Cortez - 2007.01.10 - *****

It was about a year ago this time when we were full swing in a frenzied feeding that was Dine About Town, following our then fearless leader, syl. Mad dashes up to the city any chance we get, trying to squeeze in just another restaurant. A blink of a year later, DAT is back, but alas our little eating club is no more what it used to be.

At least I have learned how better to sift out the gems from the pile of DAT duds. For this year, only 2 made the cut, and given our short notice planning, OpenTable only allowed us to get into Cortez. To make the 7:45 table time, Amnon and I suffered through a boring tour of Macworld expositions, followed by extensive feet shuffling in the new SF downtown mall thankfully punctuated by bit of tie-over munching at the Cocola bakery. Nearly deserted, what a contrast it was to the terminally jam-packed Santana Row branch. The chocolate pound cake let us this time, but the beautiful pineapple twist was a surprise hit.

A flash of snoozing later, we were off to Hotel Adagio for an early start on dinner. Cortez didn't have much of a space on the ground floor, but their artsy fartsy color lamps gave a splash of jazz. It was a good thing they setup the tables with menus, so we had something to fiddle with while waiting for our waitress to come around. When we finally placed our orders, bread and butter came in a neat little hemp sack, the sort you'd find in a bustling exotic market, perhaps laden with spices or legumes unknown. Cool.

The foods got off to a great start with a pair (mine was free!) of cauliflower soup shots. Very intense, sweet, creamy and a tad smokey. I was impressed how masterfully they distilled out the flavors of cauliflower, not one of the tastier vegies on the block. Amnon went with the attractive DAT menu, starting with a smoked trout frisée salad with apples, avocados, soft and silky (butter?) poached fingerling potato rounds, all bound by a sharp champagne dressing. The potatoes were a delight, and a first indication of the chef's predilection for delicate cooking that hits the spot. His main course of braised short rib came fork tender, moist and bursting with meaty goodness, paired with some melt-in-your-mouth cipollini onions. The menu's dramatic description of "caramelized potato puree" was in fact mere standard mash. There's some marketing dollars that went into this.

Perhaps similarly, I was wooed by other tantalizing items on the menu, and chose against the DAT set. One "Meyer lemon tart with basil ice cream" read irresistibly. I started with a katafi crusted crab cake with tarragon aioli, which surprisingly Amnon liked more than I did. The cake was fine, but I thought the katafi held up too much frying oil. But the accompanying citrus marinated cabbage was absolutely amazing; it's sweet tang more than making up for the greasiness atop it. Very original. Next up was saffron scented Chatham cod with celery-olive oil mousseline, herb glazed baby fennel, spiced almonds & sauce barigoule. Technically speaking, this was an excellent fish, as Amnon would eagerly laud, silky buttery soft, perfectly done, without a hint of dryness. Scallops of meat separated at the lightest urging of the fork, exuding of saffron. The sides were finely prepared, especially the almonds which tasted magically of pistachios. But while Amnon savored the cod between praises, I couldn't help but wish it was pan seared first; the ol' craving for Maillard flavor at work. Perhaps if they used a thicker cut and some high temperature, they could pull of both browning and this exquisite poached pillowy softness. No doubt, the chefs at Cortez were masters, and exponents, of slow cooking.

However, a perfect meal it would prove not to be. Both our desserts were no match for the quality of the previous dishes. The Sugar & Spice beignets with Venezuelan chocolate fondue did little to evoke the similar, but far more wonderful dish at Andalu; and my eagerly awaited Meyer lemon tart was a greater feast for the eyes than the mouth. There were lots of things going on in the plate, only the grapefruit mousse custard managed to impress. So the lesson is, eat here, but sooth your sweet tooth elsewhere.

Like Bacar, the blood orange panna cotta, a year less 4 days ago. Hmmmm, sweet memories.

$90 for 2, all incl.