piperade.jpgI’m on a roll here. Every restaurant I have been to over the past few weeks in San Francisco has been outstanding — thanks to recommendations from foodie friends (Carol Singh and Andy Abramson, in particular), who I am sure lived through the awful ones long enough to provide me with an edited version of what’s really good in the Bay Area.

Last night I went to Piperade with Paul Bragiel, founder of Meetro, “location-aware social messenger”. Piperade is located at the base of Telegraph Hill, close to the Embarcadero, and serves “West Coast Basque cuisine” - a lighter, more California version of traditional Basque food. Still, for purists, they have Basque classics like braised rabbit and sauteed calamari in ink sauce.

The restaurant is beautiful - lots of wood, subdued lighting (not too bright or too dark) - and it’s not noisy. The tables are not squished closely together so you can have private conversations and not have to shout or listen to the other diners. It’s a very civilised place to have dinner. And the food is absolutely fantastic!

What we had: warm sheep’s milk cheese and ham terrine; garlic soup with rock shrimp, bacon, bread and egg; marinated lamb chops with thyme and aged sherry vinegar (very tender and juicy, spices did not overwhelm the lamb); roasted pork tenderloin confit with braised cabbage and figs; apricot and almond tart with vanilla ice cream; gateau basque with mango coulis.

Portions are delightfully small. The flavors were all delicately balanced.

The scene: strictly foodies

Other observations: we had reservations for 21:30 and it seemed everyone was already attacking their dessert. By midnight, the restaurant was empty, except for Paul and me, enjoying the last of our coffee. I am still trying to find a good San Francisco restaurant that’s buzzing at midnight.

Piperade
1015 Battery Street
San Francisco
Phone: (415) 391-2555

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