Aqua: Subtle Elegance and Seafood Perfected
Written: Jul 01 '02 (Updated Jul 01 '02)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
| Food and Presentation: |
 |
|
| Ambiance and Decor: |
 |
|
| Quality of Service: |
 |
|
|
Pros: Amazing seafood concoctions
Cons: A little loud.
The Bottom Line: uh, try it.
|
|
|
| Mr.Eyore's Full Review: Aqua |
If it’s possible to make a meal better than the one Aqua served me tonight, I’d be hard pressed to believe there are words to describe how exquisite that meal would be. As it is, I was so overwhelmed with pleasure following my meal, it seemed pointless to do anything after besides come home, lay in bed and stare at the ceiling thinking about it.
Hanski called at 6:30, unhappy that her brother had moved away in the morning, and said she wanted to have dinner with a couple of close friends who would cheer her up. She asked if she could take me to Aqua with another friend of ours, and I hesitantly agreed. It’s a restaurant I had dreamed of going to for years, but the kind of extravagance I can rarely afford – or at least I believed I couldn’t afford it. I had been told by many it was the best restaurant in the city. It’s commonly mentioned in the same breath as such San Francisco stalwarts as The Dining Room at the Ritz Carlton, Masa’s, La Folie and Jardiniere. Like those restaurants, the assessment is frequently that, while not overpriced considering the quality of the food, it is exorbitant.
I don’t know what I thought exorbitant meant, but I think I expected something much further out of my range. Our meal, including two glasses of wine, two glasses of port and a single desert, left us utterly satisfied, and with tip cost about $330.00. At $110.00 per person, this is an extravagance that I will absolutely indulge at least once a year for the remainder of my time in this town.
ambiance
Aqua is located downtown on California Street, a few blocks from Market, next door to venerable steak house Tadich Grill, in an unassuming storefront at he bottom of an office building. I have probably passed it a hundred times and never noticed it because the only signage is a small, stenciled logo high on the front window. It’s located within easy walking distance – perhaps 10-15 minutes – from the hotels at Union Square, and they offer valet parking ($8.00) out front.
The room is elegant, and understated in all respects except for the flower arrangements, which are gargantuan, towering perhaps 15 feet in the air, nicely dividing the long, cavernous space. I waited for my friends in the comfortable bar area, which is handsomely appointed with three comfortable looking sofas in the front window and about 20 upholstered seats along the lovely burled wood bar. A friendly, efficient bar staff served a nice selection of premium liquors and wines (if there were beers available – which I assume there were – I didn’t see them). I was particularly pleased with their bourbon choices, and settled on a Blanton’s for myself and a Maker’s Mark and soda for my friend. Both were priced at or near the same range as could be had at any bar in the city, which I found refreshing.
The tables are spaced nicely apart and set with simple white china, simple white linens and a single white candle-holder with a delicately carved underwater motif. While the spacing of the tables allowed for plenty of privacy, if I had one complaint about Aqua, it would be that the room is fairly loud. Not so much that you need strain to hear anyone at your table, but it is noticeable, and it detracts a bit from what might otherwise be a perfect romantic dining spot.
The crowd is dressy by San Francisco standards. Most of the men wore a jacket, and many wore ties. Nearly all the women sported dresses on the glamorous side. I think I spotted one pair of blue-jeans in the place, and I think I would have been uncomfortable if the person wearing them was me. It’s not that it’s a pretentious or snooty place. It absolutely isn’t. It’s just that it’s the kind of room that seems to call for playing a little dress-up.
The only real disappointment with the decor was the restroom, which was small and unremarkable, and tiled with a distressed marble that gave the impression that the floor was actually dirty.
appetizers
The waitress started us off with a slender tea cup filled with a yellow bell pepper soup. It was the sort of thing that gives me fits in terms of ever believing myself capable of cooking anything respectable. Every addition to the puree seemed designed to highlight the sweet flavor of the pepper. I simply can’t imagine that eating a plain, raw (or roasted and pealed) yellow bell pepper could yield as much of the natural flavor of the vegetable as that which exploded in my mouth from this tea cup. It was subtle, buttery and flavorful, without being in the least overly rich, and it was a nice symbol of all the things they do at Aqua. As Pookster used to say about that teevee goofball Emeril, “Any idiot can throw cream and butter and garlic into a pot with a bunch of expensive ingredients and it’ll taste good. But show me a chef that can take marquee ingredients down a notch and you’ll have something.” Sure, the menu at Aqua is loaded with caviar, fois gras, high end sea food, cream and exotic vegetables, but “subtlety” is the watchword of the place, and while everything I tried there could aptly be described as “rich” none of it was the sort of overblown “rich” that would leave you feeling that you couldn’t eat there again the following night.
