ADDISON BY WILLIAM BRADLEY — Restaurant in San Diego

Introduction:

I first visited Addison back about six to seven years ago when it was still a one-star Michelin restaurant. Upon hearing it has been awarded the third Michelin star, I know I have to visit the establishment again. Allow me to say Wednesday night’s experience was a worthwhile one. I opted for their 10-course tasting menu and out of all the dishes I’ve tried, some of the main highlights for the night were as follows:

Food:

Amaebi sashimi with perilla flowers and fermented ginger:

The Amaebi for the night exceeded my expectations: the shrimp’s flesh had a light crunch and bounciness to it [demonstrating the shrimp’s freshness]. In addition, I enjoyed the shrimp’s buttery aftertaste that accompanied every bite. This was the first time I’ve had sweet shrimp of this caliber.

Shellfish chawanmushi, broccoli, bok choy, celtuce:

I’ll be honest, I’m not a chawanmushi guy because I’ve never had much affinity for egg dishes. The chawanmushi at Addison, however, was an eye-opener. The top layer of the chawanmushi was composed of Hokkaido uni, the mid-layer had minced shellfish, broccoli, bok choy, and celtuce, and the bottom layer was the steamed egg custard.

I usually don’t like chawanmushi because often the steamed egg custard could either be runny or too thick and heavy in texture. The chawanmushi at Addison however, was different: as I was eating it, everything was very delicate, light, and balanced. All the ingredients supported each other well thereby making the eating of the chawanmushi a wholesome experience.

Cantonese quail, yu choy, Five-Spice Quail jus

The quail was the most unforgettable entrée of the evening for me. Prepared in the confit wet-style, it was the best and most delicious quail I’ve ever had to date. The quail was juicy, flavorful, tender, and succulent. I savored every bite of it. It’s been about 15 years since I had a dish that’s made in the confit wet-style and I sorely miss this method of cooking.

Desserts:

Everything lemon, meringue, sherbet, jam:

Upon first tasting the sherbert I was transported briefly to my childhood. The delicate richness, creaminess, and refreshing citrus aftertaste reminded me of the Flintstones orange sherbert push pop I had as a child while playing video games with my childhood friends. It was a more simple time back then and I was glad I got to re-visit those cherished memories while eating the Everything lemon sherbet.

Ambiance: Classy, vintage, upscale

Service:

I’ve been to many one star and two -star Michelin restaurants and before Addison, I’ve been to another three-star Michelin restaurant, The French Laundry, by Thomas Keller. From pulling up one’s chair, to setting the cloth napkin on the patron’s lap, and explaining the entrees/specials to the customers, these are all expected for two-star Michelin restaurants. For three-star Michelin restaurants the level of service is obvious expected to be a level above.

Between The French Laundry and Addison, the latter definitely beats the former in service by quite a margin because Addison pays more attention to the finer details of service in comparison to The French Laundry. At Addison all the staffs are professional and well-trained: with each entrée the wait staff will take the time to explain in detail what the entrée is, where some of the ingredients are sourced and any historically relevant information pertaining to the dish.

One of the things the staff did that left a favorable impression on me was when they checked my suit jacket and umbrella to the front of the desk so as to ensure I can be wholly immersed in the evening’s experience. Normally restaurants would just let the patrons drape their suit jacket across the chair and no one would give it a second thought; at Addison the staff explained they checked my suit jacket to the front because draping it across the chair would over-stretch the fabric of the suit. Needless to say, I was impressed by their level of...

Addison is "amazing." It satisfies the dictionary definition of the word. Addison causes great surprise or wonder. Addison is startlingly impressive. Addison is astonishing. Addison defies all expectations of dining in San Diego. Don't trust anyone who claims that any restaurants other than Addison represent San Diego's best fine dining. They don't. It is Addison. Addison, all alone.

My wife and I usually dine at Addison around the time of our anniversary and maybe another visit or two annually. It truly is a special occasion dinner, not a place you go to on a whim.

Chef William Bradley's style is modern French fused with new Californian cuisine. There are Asian influences in many dishes at Addison, specifically Japanese. Like most restaurants in this class, food is arranged like art sprawled across each plate, each a colorful and intricate tapestry of textures and colors. But, make no mistake, flavor is prioritized over form at Addison.

