Restaurants - Seasons

Seasons
757 Market St
(between Grant Ave & Ofarrell St)
San Francisco, CA 94103

Price: 4 prix-fixed sized appetizers, 2 meat entrees, dessert, 1 bottle of French wine (2 adults - Dinner - $600 including 15% tip)

http://www.fourseasons.com/sanfrancisco/dining/seasons.html

We wanted steak, so we decided to try out Seasons, at the Four Season Hotel. The host sat us at a nice table over looking market street. The view was not what I would call spectacular, it is the view of market street and corner where the Armani Store was, however it was a nice to see the hustle and bustle of down town san francisco none the less.

The pirx-fixed menu had some two interesting appetizers, but the entree was not what we had come for, so we asked to order them separately.

The first appentizer (prix-fixed size, which is smaller than a regular appetizer) was a named "Chicken & Waffle", which was a Chicken Fried Foie Gras, Coriander Waffle, Strawberry and Rhubarb. It was a small piece of fois gras that had its outside slightly crispy fried, but internally it was rare (the way fois gras should be). It was served with a nice crispy waffle in a creamy sauce. This was a well balanced fois gras and very interesting play on the chicken and waffle phenomenon. Since our bottle of red wine didn't really go with this dish, the waiter gave us a glass of veuve cliquot in order to compliment the appetizer.

The second appetizer we had was the "Yellowtail Hamachi Tartre", which was yellow tail hamachi with Enoki Mushroom Salad, Avocado, Yuzu Vinaigrette. This had a very subtle flavor. The balance of the tartness of the vinagrette and the buttery avocado went well with the smooth silkiness of the hamachi sashimi. Neither of the flavors over powered the other, making this dish our favorite of the night.

For the entree, my partner had the Grilled Prime Filet Steak Frites – Crisp Fries, Frisée and Young Cress, Fried Quail Egg, Shallot and Thyme Butter. The filet was cooked as requested. The meat was tender and juicy and the frisee and crest went well with the sweet and creamy flavor of the fried qual egg. What was slightly disappointing was that the quail egg was cooked all the way through. A bit of raw yolk from the egg may have made the salad better.

My entree was the Aged Prime New York Strip, Swiss Chard, Smoked Potato Purée, Cured Tomato, Beef Jus. This was heavenly cut of beef cooked as I had requested. The interesting part was the chard. The cured tomato cut the typical earthy bitterness of the chard, so that only the earthiness of the chard remained. It had the consistency of a spinach however, the flavors of almost a mushroom. It went very well with the cut of steak and the puree of potato (which was close to liquified, but still held it's shape)

We ended the meal with the Warm Chocolate "Candy Bar" – Chocolate, Peanuts, Caramel
and the Apple Cider Donuts, Warm Bourbon Caramel Sauce, Bacon Ice Cream. The chocolate candy bar reminded my of a crunch bar that had been melted. However, it was very flavorful and the chocolate was of good quality. The apple cider donuts, seemed like typical doughnut holes. They were a little doughy, so they did not have the consistency of a beignet, which I was hoping for, and was generally lack luster for my taste.