As a formal appetizer, Ski had crab cakes, which I didn’t try, because ... well, they’re crab-cakes, and crab-cakes are always plenty good, but why bother. They’re bound to be no more spectacular at Aqua than they are at any of two dozen other restaurants in town. These were served on a bed of diced, ripe tomato ... whatever.
Alan had the Ahi Tartare, which was easily among the top two versions of this dish I’ve had anywhere. This one was served with pine nuts, sesame oil and finely chopped scotch bonnet peppers, which were mixed together at the table by our server, and molded into a triangle on his plate, which was garnished by 5 neatly cut triangles of perfectly toasted bread.
We all agreed that my appetizer was the best: Savory black mussel souffle ($12.00) served with a small pitcher of golden saffron cream. Un-be-lievable. Truly, one of the most satisfying things I have ever eaten. The souffle was perfectly executed, it’s symmetrical dome hovering without a crease about an inch and a half above the clean white ramekin.
entrees
The entire selection of entrees looked fairly remarkable, and, as with everything at Aqua, focused almost exclusively on seafood. Most of the dishes were in the $29.00 to $39.00 price range.
Hannah urged at least one of us to try the seared ahi medallions with fois gras and wine reduction, which she had eaten on past visits, but it was a dish that Alan and I had each had at other restaurants, so we passed.
Many of the other dishes marched past our table throughout the evening, and it was hard to escape the feeling that no matter what we ordered we would be missing out terribly on the remainder of truly exquisite offerings: Black cod piled high on three architecturally suspect columns of vegetables; a perfectly constructed five inch cylinder of salmon terrine; delicate sea scallops, John Dory, mussels served in a grand looking winged bowl, and a half-dozen other things.
Unfortunately (for this review) all three of us ordered the same dinner. Aqua is most known for their Lobster Pot Pie, and it’s easy to understand why that is. In all respects, it is the height of fine cuisine. A team of three servers marched to our table, each carrying a small copper pot covered by a perfect, flaky crust wrapped neatly around the edges, and an array of plates, napkins and serving utensils. Each laid out two plates in front of each of us, setting the copper pot on one of them. In unison, they carefully removed the top of the pie to reveal a treasure trove of culinary delights: The entire meat bearing sections of a Maine lobster rested among a cornucopia of white corn, 4 kinds of mushrooms, fava beans, peas, carrots and potatoes, all in a bath of the most delicately balanced sauce of lobster stock, light cream and herbs.
With a pair of spoons in hand, the servers carefully constructed our meals upon the second plate, setting the round, salty crust in the center, on top of which they re-built the entire lobster, then spooned the sauce around the plate. Listed at “market rate,” on this night the pot pie cost $49.00 each, and it was worth every penny (of Ski’s money). Particularly astounding about this dish was how masterfully selected the ingredients were, not just for their complimentary flavors, but for how perfectly done they were considering they had to be cooked at the same temperature, for the same amount of time, given their coexistence in that single copper pot. Neither the fava beans, nor the peas were even the slightest bit overcooked, and the lobster, cut into about 6 pieces, with only the claws previously removed from their shell, gave the impression that two minutes less in the oven would have resulted in their serving a few chunks of semi-opaque flesh instead of the perfectly tender morsels of snow white meat the rested before me.
I’m accustomed to ordering huge zinfandels or Sirahs when I drink any wine at all, but clearly these would have been inappropriate given our dinner selection, so I was at a loss, given that I don’t enjoy most white wines. I was happy to have someone with a more comprehensive understanding of wines with us. Alan selected a nice Alexander Valley Pinot Noir, which turned out to be a near perfect accompaniment to the pot pies.