The kitchen delighted us with the following courses on our most recent visit this past May:

Amuse Bouche: Whipped Yogurt over Orange Ginger Granité Bread Selections: Parker House Roll, Sesame Seed Lavash, and Warm Gougère, filled with Sea Salt and Sherry Crémeux Sake-Cured Kampachi with Nori, Red Radish, and Miso Dressing Osetra Caviar over Dutch White Asparagus with Oeufs Fouetés and Sauce Gribiche Coquilles St. Jacques, featuring Diver Scallop, Leek Cremeux, Sauce Vermouth, and Little Gem Lettuce Caramelized Sablefish with Toasted Kale, Bacon, and Bouillon Japonais Mascarpone Agnolotti with "Saveurs des Printemps" Ris de Veau Pané with Roasted Tomato, Jamon Iberico, and Artichoke Coffee Roasted Canard with Koshihikari Rice, Candied Peanuts, and Sauce Albufera Gâteau au Fromage de Chèvre with Candied Cornichon, Black Olive, and Preserved Lemon Lime Sorbet with Elderflower Consommé Roche de Chocolat, with Hazelnut, Brown Butter Caramel, and Maraschino Cherry

The Coffee-Roasted Duck is my all-time favorite dish at Addison and, fortunately, it ends up in the 10-course tasting every time, regardless of season. It features tender duck breast cooked rare, glazed with a bittersweet coffee sauce, and meant to be eaten with the peanut purée that decorates the plate. It always comes with a side of koshihikari rice with crunchy peanuts and duck confit.

The Ris de Veau Pané also appears frequently (but not always) during tastings -- it is a lightly-breaded veal sweetbread blanketed by a slice of salty Jamon Iberico next to silky purées of artichoke and micro-sieved potato, the latter of which uses the magical 2:1 potato-to-butter ratio. Speaking of butter, the Coquilles St. Jacques was perhaps the richest of all of the dishes we had in this recent tasting. Scallops can be fussy to prepare, and Chef Bradley's kitchen knows they want and need butter. The Mascarpone Agnolotti was another rich plate, and probably my second favorite dish of this visit -- its "tastes of Spring" included firm, beautiful Tibetan morel mushrooms which were all at once meaty, woody, dense, and "deep" with umami.

Finally, the Caramelized Sablefish should be mentioned -- it had a similar "miso" glaze to it as the often-imitated miso-marinated black cod from Nobu. The riveting dashi broth tasted of the sea, but a food version of it. The highlight, buried in the dish, was a dice-sized chunk of what may be among the smokiest bacon I've ever had.

In conclusion, this is a restaurant that I'd recommend to anyone in San Diego who wants an unforgettable dining experience or who seeks the absolute best meal this region...

If I had to summarize Addison in a single word, it would be “disappointing.” If adding another, it would be “confusing.”

We have been to several Michelin restaurants (both 1 star and gourmand in the United States and France), but never a 3-star, so we were really looking forward to it. Unfortunately, Addison was a complete disappointment.

It started with the confusing parking, which was dark and unlit, without valet service of any kind. Upon walking in, there was a lady seated behind a counter, but the welcome wasn’t really that warm, and despite not seeming that busy, our table was delayed for around 25 minutes.

We shook it off in hopes that this would be an amazing experience once we got settled. True to Michelin fashion, the service was impeccable. The sommelier and staff were delightful and engaging. This is where the positive notes end unfortunately.

Similar to some of the other reviews that I have since read, we found the flavors didn’t blend well together. It seems the tartness in many of the dishes was overbearing, the temperatures between ingredients was not aligned, the meat textures were not as expected, and the dishes were not well balanced on the palate. As a positive, the presentation did at least look nice.

This was the first Michelin experience for our dinner companions, so I found myself continually reassuring them things would get better, but unfortunately they never did. I found 3 of the 10 courses to be pretty good, but found nothing excellent, and most dishes to be marginal.

In fairness, I understand each chef to have his or her own style and artistic flair, so it’s entirely possible that perhaps my palate just doesn’t agree with this particular culinary style. I would feel better, had the 3 others with me have seen things differently, but unfortunately all of us shared the same feeling and most of the dishes were returned without having been fully consumed.

We expected the price to be what it was, just shy of $3000 for 4, but found the menu disappointing if even it had been for a much lower price offering. We also felt the menu to be confusing in presentation. In my experience with Michelin restaurants, they all seem to lead you on a journey and tell a story, but in this instance the journey wasn’t linear and the story had no plot or route to follow.

Honestly, we all discussed on the ride home how disappointing the experience was and our friends commented that it would be unlikely they would return, even if the meal had been without cost. I think this speaks for itself.

Objectively, I am unsure how this one snuck in “under the Michelin radar” and would never expect a Michelin 3-star rating for Addison. There are many 1-star Michelin and gourmand restaurants, whom are far outperforming Addison, and for whom this rating would be more deserved. At best, maybe they just had a bad day in the kitchen. At worst, maybe Michelin needs to take another look at this one.

We found the experience worthwhile, only in the respect that we tried it. It certainly adds to our comparison of the others we have enjoyed, but we would not recommend Addison and would not return.

Again, we understand how hard the chef and staff work to attain such a rating, so the purpose of this review is more in hopes that it will be taken to heart, with some corrections made, in order to make it a worthwhile experience (as 1 of only 143 Michelin 3-star restaurants in the world)...