tart and soft and very lemony and puddingy.
All of this (2 cocktails, half a bottle of wine, extra large starter, two entrees, two desserts, cup of coffee, bottle of sparkling water and tax) was $125 before tip. Any wonder we're there all the time?
Basically, Chenery Park feels like our dining room in our house but someone else does the dishes. Its everything you want in a neighborhood restaurant: gracious service, good food, excellent drinks and reasonable prices. We'll be back. Often.
Labels: San Francisco Restaurants
posted by The Food Guy at 10:03 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home