It’s worth noting that Aqua also offers a special tasting menu. On the night we visited, that menu included seven courses and cost $85.00. They also offer the same tasting menu with wine pairings, for, I imagine, significantly more.
deserts
By the time we were finished, it was hard to imagine how we could possibly consume anything that might remove the flavor of our meals from our mouths. But the desert selection was too impressive to pass up altogether. One side of the desert menu listed about 14 exotic cheeses, fully half of which were of sheep’s milk. They could be ordered in combinations of three, five or seven on a plate, ranging in price from about $14.00 to about $28.00.
Apparently following the lead of Yountville’s perennially award-winning French Laundry, which is famous for its desert of donut holes, Aqua serves a number of “classic Americana” style deserts. At least one of every three table at the restaurant finished their meal with a selection of small ice-cream cones, served on a sterling tree of little rings. And more than a few Rootbeer floats with home-made chocolate chip cookies passed by our table.
There were probably about 6 other choices, but we had the Tart Tatin with caramelized bananas, a scoop of maple iced cream and home made praline. Absolutely wonderful, and perfectly suited to our desire for only a couple bites each of something sweet.
The after dinner drink selection was nice, if more limited than the lists at other restaurants of this caliber. Alan and I each decided on a tawny port. I had the 10 year Taylor tawny ($9.00), he a 25 year bottle aged reserve ($17.00). I was glad we ordered different ports, if only so I could compare. I frequently enjoy a glass of port after a nice meal, but I’m no expert, and it’s one of the few areas of wine that I actually have some interest in learning about. Fortunately, Alan had spent time a year or two ago visiting the wineries of the Porto region of Portugal, and he had a few useful observations to make, mostly studded with the preface, “Dude, a guy at one of the wineries said ...” so it didn’t seem in the least pretentious. My 10 year was nice, no better or worse than the Fonseca 9 year or 16 year that I often enjoy, and I would happily order it again. But his 25 year reserve was something else entirely. Its murky, honey and rose hue was a marked contrast to the near burgundy of my port. It was mellow and not overly sweet, and easily in the same class as ports I have tried at more than twice the price elsewhere.
The waitress concluded our meal by delivering a wrought iron tree, with little pedestals at the end of each branch. On each pedestal rested a small house-made candy: three pieces of chocolate, a small square of passion-fruit jelly and a tiny sponge-cake with a center of cherry and port reduction. The passion-fruit jelly was more than a little vile, but the rest of the candies were delightful.
service
The wait staff at Aqua is about what you would expect at a restaurant of this caliber. They are smartly attired in simple black and white with understated ties. In fact, as with most other aspects of this restaurant, everything about our service was simple, professional and understated. Our waitress was friendly, attentive and about as unobtrusive as it is possible to be, as were our servers. I never noticed my water glass being refilled, but I’m not aware of it having been empty once during the meal. The bread server was quick with the delicious, steaming hot rolls throughout the early stages of our meal. We certainly never had to ask for anything. My only complaint – and really I’m nit-picking here – is that my amuse bouche was removed while I was perusing the wine list and I had not yet finished it. If the soup had not been so spectacular, this minor faux pas would not have bothered me as much.
While individually the wait staff are unobtrusive, you may become acutely aware of how incredibly labor intensive the service actually is. Including the hostess and bar-tender, we had seven different people contributing to our dining experience, and some of them spent a significant amount of time at our table. With the mixing and preparation of the tuna tartare, the carefully choreographed presentation of the lobster pot pies, and the meticulous de-plating and construction of the tart tatin, the table-side food preparation was as much a part of the dining experience as the room and the glorious food. That given, and obviously this is just my opinion, it seems reasonable to provide more than a 20% gratuity for good service here. That’s particularly the case where, as here, the leisurely pace of the meal (we sat for nearly three hours) renders it nearly impossible for the restaurant to have more than two seatings per table in an evening.
conclusion
Aqua is the perfect restaurant for very special occasions. It is nicely suited to an anniversary dinner or a place to take very special out-of-town guests. There are more elegant dining rooms in San Francisco, but you’d have trouble finding more elegant food.
Recommended:
Yes
Kid Friendliness: No
Vegetarian Friendly: No
Best Suited For: Romantic Evening
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
Mr.Eyore
|
 - Top 500 |
|
Reviews written: 129
Trusted by: 299 members
About Me:
I come for the pervasive sense of elitist self-importance and semi-witty expressions of faux camaraderie
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.