Wayfare Tavern San Francisco

Posted By Alex Chinien Jul 25 2011 · 0 comments · Dining Out

Frog Hollow Peaches

Calling San Francisco’s financial district home is just the first of many unconventional characteristics of Wayfare Tavern. I came in early (6pm) on a Wednesday evening – without a reservation – ~~thinking~~ hoping that I would be spared a walk in place at the bar, a table, the floor… anywhere. Not recommended! This place is extremely popular right now and was packed to the brim as soon as I set foot inside.

The look and feel of the interior itself may have you thinking french bistro, but don’t. It’s menu and style is much closer to new American than anything else. I eventually got a table after aggressively staking out the bar stools and dodging into a free spot after about 25 minutes.

I began with an order of Frog Hollow Peaches which is a beautiful dish with watermelon radish, shaved fennel, black olives, feta, mustard cress and olive oil. I’ve had a few watermelon, feta, herb salads this summer and this was in the same vein but elevated to whole new level. I followed this up with Deviled Jidori Eggs, not because I particularly like deviled eggs but because it seemed everyone around me was ordering them and loving it. These consisted of curried yolks, crisp shallots, vadouvan, pickled carrot and cilantro. The curried yolks contained a quite surprising kick of spice and kept this dish from being “deviled eggs”. As an entree I ordered a Grilled Scottish Salmon with Yukon Gold potato salad, sea beans, chopped Jidori egg, salsa verde and sturgeon caviar. I was informed that the salmon was to be cooked medium raw by design and it tasted soft and fresh. Against all odds, I ordered dessert. A Chocolate Cream Pie consisting of caramel ganache, devil’s food cake, Scharffenberger chocolate pudding and whipped cream. A huge slice arrived and although the cream was light, the portion was huge and I regretfully couldn’t finish it all.

For drinks there were a number of rotating taps with the west coast requisite hop saturated IPAs. The Oberon Sauvignon Blanc, from Napa Valley, seemed to be in very high demand although this may be because it is one of the least expensive of their 8 page wine menu, affectionately called a “binder”.