You CAN Have Your Cake and Eat It, Too!!
Written: Jun 22 '04 (Updated Jan 12 '05)
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Pros: Good, fresh food
Cons: Noisy, crowded
The Bottom Line: I'll be back for brunch AND to try the desserts!
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| ladygumby's Full Review: Citizen Cake |
Citizen Cake
399 Grove Street (@ Gough)
San Francisco, CA 94102
Telephone: (415) 861-2228
(Open 8:00 a.m.-10:00 p.m. T-Fr.; 10:00 a.m.-10:00 p.m. Saturday; 10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. Sunday, except when there are Symphony, Opera or Ballet performances: 10:00 a.m.-9:00 p.m.)
Citizen Cake, both a bakery and a restaurant, is popular with the theater/opera/symphony/ballet set due to its proximity to those venues. I had long wanted to give it a try since it's within walking distance from my apartment, but would often forget of its existence completely until walking in the area. Now that one of my new roommates works for the San Francisco Opera, my memory was jogged on a regular basis. I'd finally made a reservation there, but had to cancel as it turned out I received last-minute tickets to – you guessed it – the Opera!! I was determined to eat there, however, and again made reservations the following week.
DECOR
The inside is a cavernous space with large wrap-around windows, and exposed beams and pipes. Overall, it's actually rather industrial-looking. The honey-colored wood chairs, slightly darker wood walls and banquettes with pillows add some warmth. White tableclothes and white butcher paper covered the rectangular tables which were placed quite close together. For the first hour I was there, the only sounds were the noise of the patrons. Afterwards I noticed some dreadful jazzy music being transmitted through the restaurant.
MENU
Citizen Cake serves brunch on the weekends, and lunch and dinner seven days a week. The Chef de Cuisine is Jennifer Cox, and Julia Moore is the Sous Chef. Their brunch menu includes homemade donuts, granola, quiche and pancakes priced from $6.00 to $11.00. One may also choose from a spinach and bacon salad ($10.00), a croque monsieur ($11.00), a Cuban marinated pork sandwich ($12.25), or one of their pizzas ($11.00) among other things. Lunch offers many of the same pizzas and sandwiches, as well as sweet pea and leek ravioli ($12.00), a grilled cheese ultima which has Cabot sharp cheddar and gruyere ($10.50), and other similar items. I, however, was there for dinner. The salad of living butterleaf lettuce with creamy black olive dressing, toasted pecans and chives ($9.50), as well as the salad of Salinas Spring asparagus and baby red oak leaf lettuce in champagne vinaigrette with Cowgirl Creamery fromage blanc and toasted pine nuts ($9.50) were piquing my interest. I glanced at a few of the entrees [Alaskan halibut with ginger and lemongrass ($23.00), seared bavette steak ($24.00) and the Maple Leaf duck breast ($22.00)], but wasn't feeling hungry enough to tackle any of them.
FOOD
With my limited appetite, I eventually settled on the strawberry salad with watercress, frisee, and toasted almonds in balsamic vinaigrette ($9.50), and the cheese trio ($13.50). The waiter asked if I'd like some wine to accompany the food, but I was intrigued by their drink known as the "bobsled," champagne with sorbet. The sorbet choices for the evening were boysenberry, plum or strawberry. I went with the strawberry sorbet since there would already be strawberries in my salad. The bobsled was tart enough to make me blink a few times upon first sip, but was refreshing. They also gave me a spoon to dish out the sorbet rather than letting it melt within the champagne. Tasteless bread arrived with sweet butter. 'Is this saltless Italian bread?' I was wondering in the back of my mind. The strawberry and watercress salad was fresh, crisp, and an interesting marriage of ingredients. A nice crunchy contrasting texture was provided by the toasted almonds. The long stems on the watercress were a bit of a problem to eat, however; there wasn't really an easy way to cut them off, attempt to curl them around my fork or stuff them (delicately, of course) in my mouth! Naturally, I was in heaven when the cheese course arrived. The three cheeses (sheep's milk, cow's milk and goat's milk) were accompanied by raisin rye and savory walnut breads and fig jam. In my personal opinion, the raisin rye bread did nothing to complement the cheeses. I found it overly doughy and bland, save for the tiny bit of sweetness provided by the raisins. The savory walnut bread, on the other hand, melded well with all of the cheeses and was equally enjoyable on its own. The sheep's milk cheese was Everona, a semi-hard, aged cheese with an exceedingly light buttery floral flavor from Virginia. When I tried it with the savory walnut bread, I definitely bit into a peppercorn, but visually detected no peppercorns in either the bread or the natural rind of the cheese. The cow's milk selection was the Cashel Blue from Ireland, which is apparently aged six months. It was smooth and salty with a pure, blue tang. Finally, the Goat's Milk Hyku from California was the goat's milk offering. This semi-soft cheese is aged six weeks and has a thin rind of white mold. It was exceptionally velvety with a floral and herbaceous essence. I'm embarrassed to say that, after happily gorging myself on bread and cheese, I had no room for their specialty -- the desserts. I perused the dessert menu long enough, anyway, to notice that they had six selections (including a parfait, a cheesecake, a Meyer lemon risotto, and a rose petal creme brulee) ranging in price from $5.50 to $11.50. Below each dessert was a suggested dessert wine or digestif.
SERVICE
The restaurant was very full when I arrived later in the evening, but was seated immediately due to my reservation. Water was brought to my table in a carafe, and my glass was refilled frequently by several members of the staff. My salad arrived in a decent amount of time, as did the bread for the cheese. Surprisingly, the cheese itself took quite awhile before making an appearance. The main waiter was efficient if sometimes a bit slow and the back waiter was ebullient. The food runner/bus boy was a dear; smiling throughout and even motioning from across the way to see if I required anything. He was the one who packed up my remaining cheese (I NEVER waste cheese!), making sure to skip the fig jam and pack extra walnut bread instead.
IN CLOSING
I can't believe I went to a place famous for its desserts, yet was too full to try any of them! Next time, I'll at least order one to go if I'm too stuffed to have one on-site!
JANUARY, 2005 UPDATE
One of my friends recently took me to brunch at Citizen Cake. He'd never eaten there before and I'd heard that the brunch was good, thus we were both looking forward to it. He ordered the spinach and lardon (i.e. bacon) salad with poached egg, which he proclaimed to be very good. I, on the other hand, was truly feeling in a breakfast mood which reflected in my order of scrambled eggs, house-made turkey sausage and white cheddar cheese biscuit. In my honest opinion, the eggs were quite average. I was hoping that copious amounts of creme fraiche or sour cream had been added, but it didn't appear so. The turkey sausage, while tasty, was dry. In addition, it arrived on my plate in a weird (for sausage) triangular shape. I was fine with the white cheddar cheese biscuit, however. We shared a rose petal creme brulee to end the meal, which was heavenly.
Recommended:
Yes
Kid Friendliness: No
Vegetarian Friendly: Yes
Best Suited For: Trendy Crowd
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Epinions.com ID:
ladygumby
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Member: Tina
Location: San Francisco, California, USA
Reviews written: 49
Trusted by: 13 members
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